Nothing is worse than overkill in the advertising world. When an advertisement or campaign is overexposed, in the simplest of terms, people get annoyed. Every company is trying to build brand awareness, expose their product on multiple platforms, and translate that exposure into valuable, paying customers. This is done through advertising across a multitude of platforms including digital space, air time, and in-person advertising. Companies attempt to cover their bases and promote their brands on multiple platforms, especially when a big event is around the corner. This can be incredibly successful, but it can also have the complete opposite effect on consumers when things are taken too far. But, how are brands supposed to know when they’ve crossed the line?
Truthfully, there is no perfect answer. Companies aren’t able to predict when they will go from valuable exposer to completely annoying the heck out of people. While it may seem impossible, there is a point where brands can spend too much money on promoting themselves, resulting in minimal ROI and angered customers. Recently, three campaigns in particular have been feeling the wrath of what overexposure does to their brand.
Check out the three brands that wish they could do it all over again:
Minions:
Don’t get us wrong, minions are adorable. It is almost impossible to get angry at their adorable goggle-wearing faces, yet it happened. Minions were everywhere: on your bananas, your packages, your burgers, the list goes on. In Universal Studio’s attempt to promote their newest film, Minions, advertisers took it a bit too far. Here’s what people had to say about the minion outbreak:
However, despite the backlash the advertising spree received from the general public, box office sales went through the roof on the movie’s opening weekend. In fact, the Minion’s Facebook page generated almost 32 million likes before the movie even premiered. Who knows, maybe the almost $600 million dollars spent on publicity paid off.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
In preparation for the second Anchorman movie, advertisers did it big – almost too big. Like the friendly yellow creatures, Rob Burgundy’s face was almost everywhere. Despite trying efforts, no one seemed to be able to escape San Diego’s best anchorman, and towards the tail-end of Anchorman’s campaign the backlash started. People felt as though the advertisements were being overplayed and overproduced, which may have contributed to the disappointing box office sales. Everybody loves Rob Burgundy, but maybe only in small doses.
Game of War:
After Kate Upton’s appearance in a Super Bowl advertisement, she became the face of the Game of War mobile game. Currently, the mobile game is one of the top grossing apps, most likely due to the $40 million dollars spent on publicity. However, despite the game’s success, people are sick of the game’s publicity. If advertisements are causing people to rip their hair out and throw their phone at the wall, marketers may have gone too far. Check out these tweets as proof:
Despite these three brands crossing the line in their advertisement efforts, in general, their publicity overload contributed to their market success. Throwing something in people’s faces isn’t always the best way to get them to see something, but it might just work. Who knows, a few months down the road maybe you’ll miss seeing the cute little minions everywhere you go – maybe.
