CoverGirl NFL Campaign Reveals Peril of Digital Marketing

The past two weeks have seen the NFL embroiled in a controversy surrounding domestic violence towards women and children.  The controversy began when the NFL suspended Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens for a mere two games, after admitting to having physically assaulted him then fiancée.  Shortly after the punishment was announced, the public reaction was overwhelmingly strong that the NFL's punishment of Rice was too lenient, and that the league was not standing up for women and other victims of domestic abuse.  Days later, a video tape was released by the media showing the horrible act of violence committed by Rice, which incited a firestorm or public criticism of both Rice and the league. 

It was at this point in the process that NFL sponsor CoverGirl became a part of the story.  In the lead up to the season, CoverGirl had launched an advertising campaign aimed at women fans using the slogan “Get Your Game Face On”.  The campaign showed women wearing makeup inspired by the team colors of each of the 32 NFL teams, including the Baltimore Ravens (pictured below).

      

In light of what was seen as a lack of support for women from the NFL, people on the internet decided to photoshop the original advertisement to show the woman in the Ravens advertisement with a black eye.  The images went viral, and were widely seen across the internet (image below), where people called for a boycott of both the NFL and CoverGirl.

This incident demonstrates one of the perils of digital advertising.  While a brand can shape its initial message and campaign, once it places that message into the digital domain it no longer exercises control over the message or content.  Digital ads and campaigns are easily manipulated and changed by the public.  Additionally, when campaigns like this strike a chord with the public, the images and message can spread like wildfire.  In many cases, these same phenomenon are exactly what makes digital marketing attractive to advertisers.  The ease with which a brand can get its message out and have it spread via digital media is one of the key strengths of digital marketing.  However, as this case demonstrates, those same dynamics can be damaging to the brand when incidents like this occur.  Advertisers must understand that these risks are inherent to digital marketing, and that there is an innate risk that comes with launching digital campaigns.