Advertising in
Globalization
Cultural Advertising
The same message in different ways.
"Leave your Worries Behind"
Leave your worries behind was a campaign by Ford's division in India. One of the ads features Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from Italy, with three women tied up in the back of his trunk. This is a reference to a scandal regarding Berlusconi hiring women for sex.
The other two ads consists of Paris Hilton tying up the Kardashians, and former formula 1 driver, Michael Schumacher, "abducting" his competition.
What is surprising is that Ford India's agency was able to advertise to the European market using current events from their local world, and also cater to the American audience with the Kardashians. These types of connections are the kind that let us know that globalization exists, and it is very much alive.
McDonald's Ads
McDonalds is an example of global advertising done right. They are able to keep a consistent message in their ads, but at the same time, keep it relevant to that society.
For example, in the ad to the left, two versions of the same ad exists. One for the Austrians, and one for the Americans. The Americans get the joke, because it is a traditional brown bag being masked to look like a McDonald's lunch. The traditional sliced sandwich gives it away entirely. On the flip side, someone who is American might need to do some research to understand the Austrian version.
What the Austrian version shows is a pausenbrot. This is a traditional "second lunch" that people in Germany eat. It's a slice of bread that you can add a variety of spreads to. Germany is pushing for 5 smaller meals a day for a healthy regulated diet. And why not? Mom is sneaking you a second breakfast after all.
This is an example of how one corporation has the ability to reach out to a global market with the right tools. This way, McDonalds doesn't have to worry about feeling out of place anywhere. If they make their product fit in with the setting's culture, the product won't look too foreign. On top of that, they've been able to keep the tagline, "i'm lovin' it", consistent throughout the world. Only slight variations of this phrase exist, but the message is essentially the same.
European Suit Ads
Suitsupply is a dutch clothing brand for men. It has locations in multiple countries in the world. This ad campaign is called "Shameless", and it takes a rather risque approach to selling a product. These ads are were shown in Europe, but won't be found anywhere in the United States.
When you look at the Suitsupply website, it tends to be neutral. The amount of "shameless" content is cut, and there isn't a trace of it anywhere. If this ad were to appear on the back of a bus or on a wall in say, Philadelphia, the public's reaction would probably be negative. We could expect a similar reaction of that to the Strong4Life campaign in the "social advertising" page.