When it comes to great advertising, it’s the big, bold, creative and sometimes downright silly ideas that usually catch, and keep, consumers’ attention. Jibing at rival brands, although risky, can work wonders.
The Soda Wars
Soft drinks giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi have long played with humour in their ads to not only entertain, but to keep alive their much-reported rivalry. Sniping at each other since the early 1900s in printed adverts, the competitors continue to use simple imagery in more recent campaigns to win consumers’ advocacy.
This print advert was pushed out by Pepsi to celebrate Halloween, as a dig at Coca-Cola. Lost on many, it received mixed reviews, as some saw it as a cape, and not a scary seasonal costume. Coca-Cola were quick off the mark with their response, showing the same advert but with a different caption to depict Coca-Cola as the hero.
Both adverts divided cola fans across the world, resulting in much discussion - surely the sign of a successful advert!
Image source: The Next Web
Brand beef Another age-old brand rivalry is the famous beef (see what we did there?) between McDonald’s and Burger King. There are too many examples to feature all, but Burger King’s Halloween store takeover tickled us:
Image source: The Next Web
Brand beef Another age-old brand rivalry is the famous beef (see what we did there?) between McDonald’s and Burger King. There are too many examples to feature all, but Burger King’s Halloween store takeover tickled us:
Image source: Business Insider
But, that was nothing compared to this creative advert from McDonald’s in France:
Image source: Ad Week
Game playing
Premium German car manufacturer Audi challenged its close rival BMW to a game of one-upmanship, with its ‘Your move’ campaign. Both brands got to show off their top models on bigger and better billboards, BMW calling the final ‘game over’.
Image source: BMW blog
Image source: Simply Advertising
These are just some of our favourite examples of comparative advertising from massive global brands. They show that, sometimes, poking fun at each other can result in huge exposure and confirm brand loyalty with consumers.
