It's not unusual for big companies to sometimes miss a bit with their advertising. They often receive proposals from their ad agencies that may look good on paper, but their basic concept tends to be flawed. When an ad like this comes out and comes under fire, the company looks like it's out of touch with reality. This has now also happened to Samsung.
Created for the company by ad agency Ogilvy New York and posted on YouTube, the ad shows a woman waking up at two in the morning to go for a run alone in a big city. Perhaps Ogilvy knows of some parallel universe where this is safe, because the outrage from not just women's groups makes it clear that it isn't.
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The point of the ad was to show how the watch Galaxy Watch4 and headphones Galaxy buds2 enable people to "get healthy on their schedule." This idea is somewhat lost on the target audience, women, who feel that advertising sweeps the challenges they face under the rug.
Women's rights group Reclaim These Streets said the ad was "inappropriate", particularly in light of the death of teacher Ashling Murphy, who was murdered while jogging in her native Ireland earlier this year. The tragedy sparked a debate about how unsafe many women feel when running alone, especially at night. A number of them confided on social networks that they became the target of harassment while running.
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Even the comments on YouTube make it clear that the ad has missed its mark. Instead of promoting the aforementioned watches and headphones and how they allow women to "pursue health on their schedule," it makes them feel like Samsung is out of touch with reality. Neither the Korean giant nor the author of the ad have yet to comment on the matter.
The advertisement certainly didn't lose its effect, on the contrary.
Even bad advertising is advertising, that's for sure.
After all, advertising is also advertising. Although I can do running and sports at any time even without a watch (or a fitness bracelet), but that is a detail. It seems quite calm to me, every body has its own mode...