One of my rules, both personally and professionally, when it comes to social media is to look at anything you're going to publish and ask, "What's the absolute worst way this could be interpreted?"

That's harder than it sounds.

For one, you have to take a big step out of your own head—and especially out of your own intentions. You can't think about your post through the lens of what you meant. You have to look at it cold and hard, wondering how it might be phenomenally misinterpreted by those who might not share your worldview.

It's a lesson Audi learned the hard way this week with what it thought was an innocuous tweet of an ad featuring a young girl and the caption, "Lets your heart beat faster—in every aspect."

While many fans were fine with the ad, a highly vocal minority called it insensitive.

The brand eventually agreed, apologizing and pledging to find out how it was approved. (Though, somewhat oddly, the brand did not delete the tweet.)

The criticisms came in two forms: Most of the angry commenters felt it conjured images of children being hit by cars, while a smaller number said the caption and image made for an uncomfortably sexualized tone.

"We can't let our kids wander off at all because car companies glorify speed ("0 to 60 in 3 seconds!!")," noted one critic on Twitter. "Maybe rethink how Audi can make our streets and our kids safer FROM your product?"

In this case, it's clear the automaker didn't intend its ad to make light of accidents—and Audi definitely wasn't trying to sexualize the image.

But what matters is how the image triggered such strong and negative emotions. Those factors are likely different for each brand, but as you can tell by Audi's three-part apology, the company will clearly create new ground rules for its ad imagery moving forward.

David Griner
Creative and Innovation Editor, Adweek
David.Griner@Adweek.com

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