Textappeal Blog

The news:

As part of its promotional material, Citroen published a map which has caused controversy and potentially damaged the brand’s reputation, particularly in Serbia, Bosnia and Montenegro. The map depicts an incorrect division of land and it appears that the borders of Balkan nations that fought wars in the early 1990’s have been re-drawn. Bosnia is merged with Serbia and Croatia, Montenegro is merged into Serbia, and Slovenia has been given a large slice of Croatia. A month after the image was published Bosnia, Croatia and Montenegro sent protest letters to Citroen. Citroen replied with a letter of apology stating that all copies had been destroyed and distribution had been called to a halt.

Behind the news:

The issue is particularly sensitive as it was rumoured that the late presidents of Serbia and Croatia had made a secret pact to divide Bosnia between their ex-Yugoslavian republics. The inter-ethnic wars in Bosnia cost at least 100,000 lives, leading to the break up of the six-republic communist federation.

The news:

Schweppes released in the UK what was to be viewed as an ad that took a humorous and light hearted approach to advertising by making consumers laugh about serious, darker issues that they are currently facing. The image is titled ‘how to get a seat on the tube’ and depicts a man seated in an empty carriage wearing a sombrero and holding a box of tissues, reminding people that “Swine Flu” originated in Mexico. The ad caused outrage in Mexico and was pulled immediately, running only for one day in the Times paper after discussions between holding company Coca-cola and the Mexican Embassy.

Behind the news:

Strains of influenza have often been named after countries, but never one’s own: there is no “Spanish Flu” in Spain or “English Flu” in England. This ad seems to play on the idea of a Mexican flu, however…

Mexico suffered terrible human and economic damage following the first swine flu outbreak and in the aftermath was at pains to repair its image as an alluring tourist destination. It clearly didn’t need a global brand reminding people that this was initially a “Mexican flu”.

To its credit, the Coca-cola company quickly understood the issue and took swift corrective action.  

For some reason, we’ve recently seen an epidemic of global brands getting on the wrong side of Mexico, starting with Burger King’s unfortunate Texican burger advertising in Spain (see www.textappealblog.com): the internet spreads advertising faster than the flu travels the world.