Legos makes a Boo-Boo
A few ads have appeared for the Lego products made by Saatchi & Saatchi China.
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/lego_one
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/lego_two
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/print/lego_three
Based on the ads, it becomes clear that these disasters are being thrown to the level of children’s toys. What does this do to the brand?
Although the Chinese have different views of the world, these ads are still tied to the main brand, Legos. Whether it be Legos in China or Legos in the U.S., the message should be consistent.
Public opinions towards these ads have been negative. The online community has already created a video of this on YouTube titled Advertising Crimes Against Humanity (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOF9RuP2OJA). Consumer-generated media such as the YouTube video has strong effects. We’ve seen it before when a dissatisfied consumer made a video about Ipod batteries lasting very little and then having to buy a new Ipod. The video took on a life of its own and the result was Apple creating the one-year warranty.
Did Saatchi & Saatchi not consider the public reaction to these ads? Can these ads damage the brand permanently, especially if the consumer reaction towards the issue worsens? Is it easier for the online community to destroy a brand or create one?
-Jose Diaz
posted by Brand007 @ 1:13 PM
1 Comments:
When I read your post I was at first shocked! I couldn’t see the print adds (they’ve been removed from the link you suggested, but I saw the video on Youtube). I simply couldn’t believe it... it isn’t consistent with other LEGO campaigns, usually very intelligent, elegant and sober, and also adult oriented, not really targeted for the kids but for their parents.
At first I thought it was a trial to create buzz, to generate polemic and get people to talk about it... and it certainly has succeeded in this! But one thing is create polemic and other linking your brand to human disgraces such as terrorist attacks, war or natural disasters... it is certainly not going to help in leveraging the brand image. It can only bring negative associations to the brand.
So, I’ve been digging in different advertising websites and blogs, and it was quite difficult but finally I was able to find the print ads, in
http://www.ad-dict.com/2006/12/lego.html
From what I read... it seems like the ads are fake. They were created by two chinese Saatchi & Saatchi publicists, but without Lego’s and the Agency’s consent. Therefore, they have never been published. They say these two guys have been fired, and there is even an apology letter (http://adsoftheworld.com/files/letter_english.jpg)
in which they claim it was their personal trial to challenge creativity and they apologize to both companies and the upset audience.
The majority of comments I found were very negative, people upset and horrified... But some saw something positive in it, for example “...the campaign touched on the duality of adult serious facts of life and the naive and non rational optimism of a child. Something like start building as a kid and continue build a better world as an adult, despite all the misery of human made and natural disasters”.
Yet the risk of misunderstanding is very big...the lack of control over audience’s opinion is one of the greatest risks of the world of branding... or maybe the greatest challenge?
So what do you guys think? Do you believe it is in fact a unilateral thing by these two advertisers or maybe we are in front of a provoking buzz action?
-Lorena Roque
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