10 Advertising Mistakes That Cost These Brands Millions (And Their Dignity)

“Want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” With that one line in 1980, 15-year-old Brooke Shields turned Calvin Klein jeans into a cultural phenomenon and a lightning rod for controversy.

The ad, filmed by Richard Avedon, was meant to be cheeky and rebellious. Instead, many viewers saw it as suggestive and exploitative due to the fact that Shields was still a minor at the time, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The campaign sparked moral outrage and even prompted CBS and ABC to ban the spot from airing. Critics accused Calvin Klein of s**ualizing a minor, while defenders called it a bold statement about confidence and independence.

Despite, or possibly because of, the backlash, Calvin Klein sales actually rose following the ad. The campaign made Shields a household name and cemented Calvin Klein’s reputation as a provocateur unafraid of pushing cultural buttons.

After more than a century of selling razors under the slogan “The Best a Man Can Get,” Gillette flipped the script in 2019, and the internet erupted. Its new campaign, “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be,” was supposed to promote more positive male traits. This change would not have been too drastic, but the ad that followed the campaign, which condemned behaviors related to “toxic masculinity,” rubbed the company’s loyal customers the wrong way.

While some netizens applauded Gillette for using its platform to start a conversation about toxic masculinity, many others, including the company’s longtime customers, felt attacked as the ad seemed to portray men as natural villains, according to the BBC. Within hours, YouTube dislikes were pouring in on the ad, and numerous longtime Gillette customers went online to state that they would never purchase another product from the brand again.

On the heels of Gillette’s “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be” campaign, the company saw a $350 million decline in its grooming division's net sales for fiscal year 2019. During the year of the controversial ad, parent company Procter & Gamble (P&G) also issued an $8 billion non-cash writedown for the shaving giant.

In what fans dubbed “the denim wars of 2025,” Gap appeared to take aim at American Eagle’s Sydney Sweeney ad with its own campaign, “Better in Denim.” Partnering with the global girl group KATSEYE, the brand embraced diversity and self-expression through a 90-second spot featuring the members dancing to Kelis’ 2003 hit Milkshake.

The commercial, filled with diversity, stood in stark contrast to American Eagle’s controversy. “Gap didn’t ask us to fit in—they invited us to show up as we are,” KATSEYE said in a statement. The group, made up of six members from different countries, called the collaboration an opportunity to bring “our style and culture to every frame.”

While KATSEYE’s GAP jeans ad was entertaining, it received backlash as well, as some netizens pointed out that the unit, which has been marketed as an international girl group, obviously does not have a member of caucasian descent. This resulted in the GAP ad being dubbed by critics as no better than American Eagle’s campaign with Sweeney.

When Pepsi released its 2017 ad featuring Kendall Jenner handing a can of soda to a police officer during a protest, the backlash was immediate and brutal. The ad was meant to convey unity and peace, but it came off as tone-deaf since it seemed to trivialize serious social justice movements like Black Lives Matter, according to MediaFeed.

The fact that Kendall Jenner, one of the Kardashians, starred in the ad simply added fuel to the fire.

Social media erupted with outrage over the ad. Activists, celebrities, and even Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter Bernice slammed the campaign for co-opting protest imagery. Pepsi officially pulled the ad within 24 hours, issuing an apology and explaining that they were trying to “project a global message of unity, peace and understanding,” but “clearly missed the mark.”

On International Women’s Day in 2021, Burger King thought it would be a good idea to post a thread discussing how very few women lead professional kitchens across the food industry. The company's intentions were good, but the execution of the campaign was anything but.

To start, Burger King tweeted “Women Belong In The Kitchen,” before following it up with two posts explaining that only a small portion of chef and head chef positions in America are occupied by women, according to Forbes. Despite the thread’s positive message, the initial tweet was enough to set Twitter ablaze.

The post racked up thousands of angry replies before it was deleted. Critics called it tone-deaf and sexist, while Burger King scrambled to clarify that the campaign was actually aimed at supporting women in professional kitchens. Ironically, the print version of the ad, which clearly laid out the message without opening a Twitter thread, did not receive backlash at all.

