Would Oscar Wilde Snicker?

There’s a saying, often credited to Oscar Wilde, “Any publicity is good publicity”.

Mars Inc, the maker of the Snickers bar, appears to be testing the boundaries of this philosophy with its series of “Get Some Nuts” ads. The ads feature Mr. T (in a tank no less!) taunting less-than-macho-males going about their business (speed-walking, playing soccer). The T character (I can’t bring myself to call him “Mr.”) shoots Snickers bars at these hapless guys (machine guns are involved, don’t ask…) with the put-down “Get some nuts”.

We all know it’s noisy out there.
We all know you gotta do something to cut through the clutter.
But where do you draw the line?

No point in sitting on the fence, but is it ever OK to ridicule a segment of the population in order to make your point? In the movie, Freedom Writers, the Hilary Swank character reminds her Latino, Asian and African American students that ridicule preceded the unspeakable period in Germany’s history during the 30’s and 40’s. It’s not a big surprise that these ads are offending many and that there’s been a serious outcry. (The ads were recently pulled but are readily available online.)

Mars Inc. had to know this going in. All part of the plan? Undoubtedly.

The Responsible Marketing Blog says “As the leader, Snickers could lay low and play it safe. They deserve credit for not doing that. Sure, “Get Some Nuts” is sophomoric, and it would be hard to call it message responsible: The homophobic overtone of the speedwalker ad can’t be missed. But it certainly breaks through, doesn’t it?”

It’s true. We are talking about them, but is it really gonna make you go out and buy a Snickers bar today? Before you say “no”, think about it. Snickers are kinda like pink elephants. Hard not to think about them even if you try real hard not to. And I gotta admit, after reviewing about 5 of their commercials I do find myself craving chocolate. So it probably will work. But at what cost?

Will it taint the whole Mars brand? Me personally, I wouldn’t want to be an M & M right now…

Ad Age quotes Eric Hirshberg, the chief creative officer at Deutsch, Los Angeles as saying “There are two kinds of controversy in advertising. One is the kind where you decide that it’s worth turning off one group in order to get a more exaggerated and positive response from your target. The other kind is when you either intentionally or inadvertently cross a line of taste and decency.”

Did Snickers cross the line? What do you think?