Recently, an ad campaign has surfaced on the internet which was made by an Indian company. And we have to say, it is seriously offensive.
Here’s a picture below:
The ad clearly shows Malala’s story of being shot, she lies on her back and she gets back up to get a toy shaped award. The mattress company adds a catch phrase “Bounce Back”.
The ad is obviously problematic on a number of levels.
One of the major concerns which arises as a result of this ad is that, it inappropriately downplays the whole incident. Malala stood up for a cause she strongly believed in and at a very young age, for which she was mercilessly shot down by extremists in order to silence her. The way this ad shows how easy it is to bounce back, it is highly offensive and disrespectful to Malala’s journey and achievements till now.
People on Twitter have obviously been reacting and here’s what is being said:
the ad would have worked if it portrayed Kurl On mattresses as a place where Malala rests everyday before she takes on the world.@ogilvy
— Babar Khan Javed (@Babarkj) May 17, 2014
@vishaldwivedi9 humour in creativity is a tricky thing..see what happened to ogilvy's malala kurl on ad…
— vin. (@oldfox004) May 22, 2014
RT @paarulc: Kurl on ad shows Malala being shot in the head! #BadPR http://t.co/vyffvEUDI8
— PRmoment India (@PRmomentIndia) May 16, 2014
The brand has received a lot of hate, which led to the ad eventually being taken down and retracted by the brand. Additionally, Ogilvy & Mather, the agency representing the mattress brand apologized for the situation in India and stated,
“The recent Kurl-On ads from our India office are contrary to the beliefs and professional standards of Ogilvy & Mather and our clients,” said Greg Carton, spokesperson for the agency, in an email statement.
“We deeply regret this incident and want to personally apologize to Malala Yousafzai and her family. We are investigating how our standards were compromised in this case and will take whatever corrective action is necessary.”
