The ads, which appeared on the London Underground on 16 January, featured a picture of a hamburger with the caption: “Vegetarians, resistance is futile”; and a picture of a GBK receipt alongside the caption: “You’ll always remember when you gave up being a vegetarian”.
Another ad showed a picture of a cow, which was captioned: “They eat grass so you don’t have to”.
Morning Update: Burger brand apologises for mocking vegetarians; What’s App now free; AOL name to go?; Heineken defends ad
Campaign: Gourmet Burger Kitchen sorry for ‘offensive ads’ mocking vegetarians
Gourmet Burger Kitchen, the restaurant chain, has apologised after sparking a deluge of complaints about its outdoor ad campaign which mocked vegetarians.
The Guardian: WhatsApp drops subscription fee to become fully free
WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging service, is to drop its token $1-a-year subscription to go fully free for every user, the company’s chief executive has announced.
Speaking at the DLD conference in Bavaria, Jan Koum confirmed that the $0.99 annual fee will be scrapped, effective immediately. Previously, WhatsApp had been free for the first year, with the fee charged for every subsequent year. Long-term users of the iOS version were given free use for life, as a thanks for paying a fee to download the app when it had a one-off charge.
Digiday: AOL RIP?: Legendary brand might ditch its name
AOL’s name might be disconnected for good.
Less than a year after Verizon purchased the sprawling company, the brand is mulling a name change because people still associate its legacy image with email addresses and dial-up Internet, rather than a robust tech and media company it’s trying to morph into.
Allie Kline, AOL’s chief marketing officer, said in an interview with Business Insider that her company has an image problem, saying that people don’t know that it owns popular publications, like Huffington Post and TechCrunch, or operates ad-tech platforms. The America Online name has been in use since 1991.
The Drum: Heineken stands by ad despite claims it patronises women
Some of those complainants have made it clear what they think of the ad on social media, pointing out that it fails to acknowledge that females can drink more than men in the first place. Launched last week, the ‘Moderate Drinkers Wanted’ campaign targets females in the hope that simply by being a woman they will be able to curb men from downing too many Heinekens.
Tiger Beer has launched a global digital campaign that aims to get the world involved in the Chinese New Year celebrations this year.
A microsite on Tigerbeer.com invites fans of the Singapore-born beer to watch how six celebrities say the Chinese New Year greeting, and then create their own version in a similar or parody style.
Independent: Shell and VW top list of NGOs ‘most hated’ brands in the UK
Volkswagen has made a list of non-governmental organisations’ “most hated” brands in the UK for the first time, following a turbulent year for the company dealing with fallout from the emissions scandal.
VW came in at fourth place in the survey that named Shell as the most hated brand.
VW is now the seventh least popular brand in the world, according to the survey of more than 7,500 NGOs by Sigwatch, a consultancy.
When ever a like minded group, or one of its members, decides to take the high moral ground, or simply place itself, or him/herself, above the rest, then the “holier-than-thou” belief invades them, and whereas they feel great virtue in attacking the opposition, or the perceived enemy, when the fire is returned or even the simplest joke aimed in their direction, they are stricken with feelings of the deepest and most crippling offense.
Whatever one chooses to eat, like choosing a football team, or the colour of one’s roof, is a matter of personal preference.
Hence: You will always remember when you “GAVE UP” Aston Villa. “GAVE UP” that red roof, or “GAVE UP” being a vegetarian.
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With always at least one person somewhere offended by at least something in the universe, ads will soon be a 30 second clip of the product placed on a plain table with a plain backdrop and the only voice over will be “Our product. Please buy it instead of someone else’s”.
Thanks everyone.
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One thing that has become obvious after reading various Mumbrella articles lately (and the comments thereon), is that being vegan causes misery, intolerance, lack of a sense of humour and hypersensitivity.
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