When considering our world’s challenges, people tend to see marketing as part of the problem, not the solution.  Such perceptions surface in Gallup’s annual poll about the honesty and ethics of various occupations:  Respondents consistently rank marketing roles like advertising practitioner, insurance agent, and car salesperson near the bottom of the list. 

We’ve all said things we later regretted.  Fortunately, a personal apology can often atone for such individual indiscretions.  Advertising gaffes, which may reach millions, are much more damaging and difficult to roll back, so why do some of the world’s most creative companies and brightest people continue to make promotional faux pas, and what can be done to avoid them?