(January 02, 2023) we looked at some of the most successful marketing stunts of 2022. Today, as we nearly close out the year, we tally some marketing stunts that didn’t work out nearly as seamlessly.

Here are some of the biggest marketing blunders of 2022:

Walmart celebrates Juneteenth

To celebrate June 19, 1865, the day when slave in Galveston, Texas, were officially told that the Civil War was over and the slaves were freed, Walmart released a Juneteenth-flavored ice cream.

Whatever Walmart’s intentions, the gesture got fierce criticism in social media.

Walmart subsequently removed the ice cream from stores.

Balenciaga’s trashed sneakers

Italian fashion brand Balenciaga released a limited-edition shoe that artist Leopold Duchemin had shredded, stained and graffitied. The punchline? Each pair went for $1,850.

Alright, this is the worst sneaker I’ve seen today… Balenciaga has to be trollin pic.twitter.com/nmMTDePmB6

— Seth Fowler (@RealSethFowler) May 9, 202

Duolingo jokes about domestic violence

During the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial, language learning app Duolingo tweeted“ Y’all think Amber watches TikTok?” under a clip of Heard’s testimony. Duolingo’s social media guru, Zaria Parvez, later tweeted, “I’m 24—a year out of college—managing an account that I didn’t expect to grow how it did and learning social responsibility on a curve.”

“The Northman” poster without a title

Focus Features decided to roll out posters for its film “The Northman” without using the film’s title. Whether it was an intentional mistake or a marketing trick, no one knows for sure, but the posters did little to promote the film, which was considered to be a flop.