Differing Reactions over Similar Subject Matter

Recently, I saw two ads by two completely different companies played in different parts of the world that both focused on the loss of a parent. What’s interesting is that even though both ads used the same strategy, they received very different customer reactions. One of the ads received outrage while the other was a “touching ad” that “pulled at the heart strings”.

The first ad that I’m refering to is the McDonald’s ad played in the UK. Mashable and Telegraph only highlight some of the consumer reactions labeling the ad as “insensitive”, “disgusting” and “offensive”.

On the other hand, Zillow, a Seattle-based company, launched an ad featuring a very sad little boy who has lost interest in everything due to the loss of his mother. His father though finds a house where the little boy is able to see the stars in the sky through the skylight and thus to feel closer to his mother. This ad is appreciated by the press, such as Geekwire, who label the ad touching. It’s even recognized by Sheridan Advertising as “The Ad of the Day”. The viewers, as well, take to Twitter to say how deeply affected by the good ad they are. The absolute worst comments I could find were users complaining that the ad was too sad and was bringing their mood down.

So why the different reactions? Could it be that Americans are simply more insensitive to the death of a parent than their UK counterparts? Or could it be that Zillow is not yet a large enough company that we actively try to criticize? Can you think of other possibilities for the differing reactions? Is there any way to be able to predict what reaction our marketing receives? Feel free to comment below!

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