Finding a way to get your marketing campaign to get a lot of attention can be difficult. Most marketers try to shy away from controversial or potentially offensive messages because they can cause more harm than good, but in some cases, these more ‘risky’ moves can actually pay off quite well.
For example, the Hurts Donut Company, which is based in Springfield, Missouri and has shops in several other states, recently took a bit of a gamble. They made a quick ad for their social media that compared the recent viral ‘Tide pod challenge’ trend (if you haven’t heard of it, it is where kids are actually biting and eating tide pods, which can be extremely dangerous and even deadly, and releasing the video online) and poking fun of it.
In their ad, they have a picture of Tide pods with a big “NO” over it, then they have a Hurts Donut bag, with a donut frosted with a similar design to a Tide Pod that says, “YES.” This is quite a simple, yet timely, message.
In today’s age where everyone is sensitive about everything, it is easy to see how some people would get upset about this message. After all, kids trying to eat chemicals in laundry soap is really no joking matter. That being said, their message has already been shared many thousands of times, and for the most part, it is getting a positive reaction.
They even made a follow-up message warning people not to throw their donuts in the washing machine as it won’t clean their clothes.
In the end, Hurts Donut Company is getting a lot of mostly positive coverage from their risk, and it is almost certainly going to pay off with improved sales. Weighing this type of risk, and making a bold move, can sometimes be just the thing to help your brand stand out from the crowd.
