Who, exactly, was the idiot bonehead lamebrain person behind Sprint’s ad that ran 11 minutes into Desperate Housewives last night (yeah, I watch it, so shoot me)? Did they really think a thirty second spot telling a story about a cheating husband whose wife finds out via a text message on his Sprint smart phone was a good idea? Who are they trying to hook? The smarmy husband or the wronged wife?
Yes, I caught the fine print on the intro screen saying “Part One,” but let’s face it, folks. If the initial segment is so distasteful it makes a viewer’s skin crawl, there’s no amount of “clever” that’s going to fix things later.
Especially if “later” comes a full seven day after the disgust has begun to fester.
There are bad decisions, then there are bad decisions. Something tells me Sprint will be all over Twitter today, in damage control mode.
Marketing 101, Chapter One: Do not ever launch a promotion that might fall into the “offensive” category at first glance. There’s no recouping after that. Period.
Between this and the f-bomb on Saturday Night Live, it was one heck of a television weekend. Sheesh.
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I didn’t see it, but this reminds me of my reaction to a Clorox ad during Mad Men. Image of a white man’s shirt with red lipstick on the collar. Text typed out that read something like, “Clorox…getting ad men out of hot water for generations.” Assuming it’s women who buy Clorox, this not only missed the mark, it stabbed her right in the chest!
By coincidence, yesterday I blogged on the excellent job Sprint is doing with their marketing to stay consistent and deliver a clear compelling message to their customers and potential customers. I spoke too soon. I just posted a follow up and linked to you blog post about Sprint.
Thanks for the post
Richard’s post can be found at:
richardbliss.typepad.com/richardblissblog/2009/09/using-sprint-to-cheat-on-your-wife-what-were-they-thinking.html