Where there is a competition, there is undoubtedly a war! Advertising is all about the “Power of Words” and big brands leave no chance to take a dig at their competitors with the help of wit and humor.
Taking their rivalry up a notch, these brands embrace the most interesting tool – Ambush Marketing, the smartest way to draw the viewers’ attention from a rival brand using creative means.
Here are some of the classic examples of billboard rivalries!
1. McDonald’s vs. Burger King
The two renowned fast-food chains have had a history of epic marketing battles. Grilling the Golden Arches is the favorite job of McDonald’s.
McDonald’s showcased their rivalry with the help of a billboard in France that read, “With More Than 100 McDrive, McDonald’s Is Closer To You.” The motive was to make people believe that
McDonald’s is always there when you need it, while BK (258 km away) just isn’t.
This is how BK retaliated like a real king, comically turning the table on their side by depicting through a video that they don’t believe in simple availability, but in exclusivity!
Time and again, BK has been hinting at the McDonald’s mascot ‘clown’ like this:
When IT Chapter 1 (2017) released in theatres, BK took an advantage and revived the worldwide fear of clowns with #ScaryClownNight. With the tagline “Come As A Clown, Eat Like A King,” BK gave free Whoppers to the customers who came dressed as clowns on Halloween.
Keep the game going because we’re so loving it!
2. Pepsi vs. Coca Cola
The Pepsi, Coca Cola face-off is the most talked-about rivalry, going strong since decades. Both the brands have been fighting for beverage supremacy and are known for making snide attacks on each other. Here’s a little glimpse:
In 2013, Pepsi released an advert on Halloween, featuring Pepsi can wearing a ‘Coca-Cola’ (misspelling it as Cola-Coca) cape. Coca Cola, however, wasn’t going to take it sitting down, it made a little tweak to the original ad. It read, “Everybody wants to be a hero.” Revenge is best served cold, so is Coca Cola!
3. Apple vs. Samsung
The two mobile bigwigs have locked horns in legal battles quite a number of times. Moreover, the Apple-Samsung spat is often expressed through their ads, crushing one another into pieces.
4. Audi vs. BMW
The bitter feud between the automobile giants began with a chess tournament called 35th MOA rally. During the event, the two leading brands kicked off creative advertising battle with their individual banners. Their billboards had become a source of entertainment for the commuters.
Representing the brand personalities, their banners revolved around the game of chess and it was simply AWESOME!
5. Jio vs. Airtel
The long-standing conflict between the leading mobile networks in India has been very interesting! Jio’s unlimited data plans sparkled the telecom battle!
After the Airtel Didi memes that were making rounds on social, another wave flooded the market when Jio introduced 6 paisa/min for outgoing calls to non-Jio networks.
This is how Airtel mocked Jio. Take a look. The war went on as Jio gave an epic reply!
It was more of a trolling battle than billboard brand bashing. Not just Airtel, but other networks joined the crowd to take a jibe at Jio’s plight.
There’s no doubt these brand mentioned above have left no stone unturned in attaining ubiquitous status, be it through catchy jingles, celebrity endorsements or billboard rivalry. These tactics have definitely made them so darn famous! Bigger and better than the other!