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By Brit Morse Web producer, Inc.com @britnmorse

The 7 Most Embarrassing Branding Mistakes of 2018

Many brands did not get the response they were expecting from their promotional campaigns this year.

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The 7 Most Embarrassing Branding Mistakes of 2018 | Inc.com https://www.inc.com/brit-morse/2018-biggest-marketing-branding-fails.html

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Whether fault lies in the concept or the execution, a bad marketing or branding campaign can result in an absolute mess. Here are seven of the worst ones rolled out in 2018.

1. H&M In January, the fast-fashion giant released an image on its website of a young African- American child modeling a green sweatshirt that included the slogan "Coolest Monkey in the Jungle." Customers were outraged, and Twitter users called the company out for its lack of cultural sensitivity.

2. Estee Lauder Also in January, Estee Lauder released a new line of foundation called Double Wear Nude Water Fresh Makeup SPF25. While the company released over 30 shades of the product, more than half were geared toward women with very pale, light skin, leaving very few options for women of color. Ads for the makeup sent a clear message to

Selene Arianela @A rianelaSelene

.@hm this is inappropriate, offens ive, and racist. Why is the

white kid "a jungle survivor" and the black kid the "cooles t

m onkey in the jungle"? How do you think this is okay?

REMOVE this and the clothing piece. This is com pletely

distasteful! #racis t #hm www2.hm .com /en_gb/productp…

3,301 8:29 PM - Jan 7, 2018

3,075 people are talking about this

The 7 Most Embarrassing Branding Mistakes of 2018 | Inc.com https://www.inc.com/brit-morse/2018-biggest-marketing-branding-fails.html

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FOUNDERS PROJECT

10 Years Ago, 'Sheer Blinding Magic' Launched

Big Gay Ice Cream. Now, It's a Massively Popular

Business Pride Month marks the 10th anniversary of the company, whose eyebrow-raising name and kitschy, inclusive brand

have won it legions of fans.

The 7 Most Embarrassing Branding Mistakes of 2018 | Inc.com https://www.inc.com/brit-morse/2018-biggest-marketing-branding-fails.html

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HALIE CHAVEZ

The 7 Most Embarrassing Branding Mistakes of 2018 | Inc.com https://www.inc.com/brit-morse/2018-biggest-marketing-branding-fails.html

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City's East Village, "was so horrendous and perfect that there is no way we could come close to topping it," says Quint, as he reminisced about the roller-derby girl security team working the line; drag queen Ari Kiki pretending to �lch a customer's baby; eight contrabassoonists performing the theme to 2001: A Space Odyssey; and Anthony Bourdain in priest's garb delivering a benediction.

"One little girl got into the store and was so excited that she peed herself," Quint says. "But everyone was in such good spirits. They were like, 'Oh honey, if you've got to go, go. Guys, can we get some paper towels?' It was clear that we had somehow developed an army."

June is Pride Month. It is also the 10th anniversary of Big Gay Ice Cream, a four-store chain in New York and Philadelphia with an unspeci�ed number of new outlets in the hopper and pints available through major retailers up and down both coasts. (The company does not release its revenue. In summer it employs about 50 people.) Birthed in a food truck by Quint and Bryan Petroff (then a couple, now not), Big Gay Ice Cream was meant to be a lark, a bit of performance art, and a brief respite for Quint, who was coming off comprehensive exams for his doctorate of musical arts. To its founders' delight and ba�ement, it has grown into one of the most distinctive and engaging ice cream companies since Ben & Jerry rode a cow to nationwide prominence.

From the beginning, Petroff shaped and �ercely guarded the company's brand, the source of much of its popularity. Colors pop; music bops. Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's wrote and performs the company's earworm theme song. The menu is awash in whimsy, like Ben & Jerry's but a titch naughtier. Half the fun is saying to the counterperson, "I'd like a Salty Pimp." (Injected with dulce du leche and enrobed with chocolate, that cone is named for the TV show Pimp My Ride, although the reference isn't obvious.)

Quint says Big Gay Ice Cream is not an LGBTQ brand so much as a brand that celebrates the humor, camp, and kitsch embraced by gay culture. The word "gay," he points out, refers to orientation but also to joy. Most people would describe the bold-colored stripes swirling up the company's cone logo as a rainbow. But technically speaking, it's not because the colors are--intentionally--in the wrong order. And yes, the �avor Dorothy--a mash-up of vanilla soft serve, dulce de leche, and crushed Nilla Wafers--nods to the coded term gay men used 60 years ago to privately identify themselves to one another. But other �avor names riff off a Neil Gaiman novel (Quint and Petroff created the pretzel-studded American Globs for the author when he visited their truck) and a Patrick

The 7 Most Embarrassing Branding Mistakes of 2018 | Inc.com https://www.inc.com/brit-morse/2018-biggest-marketing-branding-fails.html

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