Bromberg's is apologizing for a tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign that offended some Auburn University fans with references to tobacco-chomping relatives and burped versions of the school's fight song.
The Birmingham jeweler received phone calls and e-mails from upset Auburn fans over an ad that described the school as a "Cow College" and mentioned "tobacky spittin'" grandmothers.
Bromberg Executive Vice President Frank Bromberg III said Monday the Auburn ad and a similar one targeting Alabama fans still living in the Bear Bryant era were meant in jest.
"The point of the ad was to show that true love conquers all, even if one person is an Alabama fan and the other is an Auburn fan," Bromberg said.
Bromberg, a University of Alabama graduate, said the jeweler didn't get complaints from Alabama fans. That's because the Auburn ad was mean-spirited, said Auburn graduate Kara Kennedy, who works as director of external affairs at Samford University' School of Business.
"Bromberg's just offended half of the state, and that's not good marketing," added Kennedy, who has worked in public relations for over a decade. "They've lost me as a customer."
The Auburn ad reads: "Whoever said love conquers all' obviously wasn't in love with a Cow College grad. But even though her grandma was the state tobacky-spittin' champ and she can burp out every bar of War Eagle, your world revolves around her. So turn her thoughts from blue and orange to wedding white with the perfect engagement ring from Bromberg's."
The Alabama ad talks being in love with "Tide Pride gal" and "countless stories of rigged officials and national championships won 20 years before she was born."
