Adytude Blog

LG WHIRLPOOL Fiasco TOI, Lazy Advertising / Bad Marketing?

Posted 4 years ago

This festive season the shortcut used by these two leading brands in India, LG and Whirlpool, has made both these brands land in dilemma between marketing professionals as well as the consumers.

There are two critical questions to be asked when such a blunder takes place are :

  1.  Are the marketing heads not willing to spend enough on getting a professional photoshoot done while spending so much on buying space in leading newspapers ? OR
  2. Are advertisers in agencies holding themselves back due to time crunch or festive time boundaries ?

Let’s Find out

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

Both these brands released huge festive season advertisements in the leading newspaper -The Times of India. The brands used a stock image of a family of four ( young parents and two smiling children) spending a joyous moment on an auspicious occasion. The Whirlpool ad headline read  ‘Golden Diwali Offer’ with an attached strapline “Get an assured 0.5Kg Gold Coin”. Whereas the LG ad went like ‘India’s Largest TV Manufacturer, Now India’s Most Trusted Television Brand’. Interesting Fact : Both the brands unfortunately used the same family stock image. With the inexcusable blunder which both these brands caused whether it be due to lack of budget or time crunch to market the ad or simply ignorance, everything was at a standstill.

One would be lucky if one didn’t see and register both ads but considering both the sides have marketing planners and media buyers, keeping a track of their competitor’s patterns and past media buys, and also not to forget the same medium and platform , this was a huge risk taken.
 

SURPISED? HISTORY HAS REPEATED ITSELF

These two are not the only brands which muddled up. MarathiShaadi.com and Jeevansathi.com too published print ads a while back using similar stock images, giving the twitter community many more reasons to diss the brands.

It’s not so surprising because this embarrassing fiasco happened more than a decade back in 2013 when the Congress government in Maharashtra came out with a series of “Bharat Nirman” ads.  Nevertheless, in one of the creatives, the celebrated long standing party of the India used a remarkably similar image as the Bharatiya Janta Party to showcase it’s ‘Antyodaya’ campaign

TWEETS : WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY –

 

OUR PERSPECTIVE:

What benefit does your brand gain if you give other marketers and advertisers an open chance to criticize and laugh at you? Making a mockery out of yourself on such big platforms is not publicity in form.  The leading home manufacturer brands of India made a laughing stock by buying those stocks from the internet. You as a consumer, would position these brands much lower than what it originally was. 

These gigantic MNC’s which rule the Indian market should preferably use original images or do damage control once such a thing happens. Considering past episodes which have taken place , such risks should be avoided at an cost.  This is a true example of how shortcuts never take you a long way.

Let’s see what the experts have to say about this.

Shivjeet Kullar (Founder & CEO NFX Digital) 

It’s an unhappy coincidence. When two brands inadvertently use the same visual has nothing lazy about it. Both the brands didn’t know if either one was doing something similar. They should not try and save costs since they’re anyway spending a fortune on buying space. Ideally they should not use a stock image but get a professional photoshoot done. The problem arises when these stock image companies sell the same photograph to both the parties. 
MNC’s like these are emphasizing more on media than creativity. Company heads are spending a lot on media, who aren’t lazy but are short-sightedly giving a heads-up on using stock images. A photoshoot today usually takes half a day and it cannot be a budgetary dispute. 
Moreover, it confuses the audiences. You get lucky if a consumer doesn’t get to see both the advertisements. 

Conclusion :
The mess which was made could have been avoided and published smartly. As quoted by the experts, such ‘unhappy coincidences’ hamper the brand positioning in the minds of potential and existing consumers in the market. Budgetary compromises shouldn’t be made on ad creation while no so compromises are made on media buying.

sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agomy favourate brand is LG sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agojeevansathi ,com I will never forget as most of younger people of my relatives like . Buneshwor SharmaPosted 4 years agomy favourite Brand Tapati PurkayasthaPosted 4 years agoLg electronics product are noce KondapalliNageswari Posted 4 years agoGood Amit VyasPosted 4 years agoLG IS BEST Subhankar MaityPosted 4 years agoI like LG more than other. sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoWhirlpool is also favourable YOYO1234HAPPYPosted 4 years agoLG is good brand Good sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoBoth lg and Whirlpool are of same standatd Tapati PurkayasthaPosted 4 years agoOur favourite brand sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoLg and whirlpool are both good brand sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoWhirlpool is also good Ajay shantaram DarekarPosted 4 years agoThe mess which was made could have been avoided and published smartly. As quoted by the experts, such ‘unhappy coincidences’ hamper the brand positioning in the minds of potential and existing consumers in the market. Budgetary compromises shouldn’t be made on ad creation while no so compromises are made on media buying. Anmol ThakurPosted 4 years agoWow Its Funny, But I Want To Say That LG Is Good But Whirlpools Are Far More Superior On The Higher End Brands For Kitchens. Ajay shantaram DarekarPosted 4 years agoThe mess which was made could have been avoided and published smartly. As quoted by the experts, such ‘unhappy coincidences’ hamper the brand positioning in the minds of potential and existing consumers in the market. Budgetary compromises shouldn’t be made on ad creation while no so compromises are made on media buying pavanichinni2@gmail.comPosted 4 years agoi like the LG brand products sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoLg air conditioner is good and power saving cheerla PurushothamPosted 4 years agoLG life's goid cheerla PurushothamPosted 4 years agoLG product Led tv abdul rahman bin husseinPosted 4 years agoamazing Tapati PurkayasthaPosted 4 years agoBoth brands are favourite. We have LG microwave , a.c etc. Similarly Whirlpool washing machine and also fridge. Both are good sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoMy favourite brand sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoLg is good brand and Whirlpool is also not bad Tapati PurkayasthaPosted 4 years agoWe are lgian and like very much sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agojeevansathi is a best brand sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoVery good ads Tapati PurkayasthaPosted 4 years agoGenuine brands sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoThese ads are good sujit.purkayasthaPosted 4 years agoGood Tapati PurkayasthaPosted 4 years agoBoth thr lg anf whirlpoo lare favourite to me . mukeshPosted 4 years agonyc Tapati PurkayasthaPosted 4 years agoWhirlpool and are of equal standard AshokPosted 4 years agoMy favorate brand is LG Arihant Posted 4 years agogood to find the mistake and rectfy it Ponnuri Ganesh Durgarao Posted 3 years agoMy favourite FRANCIS ONYEAMA Posted 3 years agoMy favorite electronics partner lg Om Prakash DubeyPosted 3 years agoSome times such types of incidents happens due to internet and time I had to come with a ad and using the stock photos. The general consumers are even not able to make it out except few and percentage wise they are negligible. I am not telling that that was not a blunder mistake from profesional point of view but still those ads were eye catchers. I like both LG and Whirlpool both and use their products. Diksha BohraPosted 3 years agoLG is great Himanshu baidyaPosted 3 years agoLG is leading brand of India I also have two LG TV that work great sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoLg is best and ready to replace the product if necessary and this happened in my case fur to smell in air conditioner.great sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoI have use whirlpools product mainly washing machine sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoLg brand is now becoming popular . sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoI am happy for buying lg air conditioner. Aaftab khanPosted 3 years agoLG products are also goods sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoThe ad for every product is important so the company make ad .I like the ad to verify the contents and find the difference. And a little difference will be advantageous .The case of lg over Whirlpool is slightly modern. JiteshPosted 3 years agoLG is company very trusted Hari prasadPosted 3 years agomess happens always Manisha BishtPosted 3 years agoLG is always my favourite sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoBoth lg and whirlpool are favourate brand. In our family both the rand is used. As lg microwave is very good and we are using during last 15 years. Similarly we are using whirlpool washing machine since long and functioning well. Lg air conditioner also used since 3 years are good. So I think both company are good. FgPosted 3 years agoLG is a reputed brand. Paluri RamchanderPosted 3 years agoGood brand sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoNot only in India ,consumers attracted by company in all over the world through advertising. Similarly these company LG and Whirlpool products are continuously updating the products every years.Hence consumers will know from and. sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoThe reasons of similar types of image in the ad of the two giant brand do not like to miss the consumers . Really a simple thinking in choosing an image by the marketing professional without taking risk. Mazhar khanPosted 3 years agoLG is best ArbazkhanPosted 3 years agoPosted 1 year ago LG is better than any other Because it is a key feature of LG So I believe on LG sufyan khanPosted 3 years agoMy favroite brand is lg Harshit GargPosted 3 years agoHi sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoI have experienced one year ago regarding LG brand .Their marketing head has visited my residence from a location about 450 km in road and verified the product and agreed to replace my product and ultimately replaced the new product after one year.Thank to the company. sujit.purkayasthaPosted 3 years agoLg is a best brand in the industry now a days DiyaPosted 2 years agoLG and whirlpool are both great electronic but as looking from more popular brand I say LG because I have seen it and bought it more than whirlpool DiyaPosted 2 years agoI am enjoying LG fridge and whirlpool AC Girish KhoslaPosted 2 years agoIt’s an unhappy coincidence. When two brands inadvertently use the same visual has nothing lazy about it. Both the brands didn’t know if either one was doing something similar. They should not try and save costs since they’re anyway spending a fortune on buying space. Ideally they should not use a stock image but get a professional photoshoot done. The problem arises when these stock image companies sell the same photograph to both the parties. MNC’s like these are emphasizing more on media than creativity. Company heads are spending a lot on media, who aren’t lazy but are short-sightedly giving a heads-up on using stock images. A photoshoot today usually takes half a day and it cannot be a budgetary dispute. Moreover, it confuses the audiences. You get lucky if a consumer doesn’t get to see both the advertisements. JashandeepPosted 2 years agoOkkk Ravi LPosted 2 years agoMy favorite Brand FforFREE sujit.purkayasthaPosted 2 years agoServices of lg is better so far I have experienced RameshPosted 2 years agoits my favorite brand sujit.purkayasthaPosted 2 years agoLG is a global company. Mrs rafiPosted 2 years agoI like the brand whirlpool and it’s a leading brand too but it’s a big blunder with both the ads sujit.purkayasthaPosted 2 years agoLG is best brand now a days Ravi JaiswalPosted 1 year agoLG is my favourite brand neha kumariPosted 1 year agomy favourite brand. SuhaniPosted 1 year agoNice dhanraj singh gurjarPosted 1 year agoSuper ASHISH MOREPosted 1 year agoMeaningful content and address is required for sizeable netizens ShamnaPosted 1 year agoIt's very relevant and innovative Jolet Joy Posted 8 months agoMy favourite is Whirlpool. IrfanaPosted 6 months agoLg is a great brand Rajeev PasiPosted 2 months agoNice Rajeev PasiPosted 2 months agoNice