Assuming you haven’t been asleep for the last month, by now you must have heard about the recent advertising blunder by Pepsi.
Providing stellar creative is often the goal for advertisers. We want to tell stories that captivate, inspire, and resonate with audiences. Occasionally in this quest, how that story is presented can become more of the “focal point” than the story itself.
The latest victim of this misguided venture was Pepsi.
The beverage giant made headlines earlier this month because of its decision to let their latest ad campaign, Live for Now, be handled by an in-house creative team. This campaign was originally intended to serve as a celebration of those “live for now” moments but as many on social media will tell you, it missed the mark to say the least. Some even claiming that it came across as a tone-deaf attempt at selling more soda to millennials. While we at Focal Point might not share this exact opinion, we can say it seems as if the folks at Pepsi glossed over important social issues only to get caught up with how the ad would be looked at rather than how well it would resonate with their target demographic.
For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, watch the ad below.
One could argue that now more than ever, advertisers have a responsibility to provide content that is both relevant and honest to their audiences. Let this serve as a reminder for all of us that when telling stories, we must keep the audience in mind. Naivete is no excuse in this business.
