While looking for info on Zomato (previous post) I came upon this story about there being some controversy over one of their recent ad campaigns (click here.) The ad used MC for “Mac n Cheese” and BC for “Buttered Chicken.” Innocent enough right?
Wrong. It turns out that the terms MC and BC in the Hindi language are slang words for having sex with your Mom (MC) or sister (BC.)
Following the controversy over using those two terms then, Zomato pulled the ad campaign but made a joke about it with the replacement:
Overall however it was part of a clever ad campaign that Zomato designed to generate controversy and publicity (click here.) While older folks were offended by the ad, Zomato was marketing to a much younger and hipper segment of the market who aren’t as uptight as their older more-easily-offended folks were.
All of which sounded to me a little like something I’ve observed recently in Buzzy’s Country Store wrt the latest Nike commercial featuring Colin Kaepernick. Several folks (older) have complained and commented on the controversial commercial saying things like “Have you thrown away all your Nike stuff?” or “I’ll never buy Nike again.” I refrain from replying to them that Nike doesn’t really care what old farts like us think; they are aiming at an entirely different demo who gets it. Nike stock and sales are up since the campaign began (click here.)
And speaking of commercials, none can ever top Cindy’s original 1992 Pepsi commercial. But then again the 2002 update was pretty good too:
