Javillac
In the world of marketing, the idea that any advertising that gets people talking about the product will have worked is a widespread thought, regardless of whether the opinion is good or bad. For this reason, agencies in this sector have carried out some somewhat risky campaigns.
This was the case of Fiat, which, in 1994, and in order to give a different focus to its advertisements, decided to give a twist by sending letters to its potential customers. Although this idea seems brilliant at first, and even more so considering how ingenious advertising was thirty years ago, all this ended up becoming a disaster.
FIAT CINQUECENTO LOOKING FOR A WIFE
We go back in time three decades ago, when the executives of Fiat Spain thought it would be a good strategy to send more than 50.000 letters to different women throughout Spain to publicize the new Fiat Cinquecento, this stroller could be the perfect candidate for urban mobility for many drivers in the country.
That year the new Fiat Cinquecento Sporting, a version that showed many of its owners that city trips could be very fun. So, with this product with so much potential in your hands Fiat set the target audience as women between 20 and 28 years old.
The problem comes from the message of these letters, in addition to the way they were sent, since they were anonymous and were written on pink paper. Far from seeming like an advertisement for a vehicle, mailboxes throughout Spain were filled with what seemed like declarations of love from a secret admirer., or in the worst case a stalker, and they said the following.
Yesterday we saw each other again.
We passed each other on the street and I noticed that you were looking at me with interest. But our relationship doesn't go beyond this and I don't want it to continue like this. I need to know you and for you to know me. Do you want us to have a little adventure? I just need to be with you for a few minutes and, even if our thing doesn't work out, I promise you that you won't be able to forget our little experience together.
These supposed love letters sowed panic among many of the people who received them, and Once it was discovered that everything was a Fiat advertising campaign, and the resulting barrage of criticism, the brand had to apologize. for this ingenious, but disastrous, declaration of intentions to all his Spanish suitors.
Images: Fiat
