Marc Cuniberti Although Wall Street marketing agencies are world-renowned for developing catchy jingles and slogans for iconic brands and millions of dollars are thrown their way to come up with such things, we occasionally scratch our heads and say “What the heck were they thinking?’
Throughout history, looking back on decades of products and their promotions, there are classic streaks of brilliance and occasional bouts of idiocy.
Jingles like “plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is” (Alka Seltzer), and “where’s the beef” (Wendy’s) are engrained into our brains like the simple math we learned in elementary school.
One can actually ascertain the age of another by what jingles they know along with iconic TV show theme songs and the lyrics.
Of course, along with brilliance comes the occasional blunder.
When Coca-Cola went about announcing it was changing its formula, known as the “New Coke”, we thought “Why are you messing with a drink that has been as successful as Coke over a century or more?”
It’s not like people were stopping their purchases of Coke and complaining they lost their taste for it after 100-plus years of the concoction.
Far from it.
Coke is still the number one-selling soft drink ever. But somehow Coke thought it could do better and announced it was changing the secret formula. That decision quickly became a head-scratcher, as iconic as the drink itself.
After widespread backlash, Coke back peddled and initiated damage control, scrambling to preserve the century-old taste by reintroducing “Classic Coke” as an alternative to the new one. New Coke eventually went into the history books as one of the most historic marketing blunders of all time. After Coke wiped the egg from its face, it dropped the whole campaign 16 years later.
Fast forward to today, and now Budweiser enters the spotlight. A delicate situation to be sure, during March Madness, the popular college basketball tournament, Bud Light partnered with transgender Tik Tok celebrity Dylan Mulvaney, in which the iconic beer company sent a Bud Light beer with Mulvaney’s picture on the front of the can.
Mulvaney posted the sponsored announcement on her then 1 million viewership Instagram channel with commentary.
Soon thereafter, Nike entered the controversy by hiring Mulvaney to advertise their sports bra and leggings in what appeared to be a hastily thrown-together video of the transwoman working out in Nike gear in what appears to be a backyard.
No matter what one’s view of the campaigns, there is no arguing the backlash from conservative groups has been notable.
The old adage “any advertising is good advertising” certainly is in play and no doubt there are multiple conversations in corporate boardrooms taking place right about now as to whether to dip toes into the controversial pool that is Dylan Mulvaney or get the hell out.
Observationally speaking, we are in new territory here.
Can a company profit from such notoriety as promoting a view that angers a good portion of its customer base yet generates such widespread coverage?
Does the obvious kickback by a loyal customer base outweigh the attention such an advertising campaign generates?
Difficult questions for sure and I have no idea whether the gamble will pay off in increased revenue for either company or result in a fireball of plummeting sales in protest. At the date of this writing, although neither company is commenting, it is rumored sales of Bud’s products are on a rapid decline.
Whether all this will eventually blow over or if the iconic brands will suffer significant damage remains to be seen.
What I do know is there is certainly going to be one winner in all of this. Dylan Mulvaney is going to make a fortune.
“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”
(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)
This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249. (530)559-1214. He was voted best financial advisor in the county 2021.
