“In 1960 Doyle Dane Bernbach launched a campaign for a Brooklyn rye-bread baker with a series of subway posters that read, “You don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s.” The posters depicted people of various ethnic groups enjoying the bread and…drew plenty of complaints from people who didn’t like the ethnic approach.
As part of the campaign, Bernbach also told the company to change its name from Levy’s Real Rye to Levy’s Real Jewish Rye. When the marketer expressed fear that this might invite controversy or pigeonhole the brand, Bernbach brooked no argument: “For God’s sake, your name is Levy’s. They are not going to mistake you for high Episcopalian.” The campaign spurred a decade of sales growth for the baker and passed into popular culture.
Today those ads probably wouldn’t make it to a subway wall…”
Advertising Age, Marketers Need to Stand Up to Hysteria From the Outrage Nuts
Or more succinctly, how avoiding offending everyone tends to miss reaching anyone, and typically kills creativity before it gets out of bed in the morning. Related sidenote: I adore those old Levy’s ads.
Thanks for the history lesson. At work there is a framed one of a little black boy enjoying the bread. This brings new insight.
said Patrick Born
at 7:23pm on Wednesday
Political correctness = the art and practice of almost saying something. Which is the opposite of what a marketer should be doing.
said Charlie
at 8:27pm on Wednesday
Agreed. Those ads were genius. A great example of let a marketer do what he does, then criticize him later. Its the only place where good marketing happens. Sounds like art….
said Austen
at 1:05am on Thursday
Political Correctness = End Of The World
(yeah I had my over-dramatic omelette this morning)
said Orion
at 8:30am on Thursday
why do they have to call it white bread? that’s offensive to me.
said lee mcd
at 10:44am on Thursday
Settle down Cracka!
said Orion
at 2:28pm on Thursday