Should brands get political?

This article looks at whether brands should get political, the challenges they face when they do and the risks of not speaking up on issues that are important to their customer base.

At least six major brands ran ads during Super Bowl LI that addressed political or social issues such as immigration and gender equality. At an average cost of $5 million per 30-second spot, those were some pretty expensive statements to make. Budweiser, Airbnb, 84 Lumber, Google Home, Audi, and Coca-Cola might have been lauded or jeered, depending on one's personal point of view, for delivering those messages, but did the brands get their money's worth?

It's a difficult question to answer, and it raises even more questions about if and when brands should speak out about policies or proposed laws,...

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