Should small business owners use edgy advertising to help market their brands, products, and services? The answer depends on how much risk they are willing to take and if they are prepared to respond to the consequences that controversial ads can create.
Raising Visibility And Eyebrows
A case in point is American Eagle and its headline-making jeans commercial that featured actor Sydney Sweeney. The much-buzzed-about “great genes” ad certainly increased visibility for the company in a crowded marketplace—it also raised some eyebrows because of the visuals and language that were featured.
“The company’s creative choices have prompted some to say the ad campaign promotes eugenics, a discredited scientific theory popular among white supremacists that the human race could be improved by breeding out less desirable traits. Others are saying the uproar is the culture’s response from a society hellbent on sexualizing women,” NPR reported.
Breaking through the clutter in the marketplace is always a challenge for small businesses. Done the right way and for the right reasons, edgy ads can help brands and companies attract attention in memorable and effective ways. But the bad news is that consumers who are turned off by the ads may decide they will not buy anything from the company. Or if they’ve already purchased products or services, they could refuse to support them again. In the eyes of those consumers, the image of that small business will have been tarnished, and the company will forever be remembered for sponsoring “that” ad.
The crisis management hall of fame is filled with examples of large companies that apparently thought the risk was worth it. Small business owners may feel differently.
Apple’s ‘Crushing Creativity’ Ad
In 2024, Apple produced and posted an online commercial that was a product demonstration of its new AI-powered iPad Pro. But instead of seeing how an iPad could help them create, most people saw the ad “as [a] metaphor for how Big Tech has cashed in on their work by crushing or co-opting the artistic tools that humanity has used for centuries. The image was especially unnerving at a time when artists fear that generative artificial intelligence, which can write poetry and create movies, might take away their jobs,” the New York Times reported.
KFC’s Insensitive Promotional Message
Small businesses may even be at risk for sending a questionable promotional message. In 2022, KFC sent customers in Germany a message, observing that “It’s memorial day for Kristallnacht! Treat yourself with more tender cheese on your crispy chicken. Now at KFCheese!” Kristallnacht is widely seen as the beginning of the Holocaust.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s website explains: “The Nazi-led series of attacks in the country in 1938 left more than 90 people dead and destroyed Jewish-owned businesses and places of worship.” The Nazis called the event Kristallnacht (“Crystal Night,” or “The Night of Broken Glass”), which referred to the shattered windows that littered the streets afterwards.
Daniel Sugarman, director of public affairs for the Board of Deputies of British Jews, tweeted that the promotion was “absolutely hideous.” Arsen Ostrovsky, head of the pro-Israel legal group International Legal Forum, said he was “utterly speechless and repulsed.”
Best Practices For Sponsoring EdgyAds
There are best practices small businesses should follow to help ensure that their ads do not create a crisis. The ads should align with how their brands are perceived and do nothing to damage the image and reputation of the company for the products and services it sells. Companies that misjudge how the public will react to controversial ads should consider apologizing immediately for the spots, explaining why they thought it was a good idea to run the advertising in the first place.
That’s what Apple did in response to the backlash that was generated by its “crushing creativity” commercial. “Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world,” Apple marketing vice president Tor Myhren told Ad Age in a statement. “Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.”
KFC said that it “sincerely” apologized for what it called its “unplanned, insensitive and unacceptable message,” referring to Kristallnacht, the BBC reported. About an hour after sending the first message, the company sent an apology, which blamed the mistakenly sent communication on “a fault in our system,” according to The Guardian.
Think Before Advertising
Small business owners should do plenty of thinking before embarking down the edgy advertising road. That includes conducting a risk versus benefits analysis, seeking feedback from trusted advisors about the pros and cons of sponsoring the ads, and forecasting whether and how the corporate bottom line could suffer.
Whether they’re aware of the risks they are taking with their ads or not, all small businesses should have crisis management plans in place that are updated on a regular basis to ensure they account for the latest risks that can damage the image, reputation, and credibility of the company. The plans should include detailed guidance on what event would trigger a crisis for the company, what will be said or done in response to the crisis, and who will speak on behalf of the business. To help prepare their plans—or measure them against the best practices for such plans—visit my website at CrisisCasebook.com and click on “Free Crisis Plan Template.”
But even the best plans will be useless unless business owners are confident that they can work. They can gain and maintain that confidence by testing the plans at least once a year in tabletop and computer simulation exercises. Based on the results of the exercises, executives should modify or strengthen the plans accordingly.
Edward Segal is a crisis management expert, consultant, podcast host, and author of The Crisis Casebook: Lessons in Crisis Management from the World’s Leading Brands. Visit his website at CrisisCasebook.com.
Photo courtesy Nielsoncaetanosalmeron under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Photo was cropped for space.