Myth busting

I was going to write about the “identity of work” this week, but all that changed this morning when I picked up my paper to see the Coca-Cola “gee we’re really sorry we tried to make it seem like Coke is really good for you and got caught out” ad. 

Headlines earlier this week spelt-out the ACCC rulings against Coca-Cola, which effectively labelled its “myth busting” ad campaign last year misleading. You think?

Now I could go on about the failures at both the company and agency level that let such a stupid campaign run in the first place. What I am going to do is spend a bit of time on the “disingenuous” aspect of the ad they ran this weekend with the big bold red headline “Setting the record straight – Coca-Cola on the facts”.

For me, the most insulting part of the whole ad was the sentence “we have listened to the feedback we received and want to set the record straight”. Garbage. You published the ad because you were made to. Period. If the ruling had not gone against you, there would have been no ad “setting the record straight”…

I am not even going to address the bunch of hooey that followed. Suffice to say that while factually correct, it wasn’t even remotely believable, and the fact that they don’t seem to know the difference is a huge issue for them.

When you violate the trust of your customers (and get caught), justifying why what you did was OK and just a misunderstanding, is never the best way to go.

What would have been a different strategy? Here are a few ideas:

Instead of trying to save the campaign, just make the statement that you gave the wrong impression, are really sorry and won’t do it again. There is nothing to gain by elaborating.

Fess up. Unless your home is under a rock in outer Siberia, people who drink Coke know it is loaded with things we probably shouldn’t have too much of – which is why the campaign got into hot water from the outset.

Don’t do it in the first place!

Getting real about the “real thing” for a minute. They knew what they were doing then was pushing the boundaries of belief (or if they didn’t then theirs isn’t the only “product” they have been sampling).

Putting aside the fact that a least some of the content was probably mandated by the ACCC, trying to wriggle around the fact they got caught just makes them appear even more guilty.

See you next week with some thoughts about “identity of work”.

Alignment is Michel’s passion. Through her work with Brandology here in Australia, and Brand Alignment Group in the United States, she helps organisations align who they are, with what they do and say to build more authentic and sustainable brands.

To see more Michel Hogan blogs, click here.