Most controversial campaigns of the year

Three appearances - one in spring and two in fall - divided the Swiss Confederation in 2003, starting with crisp female poses dressed in a touch of nothing, Sloggi brand. The delicate, Barbie-sized creations sowed discord between the sexes: While the Venusians felt robbed of their dignity, the Martians fell for the charms of the spring sirens on the roadside. This in turn led to heated discussions about road safety. At least the accusation of sexism was dismissed by the negative decision of the Fairness Commission. In the fall, Franz AG was able to pick the fruits of its regional image campaign: juicy accusations of racism. The creatives at MRM Partners actually wanted to use a name game to highlight the company's expertise in Peugeot representation. The fact that they crossed out names such as Goran, José, Giovanni or Detlef in red and replaced them with Franz - the "right name for Peugeot" - was taken badly. "Contemptuous and racist", was the verdict. The campaign by Sigi Feigel's foundation against racism and anti-Semitism also reaped these accusations at almost the same time. The jokes designed by Wirz without a funny punchline tore open a deep rift in the Swiss population - although this ran through all genders, parts of the country and political views. Reproach number one: the idiosyncratic implementation stirred up the very prejudices that it was actually intended to combat. Discriminatory or not, all three campaigns are striking. And what more could advertising want? Drawing the ire of women and anti-racists: three campaigns that caused a lot of discussion in 2003.
(sk)