The well-known Bosch brand has found itself at the center of a reputational scandal in Turkey due to its own advertising on Mother's Day. The authors of the video decided to adapt the popular pet parents Internet trend in Western countries. But the Turkish audience did not share the broadcast value. The wave of indignation rose to the level of government offices.
The essence of the video
Two women in a store are discussing maternal concerns as if they were talking about children. At the end of the video, it turns out that the conversation was about dogs that are "just like children." The Turkish audience considered the message offensive and inconsistent with the traditional understanding of the role of the family; there were also concerns about the imposition of "alien values" and the devaluation of motherhood. As a result, Bosch withdrew its advertising.
Value Gap
For large international brands, it is usually extremely important to correlate advertising campaigns with local values using ESG filters in the social sphere. The assumption that a popular international trend will be perceived equally positively in different cultural contexts is not always confirmed in practice.
The catalyst for the crisis
The intervention of the Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services, Machinur Ozdemir Göktash, instantly shifted the scandal from the plane of "bad creativity" to a threat to public morality. In this situation, at least some excuses would hardly help. Although sincere regret about what happened would definitely not have prevented, and perhaps even helped to prevent the interception of the agenda by the authorities, including regulatory authorities. But Bosch has not yet expressed a position on the incident, but only deleted the video.
What are the possible consequences?
A conservative segment of the brand's audience is likely to lose trust (and this is the core of home appliance buyers), so in the short term, the crisis may affect sales. The long-term consequences may cast a shadow over the brand's relationship with the Turkish authorities, who are now likely to be more attentive to any Bosch advertising activities.
Anyway, the brand's local reputation in Turkey is under attack now, not the global one. But at the same time, reputational stress can indirectly affect all categories of global brands operating in local markets, including reinforcing the narrative that "international companies allegedly impose alien values," even if they have no such intention. If Bosch works out its position correctly and does not allow such situations to happen again, the damage will remain limited by geography and time.
The lesson of the case
Global insights and trends do not guarantee a global interpretation. Even a neutral creative idea can trigger a crisis if its formulation conflicts with local values.
The essence of the video
Two women in a store are discussing maternal concerns as if they were talking about children. At the end of the video, it turns out that the conversation was about dogs that are "just like children." The Turkish audience considered the message offensive and inconsistent with the traditional understanding of the role of the family; there were also concerns about the imposition of "alien values" and the devaluation of motherhood. As a result, Bosch withdrew its advertising.
Value Gap
For large international brands, it is usually extremely important to correlate advertising campaigns with local values using ESG filters in the social sphere. The assumption that a popular international trend will be perceived equally positively in different cultural contexts is not always confirmed in practice.
The catalyst for the crisis
The intervention of the Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services, Machinur Ozdemir Göktash, instantly shifted the scandal from the plane of "bad creativity" to a threat to public morality. In this situation, at least some excuses would hardly help. Although sincere regret about what happened would definitely not have prevented, and perhaps even helped to prevent the interception of the agenda by the authorities, including regulatory authorities. But Bosch has not yet expressed a position on the incident, but only deleted the video.
What are the possible consequences?
A conservative segment of the brand's audience is likely to lose trust (and this is the core of home appliance buyers), so in the short term, the crisis may affect sales. The long-term consequences may cast a shadow over the brand's relationship with the Turkish authorities, who are now likely to be more attentive to any Bosch advertising activities.
Anyway, the brand's local reputation in Turkey is under attack now, not the global one. But at the same time, reputational stress can indirectly affect all categories of global brands operating in local markets, including reinforcing the narrative that "international companies allegedly impose alien values," even if they have no such intention. If Bosch works out its position correctly and does not allow such situations to happen again, the damage will remain limited by geography and time.
The lesson of the case
Global insights and trends do not guarantee a global interpretation. Even a neutral creative idea can trigger a crisis if its formulation conflicts with local values.