When Nike made former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick the face of its 2018 “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything” campaign, the brand knew it was taking a stand. The company, however, probably didn’t expect the level of backlash that the ad would trigger.

A lot of the backlash was due to Kaepernick himself, who made headlines by kneeling during the national anthem at NFL games, according to CEO Column. This action was a form of protest against police brutality and racial injustice.
 
To some, Nike’s Colin Kaepernick ad was a bold and authentic brand move. To others, it was corporate virtue signaling at its best and disrespectful to the flag and military at worst. Hashtags like #BoycottNike trended on social media immediately, and people even started posting videos of themselves burning their Nike products.

Dove has long championed “real beauty” for its customers, but in 2017, that message took a disastrous turn. The brand posted a Facebook ad showing a Black woman removing her T-shirt to reveal a white woman underneath. The white woman then removes her shirt to reveal an Asian woman underneath.

The intended message seemed to be inclusivity, but the internet just saw racism. The backlash was instant, partly fueled by screenshots and clips that omitted the third woman in the ad’s sequence. Social media proceeded to condemn Dove, some calling the campaign “unbelievably racist.”

Dove eventually deleted the post and issued an apology, admitting it “missed the mark in representing women of color thoughtfully,” according to the BBC. But the damage was done. The ad became a viral reminder that good intentions can still backfire, especially when campaigns use imagery that could easily be taken out of context.

KFC’s “The Whole Chicken” campaign was meant to show pride in its use of 100% locally sourced chicken. Instead, the ad made many people lose their appetite. The one-minute advertisement featured a confident chicken strutting to DMX’s X Gon’ Give It To Ya like a rap star, and it was just… off.

“Am I the only one who wants to go veggie after watching that?” one Twitter user asked. Another said it gave them “nightmares.” PETA even chimed in, saying the ad actually made their point for them as it showed chickens being “smart, social, sensitive beings,” according to Hello! Magazine.

Not everyone hated it, though. Some viewers called the ad funny and refreshingly honest. “If you don’t like being reminded you’re eating a chicken—don’t,” one fan tweeted. KFC’s CMO Meg Farren also stood by the concept, saying, “At KFC, we're proud of our chicken, we're not afraid to show it. 'The Whole Chicken' represents a step change for us, taking a bolder stance when it comes to engaging with our loyal customers and fans.”

Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans ad, titled “Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans,” was meant as a playful pun. Still, it quickly became a lightning rod for debate, with some critics accusing the campaign of promoting white supremacy. Critics slammed the blond-haired, blue-eyed actress and the brand for allegedly glorifying whiteness.

When asked about the controversial campaign, Sweeney didn’t flinch. “I did a jean ad,” she said. “The reaction was a surprise, but I love jeans. I’m literally in jeans and a T-shirt every day.” The campaign itself seemed to have worked, as American Eagle's stock soared 38% following its rollout.

Online, Sydney Sweeney has become just as divisive as her American Eagle ad. Conservatives such as United States President Donald Trump said he loved the ad. Liberal netizens, however, were completely aghast, dubbing Sweeney a peddler of “N**i propaganda.” American Eagle, for its part, maintained that the ad was really just about apparel. “It’s about jeans. Her jeans. Her story,” the company said.

When The Summer I Turned Pretty actor Gavin Casalegno fronted Dunkin’s new Golden Hour Refresher campaign, he probably didn’t expect to be looped into the ongoing social war surrounding genes. In the ad, Casalegno lounged by a pool and joked about his tan: “Look, I didn’t ask to be the king of summer, it just kinda happened. This tan? Genetics.”

The internet wasn’t impressed. Viewers immediately compared the spot to American Eagle’s controversial Sydney Sweeney ad, accusing Dunkin’ of hopping on the “genetics” bandwagon. “Why are ads so obsessed with genetics all of a sudden?” one TikToker asked. Others vowed to boycott the brand altogether.

Still, some praised the playful tone, with one user writing, “Thank you for making the woke cry today. I’ll be drinking Dunkin’ now!” Whether cringe or clever, Dunkin’ stirred up the debate, though it remains to be seen if the ad's provocative nature will pay off in spades or cause harm to the company.