Year in review: Biggest brand fails of 2024 [Video]

Ahhh 2024. This year, brands pushed boundaries, embraced new tech, and worked harder than ever to capture the attention of an increasingly savvy audience. From AI-driven campaigns to diversity promises, the competition was fierce—but sadly, not every effort landed as intended.

Some campaigns dazzled, but others left us scratching our heads, sparking debates, or facing backlash that made headlines for all the wrong reasons. These moments serve as reminders that even the most well-resourced brands can falter when creativity clashes with execution.

Here’s Campaign’s look back at 2024’s biggest brand fails—the missteps that missed the mark and the lessons marketers can take into the new year, in no particular order.

1. Apple’s campaign controversies

Apple hit a stumbling block this year with two campaigns that failed to land as intended. The first, “The Underdogs: OOO (Out of Office)“was part of Apple’s “Apple at Work” series and featured a comedic storyline of a …