Sometimes, what makes an ad spectacularly bad is when it gives the total opposite message it’s trying to convey. French TV station France 3 recently pulled its advertising when one of its ads failed for this exact reason.
What the spot was hoping to do was promote the fact the station has prominently female hosts. Instead it did this.
The commercial runs through a house. There’s something burning in the stove, the kids’ bedrooms are all a mess, the iron has been left on, the bathroom toilet paper rolls haven’t been properly replaced, the dog hasn’t gone for a walk and there’s a pair of shoes missing from the many in a closets collection. Basically, the ad is showing what a house would look like if a stereotypical house mom wasn’t there. The video flashes the words ‘”Most of our TV hosts are hostesses.” The company also used (translated) “More different, more modern, more feminine! France 3 affirms its values through this new campaign honoring its female presenters!” in a Twitter caption.
La majorité de nos présentateurs sont des présentatrices !https://t.co/iXTEwFNWlh
— Ancien compte France 3 (@AnciencompteF3) October 2, 2015
The problem with this ad, is the company willingly brags about its number of female announcers, which really belittles the accomplishment. Its great the company is being so inclusive, as many should be, but the way they advertised it is like the women they hired are a number more than a person. It’s basically a “look how great we are,” moment. Plus, they could have been much less subtle trying to make their point. The video makes it seem like all women belong as stay at home mom’s, which obviously isn’t true. It’s easy to see why the company pulled the spot.
