"I Don't Think They Care What Women Think About These Ads": 11 Shocking Ad Campaigns That Massively Backfired On A Company

In July 2025, American Eagle announced a partnership with Sydney Sweeney by releasing a series of ads focusing on her body. Despite the provocative nature of this campaign, the commercial that has encountered the most condemnation features the Euphoria star explaining, "Genes are passed down from parent to offspring, often determining traits like eye color, personality, and even hair color. My jeans are blue."

While many claim that the ad is simply reminiscent of Brooke Shields's infamous 1980 Calvin Klein ad in which the 15-year-old discussed "selective mating," other social media users have pointed out that in today's political climate, the ad seems to use eugenicist language by showcasing a young, blonde-haired, blue-eyed white woman as the "pinnacle" of genetics, with some going so far as to deem it "Nazi propaganda."

In one TikTok video, Sayantani DasGupta, a lecturer at Columbia University, noted that the campaign was “really imbued with eugenic messaging” and that “It is both a testament to this political moment, and it’s contributing to and reinforcing this kind of anti-immigrant, anti-people of color, pro-eugenic political moment."

Pepsi, long known for its star-studded commercials, made a major misstep in the public eye on April 4, 2017, when the soda brand released its "Jump In" ad featuring Kendall Jenner.

The ad depicted the model in the midst of a photoshoot when she notices a protest making its way down the street. The protestors hold signs that seem to signal a peaceful rally when the then-21-year-old decides to join them, fist bumping a fellow protester, and grabbing a Pepsi from an icy bucket. She then spots a police officer and hands him a Pepsi while a woman wearing a hijab looks on and photographs the climactic moment (which many critics noted was eerily similar to a well-publicized photo of protester Ieshia Evans standing in front of a police line during a protest against the police killing of a Black man in Baton Rouge).

In a press statement released the day the ad went public, Pepsi stated that the commercial was part of its "Live For Now" campaign and "captures the spirit and actions of those people that jump in to every moment. It features multiple lives, stories, and emotional connections that show passion, joy, unbound and uninhibited moments."

In 2019, Peloton faced backlash for alleged sexism after their holiday ad, titled "The Gift That Gives Back," featured a woman's husband gifting her a Peloton for the holiday season. The ad continued to show the woman documenting her fitness journey over the course of a year, and concluded with her showing her husband the footage the following year, while she states, "A year ago, I didn't realize how much this would change me."

The criticism online was instantaneous, with tweets like "Nothing says 'maybe you should lose a few pounds' like gifting your already rail thin life partner a Peloton," and comedians, such as Eva Victor, making profanity-laden parodies. Many even noted that the "dystopian" ad was akin to a Black Mirror episode 

Within a few days, Peloton's stock had dropped 9% (at one point, the company lost $1.5 billion due to the backlash), and rumors spread about the commercial possibly being pulled from the air, however a company spokesperson told CNBC, “We constantly hear from our members how their lives have been meaningfully and positively impacted after purchasing or being gifted a Peloton Bike or Tread, often in ways that surprise them. Our holiday spot was created to celebrate that fitness and wellness journey, while we’re disappointed in how some have misinterpreted this commercial, we are encouraged by — and grateful for — the outpouring of support we’ve received from those who understand what we were trying to communicate."

In November 2024, Coca-Cola encountered backlash after releasing their holiday ad, which harkened back to their classic 1985 commercial titled "Holidays Are Coming." The 15-second 2024 commercial featured a fleet of iconically red trucks driving through a snowy and festive town to deliver Coca-Cola. In small print, the ad states: “created by Real Magic AI.” 

The ad, which was meant to inspire nostalgia, rather invoked outrage from consumers and artists alike, with Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch commenting, “FUN FACT: @CocaCola is ‘red’ because it’s made from the blood of out-of-work artists! #HolidayFactz."

In 2015, Carl's Jr. drew backlash for its "scandalous" 42-second Super Bowl commercial titled "All Natural." The ad featured model Charlotte McKinney walking through a farmers market, seemingly nude, having her body parts blocked by multiple items. It was not revealed until more than 30 seconds in that the commercial is about food.

A conversation was sparked online, but it certainly wasn't about hamburgers. Some responded sarcastically, such as, "Just saw a preview of Carl's Jr. commercial for Super Bowl. Now I need a cigarette," while others pointed out the ad's objectification of women was "Setting feminism back four decades."

The fast-food chain, however, was no stranger to using female celebs, such as Paris Hilton, Heidi Klum, and Kate Upton, for provocative ads in the past, so much so that it led social media users to create the hashtag #WomenAreMoreThanMeat.

In August 2015, Bic drew ire from social media users for their Facebook message/ad for South Africa's National Women's Day that prompted women to: "Look like a girl. Act like a lady. Think like a man. Work like a boss." 

Thousands expressed disgust online with feminist activist Caroline Criado-Perez tweeting, "What fresh hell is this” and “srsly, ‘think like a man’...*stabs eyes out with bic pen.*" The Sunday Times of Johannesburg reported that one commenter stated, "Look like a girl?’ Because the infantilisation of women and the sexualisation of children is exactly the kind of blurred line we need!"

