Our condolences to Odney Advertising, the creators of a new tourism campaign for the state of North Dakota. The ad above is one of ten from the Bismarck, ND agency, aiming to communicate that South Dakota’s sibling has more to offer vacationers than Yellowstone National Park. The ad became a lead story on Yahoo! this week. But not for the reason the agency or client expected. A few people were outraged by the ad. Some even called it “sickening.” There were dozens of complaints online, and well, sometimes that’s all it takes. The ad was pulled. “It really just takes one or two (negative comments), and then people jump on the bandwagon,” said the director of the state’s tourism division. The point here is not whether the ad is good or bad, or even tawdry and in poor taste – we’ll leave that up to your comments. What matters is that Odney finds itself in a position that is becoming increasingly common in the age of instant feedback. (Remember the new Gap logo?) We want to find new ways to make consumers an immediate part of the brand experience. We just need to be ready for the speeding bandwagons.
– Glen