After receiving a torrent of complaints in the past fortnight, Coca-Cola has pulled its controversial '#BrutallyRefreshing' ad campaign for Sprite and issued an apology to those it offended.
Initial complaints about the campaign began when an ad appeared on Dublin's Thomas Street proclaiming the street to be 'The first stop on your Walk of Shame'. That particular ad was deemed to be misguided by some and drew a few minor complaints.
Despite the complaints, Coca-Cola pushed forward with the campaign with other ads seen online with phrases such as 'A 2 at 10 is a 10 at 2' and 'You're not popular, you're easy' further angering some online commenters.
The ad, however, which drew the most ire featured as a takeover of Irish website Joe.ie last week. The ad featured the slogan 'She's seen more ceilings than Michaelangelo' and was brought to the attention of the public by RTÉ 2FM presenter Louise McSharry who tweeted 'SERIOUSLY with this takeover in 2016?' alongside a screengrab of the website.
Joe.ie editor Paddy McKenna later replied to McSharry, apologising for the use of the ad and saying that 'Anyone who has read the site knows that this does not reflect Joe's brand values, it shouldn't have been there and it has been removed'.
Despite removing the ad, the screengrab spread around social media quickly and Coca-Cola as a result acted quickly and decided to issue an apology before pulling the campaign altogether.
A Coca- Cola Ireland spokesperson said: “We’re sorry for any offence caused by the #BrutallyRefreshing Sprite campaign in Ireland, which was intended to provide an edgy but humorous take on a range of situations.
“Since its introduction in Ireland, Sprite has been associated with individuality and self-expression and we have always been committed to ensuring we deliver the highest standard of advertising.
“We recognise that on this particular occasion the content did not meet this standard and we apologise. The campaign has now come to an end and the advert in question will not appear again,” they concluded.
Image via Louise McSharry on Twitter.
© 2016 - Checkout Magazine by Niall Swan
