16 Ridiculous PR Disasters From Major Companies

When it seems like everything's already been done, it can be hard to sell a product. Even though we often react to the word "new" without realizing it, we still have to be convinced we want or need something we got along just fine without before. Add that to the fact that most of us find ads annoying and ever-present and it becomes clear what an uphill battle it is to get one ad to stand out from the others.

So some marketers will go to extremes to get their brand noticed. They'll try to make their message edgy and provocative to generate buzz or dive headfirst into a subculture they don't fully understand. Sometimes, they'll even stretch the truth to make their product seem more amazing than it actually is.

Yet, as these types often learn, there is such a thing as bad publicity. Backlash can be loud and immediate and suddenly the brand they were trying to promote makes national news for all the wrong reasons. Sometimes these mistakes can even inspire class-action lawsuits and cost major companies millions of dollars, making already expensive blunders even pricier.

So any aspiring Don Drapers or Peggy Olsons out there may want to take note of the consequences these 16 brands faced when they went too far.

Don't forget to COMMENT and tell us about your favorite marketing bungles.

1. Absolut Vodka implied the southwestern states should be returned to Mexico.

This ad was intended for Mexican audiences, but it didn't take long for American consumers to catch wind of it too. When calls to boycott the company started to roll in, Absolut apologized and pulled the ad.

2. A McDonald's Twitter campaign backfired immediately.

In an effort to get their name trending on Twitter, the fast food chain started promoting #McDStories. They expected people to share their fun-filled times, but users flooded the hashtag with stories about their worst experiences dining at McDonald's locations.

Even though the corporation stopped promoting the hashtag four years ago, it still pops up whenever someone has a gripe about McDonald's.

3. Dannon has never proven Activia's "clinically proven" benefits. 

Activia's ads claimed the yogurt was "scientifically proven" to improve digestion and strengthen the immune system to justify its high price. However, when the yogurt was found to be completely ordinary, a Cleveland judge ordered Dannon to pay out $45 million to its customers.

4. Abercrombie & Fitch released racially insensitive T-shirts.

A bizarre line of T-shirts featured cartoon caricatures of Asians and text imitating a stereotypical accent. The clothing company apologized and pulled the shirts amid mass protests, but puzzlingly claimed Asian-Americans would "love" the designs.

5. Nutella's ads made it look more healthy than it was.

Commercials emphasized that the spread is made from "hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa" but neglect to mention its two main ingredients — sugar and palm oil. Hey, there's a reason why everyone loves the stuff so much.

In any case, the misleading ads inspired a class action lawsuit, which was settled by a $3-million payout.

6. Zara has shockingly bad luck with World War II imagery.

The fashion retailer had to pull a line of children's pajamas for too closely resembling what Jewish prisoners were forced to wear during the Holocaust. In another instance, a line of purses had to go because they apparently had swastikas on them.

Zara representatives said the pajamas were supposed to be sheriff-themed and the design was an unfortunate coincidence. As for the purses, nobody from the company seems to be sure how they ended up with the infamous symbol on them.

7. A flier from The Economist said women shouldn't read it.

It seems marketers were trying to say that the magazine was for "accomplished, influential people" of all types. Yet, the flat "they shouldn't" was seen as undermining that idea while setting narrow implications for what made a person accomplished and influential.

8. The Federal Trade Commission made Kellogg's stop saying Rice Krispies boosted immunity.

The cereal company claimed their product contained "25 percent Daily Value of Antioxidants and Nutrients — Vitamins A, B, C and E," which the FTC found "dubious." Around the same time, Kellogg's claimed that Mini-Wheats made kids more attentive, which couldn't be reliably shown in studies.

9. Digiorno's promoted their pizzas with a domestic violence hashtag.

The #whyistayed and #whyileft campaigns were meant as a platform for abuse survivors to share their stories. However, the frozen pizza company reportedly didn't bother to find out what the hashtag meant before they used it.

Interestingly, once Digiorno's realized their error, they apologized to everyone who expressed outrage individually.

10. New Balance was sued for claiming their shoes increase muscle tone and burned calories.

Not only did these sneakers not live up to the promises, but their unstable soles were found to cause foot injuries.

11. Toyota's "Your Other You" campaign sent harassing emails from a fake stalker.

The campaign allowed people to sign up their friends for a round of emails in which a fictional person claimed he knew the person's address and threatened to come over. This person would also run up phony hotel bills and leave the target with them.

It took several messages before the "prank" was revealed, which led one target to sue Toyota once she realized what was going on.

12. Nestle Australia accidentally puts a Pedobear look-alike on Instagram.

The company simply wanted to kick off their Kit Kat Instagram account with a fun image of a person in a bear suit playing drums. However, the photo was widely mocked for resembling a meme on the infamous 4Chan imageboard associated with pedophilia.

Nestle staff had never heard of Pedobear but quickly deleted the photo for obvious reasons.

13. Nike celebrates female Olympians with shirts calling them gold diggers.

The shirts were meant to commemorate the 46 gold medals won by American women at the 2012 Olympics, but critics took issue with the association to dating wealthy men for their money.

The fact that the shirt was only available for women didn't seem to help matters.

14. Woolworths sold a bed-desk combo for young girls called "Lolita."

Woolworths spokespeople claimed to be unfamiliar with the famous story about a man obsessing over his underage stepdaughter. Curiously, the retailer also had both of the movie versions of Lolita in stock so critics found that hard to believe.

Regardless, the product was pulled from stores.

15. Extenze was sued for claiming their pill makes penises larger.

The "male enhancement" company claimed the product's effectiveness was clinically tested, but no relevant studies could be found in any recognized medical journals.

Once Extenze's claims were revealed to be bogus, they settled the resulting class action lawsuit with a $6-million payout.

16. Malaysia Airlines accidentally reminded people of their tragedies, twice.

First, they held a contest asking would-be flyers to come up with the ultimate bucket list, which brought to mind those who died on MH17 and MH370. Then they tweeted this question, apparently not realizing it would remind users that one of their planes had famously gone missing.

COMMENT and let us know what corporate missteps you can recall.