{"id":29155,"date":"2018-12-11T11:37:34","date_gmt":"2018-12-11T11:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=29155"},"modified":"2018-12-11T11:37:34","modified_gmt":"2018-12-11T11:37:34","slug":"doing-it-for-the-culture-marketing-and-p-c-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/doing-it-for-the-culture-marketing-and-p-c-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"Doing it for the culture: Marketing and P.C culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-29156\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2018\/12\/6487283581_fdb8fce904_o.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"536\" height=\"528\" \/><\/p>\n<p><b>The recent Dolce and Gabbana and M&amp;S ads controversy shows people are becoming more \u201cwoke\u201d and are calling anything that is politically incorrect. <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With a generation that is outspoken and socially aware, millennials are social warriors. It is even easier than before to share opinions via social media and have it spread like wildfire. This power has enabled millennials to speak up about unacceptable behaviour. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Case in point is <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dolce and Gabbana (D&amp;G).<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> In mid-November, the Italian luxury fashion brand posted three short videos on Weibo, a Chinese social media network, \u00a0to promote its upcoming Shanghai runway extravaganza.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"# Dolce&amp;Gabbana\uff1a\u8d77\u7b77\u5403\u98ef \u7cfb\u5217\u5ee3\u544a\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Jfzy-_jDyeo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The videos show an Asian woman dressed in Dolce and Gabbana attempting to eat pizza, spaghetti, and cannoli. A male Mandarin-speaker says, &#8220;Welcome to the first episode of &#8216;Eating with Chopsticks&#8217; by Dolce &amp; Gabbana&#8221;, which is pronounced incorrectly. The voice instructs the woman how to &#8220;properly&#8221; eat the Italian dishes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The videos sparked national outrage as it was deemed as racist. Critics bashed the ad use outdated and stereotypical items such as lanterns and Chinese couplets in the clips. The company removed the videos from Chinese social media within 24 hours of posting them. The ad campaign is now banned on Chinese social media. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Read more:<\/b><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"2rpXQjCxgK\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/dolce-gabbanas-latest-drama-the-most-exciting-episode-messed-up-with-chinese\/\">Dolce &#038; Gabbana&#8217;s latest drama, the most exciting episode: &#8220;Messed up with Chinese&#8221;<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Dolce &#038; Gabbana&#8217;s latest drama, the most exciting episode: &#8220;Messed up with Chinese&#8221;&#8221; &#8212; Voice of London\" src=\"https:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/dolce-gabbanas-latest-drama-the-most-exciting-episode-messed-up-with-chinese\/embed\/#?secret=Q3dnCtjIxy#?secret=2rpXQjCxgK\" data-secret=\"2rpXQjCxgK\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/qkquen\/status\/1068819945679577089<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Then there is the of Marks and Spencer (M&amp;S).\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">M&amp;S had \u2018fancy little knickers\u2019 for women alongside dapper \u2018outfits to impress\u2019 for men in a Nottingham store display. Critics deemed it sexist while supporters <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">dubbed people for being \u201csnowflakes\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another window display at the same Nottingham store is aimed at women and suggests they, too, must have &#8220;outfits to impress&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a statement, M&amp;S responded: \u201cWe\u2019ve highlighted one combination in our windows, which are part of a wider campaign that features a large variety of must-have Christmas moments, from David Gandy washing up in an M&amp;S suit through to families snuggling up in our matching PJs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">To be clear: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/marksandspencer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@marksandspencer<\/a> believe that the &#39;MUST HAVES&#39; are:<\/p>\n<p>For MEN: &#39;outfits to impress&#39;<\/p>\n<p>For WOMEN: &#39;fancy little knickers&#39;<\/p>\n<p>Imagine for a moment if those window displays were reversed. <br \/>Go on M&amp;S &#8230;. we are watching. <\/p>\n<p>PS Who signed this off? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/sexist?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#sexist<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/marksandspencer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#marksandspencer<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XOqLUSElgd\">pic.twitter.com\/XOqLUSElgd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; FiLiA (@FiLiA_charity) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FiLiA_charity\/status\/1064248341763100672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 18, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Marketing to the PC Masses<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The P.C culture has affected marketing as<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> consumers are not passive and keep brands accountable. \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Darrell Kofkin, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the undergraduate marketing degrees at University of Westminster, says that &#8220;true marketing in a way that adds values to their experience and their life.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think any brand today has to be clear that it has to go through a process of managing against risks,&#8221; Kofkin said.<\/p>\n<p>Big brands may undertake large focus to see the perspective a campaign may receive. Another tool is social media: &#8220;Many brands will be taping into understanding what their consumers are thinking each and every day.\u00a0 So with social media now, there is continual engagement with their customers which couldn&#8217;t happen in the past.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kofkin sees this change in marketing as a sign of the time: \u00a0\u201cThe world has moved on. Perhaps something that was acceptable in the 60s, 70s, or 80s is not acceptable in 2018 and that&#8217;s about brands evolving with the time to ensure they are continually in touch with their customers.&#8221;\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Marketing to the PC masses by Earyel\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?visual=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F542852211&#038;show_artwork=true&#038;maxheight=750&#038;maxwidth=500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although it makes brands accountable, it can make marketing for a brand harder. Bold ads make an impression on consumers and an elevate a brand&#8217;s image. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">United Colors of Benetton during <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the 1980s\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">changed the focus of their ads to be more provocative and focusing on world issues. The most shocking was an image of 33-year-old David Kirby dying from AIDS. The ad received complaints to the British Advertising Standards Authority and some protested against the high street brand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Face Of AIDS: The Story Behind Therese Frare&#039;s Photo | 100 Photos | TIME\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jxaCvvPr98E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the end, the picture raised awareness about the AIDS crisis and gave a face to the illness. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">United Colors of Benetton shows that brands can be provocative to change norms and cause progression in society. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sometimes trying not to \u201cplay it safe\u201d pays off.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Words by Earyel\u00a0<\/strong><strong>Bowleg | Subbing: Teodora Agarici<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/didbygraham\/6487283581\">Graham Richardson (Flickr)<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>For more on PC culture:<\/strong><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"gsHMlibkOq\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/come-again-the-simpsons-to-say-goodbye-to-controversial-character-apu\/\">Come Again? The Simpsons to say goodbye to controversial character Apu<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Come Again? The Simpsons to say goodbye to controversial character Apu&#8221; &#8212; Voice of London\" src=\"https:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/come-again-the-simpsons-to-say-goodbye-to-controversial-character-apu\/embed\/#?secret=UgUSmyRcMR#?secret=gsHMlibkOq\" data-secret=\"gsHMlibkOq\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The recent Dolce and Gabbana and M&amp;S ads controversy shows people are becoming more \u201cwoke\u201d and are calling anything that is politically incorrect. With a generation that is outspoken and socially aware, millennials are social&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":476,"featured_media":29156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52,75,103,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-investigations","category-radio","category-specials"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/476"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}