Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2011, as news commentary from 27 November 2011 on the advertiser boycott of Telecinco’s La Noria. The article does not explain the reason for the boycott.
Vitaldent’s biggest mistake probably wasn’t taking advantage of the free advertising Telecinco offered to win back advertisers for La Noria (a Telecinco talk show). In our view, the biggest mistake this dental clinic brand made was playing both sides. On the one hand, it joined the “social responsibility” protest, publishing a statement on its own website saying it had given the order to withdraw its advertising campaign from Telecinco, and that the ad had still appeared because of an “error beyond the brand’s control”, according to the statement.
Some users didn’t believe it, while others gave it the benefit of the doubt. This Saturday, Vitaldent, along with other brands, filled the ad slots of the “programme advertisers had boycotted”. The brand must have thought, quite literally: “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
Now social networks and forums are flooded not only with protests over the brand’s alleged deception of its customers, but with users bringing up other issues too: poor service at Vitaldent, financing with abusive interest rates, and so on. Anyone can now take the opportunity to share their experience, real or invented (anything is possible), of Vitaldent clinics.
What is clear is that if Vitaldent took advantage of free advertising space, it may end up paying a high price even though it cost very little, because people online are already talking about boycotting the brand.
Featured image: TeleMania, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