This wasn't Bic's first time facing public outrage, as the company released pink "for her" pens in 2011 that were "designed to fit comfortably in a woman's hand." Ellen DeGeneres mocked the pens in a monologue, asking, “They don’t come with any instructions, so like, how do they expect us to learn how to write with them?” and making a spoof commercial where she instructed a young girl to “write down a grocery list or even recipes for when you need to feed your man."

In 2017, German-based personal care company Nivea sparked backlash after posting a Facebook ad to promote their "Invisible for Black & White" deodorant, showing the back of a brown-haired, robe-clad woman overlaid with the words: "White is purity." The post caption stated, "Keep it clean, keep it bright. Don't let anything ruin it."

The online backlash was immediate, with many claiming that the ad had overt tones of white supremacy, considering that the post was targeted at the brand's Middle Eastern following, writing, "Come on #Nivea. This is so racist that I do not even know where to begin. Speechless. In future, refer to clothes or products, not colors."

The ad was also widely shared in alt-right online communities, with one account claiming: "#Nivea: the official moisturizer/anti-perspirant of the #AltRight."

The ad was removed from the company's Facebook account after two days, and an apologetic statement was released: “We are deeply sorry to anyone who may take offense to this specific post. Diversity and equal opportunity are crucial values of Nivea.”

Speaking to the New York Times, a representative for the company explained that the campaign was targeted at Middle Eastern followers who would associate black with strength and white with purity.

In 2012, Ashton Kutcher appeared in an ad for Popchips, where he appeared as four different people: a diva, a biker, a hippie, and a Bollywood producer, named Raj. Kutcher adopted an accent and appeared in brownface to play the character, who discusses his dating preferences, while making no reference to Popchips at any point. (At the time, the That '70s Show star was labeled as the brand's "president of pop culture.")

Tech entrepreneur Anil Dash was a major critic, writing on his blog that the ad was "a hackneyed, unfunny advertisement featuring Kutcher in brownface talking about his romantic options, with the entire punchline being that he's doing it in a fake-Indian outfit and voice. That's it, there's seriously no other gag." He continued, "If you find yourself putting brown makeup on a white person in 2012 so they can do a bad 'funny' accent in order to sell potato chips, you are on the wrong course. Make some different decisions." Dash later noted that Keith Belling, CEO of Popchips, called him to extend a "sincere and contrite" apology.

For International Women's Day in 2021, Burger King UK made a serious online blunder when they tweeted, "Women belong in the kitchen." Follow-up tweets announced that the statement was simply meant to grab users attention and promote the fast food chain's new scholarship, “If they want to, of course. Yet only 20% of chefs are women. We're on a mission to change the gender ratio," and "We are proud to be launching a new scholarship programme which will help female Burger King employees pursue their culinary dreams."

However, many social media users never made it past the sheer shock of seeing "Women belong in the kitchen" appear on their feed. With some writing, "Please don't use sexism as clickbait," and "There’s better ways to draw attention to something that don’t including using the most sexist trope ever."

One commenter pointed out that the "sexist" tweet brought more publicity to the account, stating, "The engagement on your original tweet—which, again, is literally just a sexist trope—is 527% *higher* than the tweet announcing the scholarship program. Way more people are seeing you validate sexism on #InternationalWomensDay than are learning about your scholarship program."

After spending the day issuing explanations, Burger King eventually removed the post and officially apologized, writing: "We hear you. We got our initial tweet wrong and we’re sorry. Our aim was to draw attention to the fact that only 20% of professional chefs in UK kitchens are women and to help change that by awarding culinary scholarships. We will do better next time."

When Brooke Shields's now-infamous Calvin Klein ad first aired in November 1980, it fueled a media frenzy. While there were many ads in the series shot by director Richard Avedon, the one that sparked the most backlash was when the then-15-year-old asked viewers, "Do you know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."

That line scandalized American viewers, leading to the commercial being banned by ABC and CBS in New York, as well as other countries. In a 2021 Vogue interview, Shields recalled her reaction to the press's outrage, "I was away when they came out, and then I started hearing that the commercials were being banned. The paparazzi would scream at me and my mother, ‘How could you!' It just struck me as so ridiculous.”

The now-60-year-old noted that she never thought of the line as an innuendo, claiming, “I didn’t think it was about underwear or sexual in nature. I was naive. I think the assumption was that I was much more savvy than I ever really was. I was a virgin, and I was a virgin forever after that.” Despite the controversy, Shields maintains that she is still proud of the ad and its legacy, “The controversy backfired. The campaign was extremely successful, and then the underwear overtook the jeans.”

She doubled down on her support for the campaign in a March 2023 interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, telling Colbert, "It was a phrase. It wasn't 'I'm not wearing underwear' or 'come' wasn't spelled differently, it was c-o-m-e, I was like, 'What's the problem?'" She proceeded to call the ensuing backlash "ludicrous."