Under Armour Mimics Nike'S "Controversial Marketing"

Since May 16th, the official account of Under Armour has become a complaint position on social networking site Facebook.

"Your design team and marketing team have made a mistake, and it is a very low-level mistake."

Facebook user Jamie Proffitt wrote in the commentary, "the" ball band "T-shirt that you produced should disappear immediately.

Within an hour, the comment received "praise" from countless users.

It is on the hot topic list with NBA star Stephen Currie.

That's how things happen.

Under Armour recently launched a short sleeved T-shirt called "Band of Ballers".

On the design of the chest, four basketball players are playing with a basketball stand.

This scene is very similar to the sculpture of the United States war memorial in Iwo Jima, which was quickly discovered by careful consumers.

After the Second World War, the United States government built the memorial island in the cemetery of the National Cemetery in Washington to commemorate the death of US Marines in the war.

At that time, according to a news photograph, the creator portrayed six warrior figures who put the American flag on the island of sulphur island.

Therefore, like Nike's violation of the consequences of public opinion, Under Armour imitated the frivolous design of the Iwo Jima monument, which is regarded by the American public as a disrespect for the sacrifice of soldiers.

26000 people lost their lives in the battle of Iwo Jima. This is a monument of great significance, but now it has been pformed into a basketball stand lightly.

I may not buy any product of Under Armour anymore. "

Facebook user Brett Duffus issued such a commentary in the early morning of May 16th, which received more than 245 "Zan" that morning.

In addition, the company's Twitter page is also full of complaints and blames.

In the early days of the incident, the brand did not issue a formal official statement. In May 16th, three posts of apology were issued through Facebook.

"We deeply regret and apologize for this, but this does not mean that the company does not respect our country's heroes and fighters."

Under Armour wrote.

Until May 18th, the brand finally issued a formal apology statement, which reads as follows:

"It has been labeled as offensive to the army. This is not a deliberate move by the growing American sports brand. We have been avoiding this kind of thing.

In fact, every American brand does not do that.

Especially after "9. 11", we all respect the army very much.

Unfortunately, after the design and launch of the "ball band" T-shirt, we accidentally committed such careless mistakes.

Our design inspiration really comes from the memorial island of Iwo Jima, but this design does not offend anyone. We feel very sorry.

The company will take the necessary measures to ensure that such a thing does not happen again.

At present, the "ball band" T-shirt products have been completely off shelves, and the online shopping mall's purchase page shows the words "sold out" or "no goods".

Before that, customers who bought this T-shirt could only be unlucky. According to the intense emotion of the American people, this dress should be hidden in the wardrobe.

In the face of Under Armour's low-level mistakes, the American sports media ESPN commented publicly in the TV news program: "this is an unusual mistake of the brand, and it is a great disrespect for the veterans who survived the war."

In addition, it is believed that the errors of Under Armour are similar to Nike's "police discount", and there is no prediction of market reaction.

However, there are also voices saying that Under Armour can not easily commit ignorance mistakes, which is a deliberate mistake made by the brand.

And this kind of sword moves against the front is the habitual practice of adventurous American brands, with Nike as the first priority in sports brands.

As early as 2000, Nike tried to brand the brand in a controversial way.

At that time, the American brand filmed an Olympic advertising campaign against racism, which caused global controversy.

Moreover, Adidas, which was surpassed by Nike in 1980s, recovered rapidly from 1998 to 2000, rebuilt its market share and followed Nike.

This controversy has helped Nike attract the attention of the global sports market. Even if it is the most vocal, it still grabs Adidas's popularity.

Not long after, Nike also filmed an advertisement banned by NBC.

In this advertisement, Hamilton, a track and field female athlete, was killed by the masked chainsaw killer.

Public opinion condemns that Nike's advertisements beautify violence against women, which is a great disrespect for women.

In the key years to expand the women's sports market, launching such ads, apart from the focus of controversy, Nike is also testing the tolerance of brand behavior.

In addition, Nike has "offended" China.

In December 2004, the China Broadcasting and TV administration's advertising ban on "fear Chambers" also made Nike's self defeating reputation.

In this case

Basketball star James defeated the elderly, women and Dragons wearing robes, and the images of these losers were large.

。

Therefore, because of alleged "desecration of Chinese customs and habits", Nike has attracted the attention of Chinese people all over the world.

But the result of the banned advertising campaign has attracted more people's attention to the latest product of Nike. In January 2005, James Ji's shoes were stolen after landing in China.

Nike's "tentative mistake" seems to bring many positive effects to the brand.

The prompt apology also made the brand look very "sincere".

Of course, all of this is based on Nike's excellent product business.

In this way, Under Armour is not ruled out.

"Deliberate" mistake.

Moreover, there are indications that Under Armour has been learning some of its practices while catching up with Nike.