Online ad campaign “Control Tonight” kicked off a firestorm last year with ads warning women about alcohol and rape in a way that sounded to many like victim-blaming. The ads encourage viewers to click to “see how you could have prevented this” — “this” being a hypothetical drunken night out with friends that culminates in a violent sexual assault. Not only did the tone offend people for its implication that the victim and her friends, not the hypothetical rapist, were responsible, “Victims themselves… found the images accompanying the ads— a woman’s legs with her panties pulled down past her knees— upsetting and victimizing,” feminist blog Jezebel.com said.
What Were They Thinking? 10 Ads That Sparked Controversy
Cringe-inducing ads can do a lot to tarnish a company's image. Here's ten examples of advertisements gone wrong and how each company handled the fallout.