There’s a catch phrase in the environmental movement that says “Think Globally. Act Locally.” Global advertisers might be well served by doing the reverse.
Of course companies selling internationally need to localize their messages to appeal to regional and national markets. But they must also think globally.
You have to assume that any ad, no matter how/where it’s targeted, can and will be seen by anyone, anywhere.
So, while Yum Brands (owner of KFC) pulled the ad in Australia, they seem to attribute the problem not to the content of the ad itself, but that
Indeed comments following the first ad, above, have said “you dont understand cricket or Austrialian Culture.” Okay, so maybe you could give that one the benefit of the doubt, albeit a poor choice.
But, clearly not when coupled with this ad below, from Korea, featuring black, West Indian “savages” soothed by their civilized Korean captive, when he magically produces fried chicken for all.
Just a note about the ad content–while the lesson is that advertisers should anticipate response from anywhere to any ad, regardless of target market, that doesn’t excuse racist content to begin with.
What do you think?
This was a primary lesson taught to me during my training in the US Army to become a psychological ops specialist. We had to think long and hard about the fact that anything communicated on a durable medium (flier, internet, video, radio, etc…) had the ability and possibility to find its way into the hands of unintended audiences. Since everything durable we produced was a reflection of US foreign policy, we literally had to consider this weighty responsibility. I was an anthropology student at the time in the Reserves, and it’s funny that our trainer that stressed these lessons was another Reservist who was also an anthropologist.
Hmmm, I studied anthropology (and marketing) as well. Would not have thought of the implications at the important level at which you were working. Guess it’s the anthropologists ability to imagine the perspective of “the other.” Thanks for your comment.