"Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything." Nike decided to energize its "Just Do It" motto by using the face of Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback known as one of the first players to kneel during the national anthem. The polarizing campaign has led to a drop in Nike's shares, but the social media storm it provoked remains a marketing hit.

Much attention has been given to Nike's ads in the US, but its recent Mexican campaign also got South America talking. In a country known for its machismo, the "Juntas Imparables" (Together Unstoppable) spot features female athletes only. The final scene (photo) is seen as a nod to Argentina's Right to Abort protest movement, dubbed the Green Tide, as green scarves serve as the feminists' symbol.

Benetton has been renowned for its provocative advertising for ages. This shot of gay activist and AIDS victim David Kirby was used for an ad in 1992. Many activists felt it was commercializing a person's suffering; they launched a global campaign to boycott the company. The family of the victim however backed Benetton. The company stated that it was the first advertising campaign to address AIDS.

From a bloody mafia killing in the 90s to photos of refugees in 2018, critics have often asked why human suffering should help sell Benetton's clothes. Despite the backlash created by different campaigns, the clothing company has kept using documentary shots to promote its brand, a strategy developed by its famous art director Oliviero Toscani.

This other Benetton series rather relied on heavy photoshopping. The 2012 Unhate campaign featured a series of world leaders locking lips with some of their greatest adversaries. While the campaign won top awards, the image depicting Pope Benedict XVI kissing Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, a top Egyptian imam, was removed after the Vatican threatened to take legal action against the company.

In Germany, car rental company Sixt used a photo of controversial deputy leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alexander Gauland, in one of its ads: "For everyone who has a Gauland in their neighborhood," the caption reads. The AfD countered with an ad promoting a cheaper company, stating "For everyone who lives near Sixt." The company promoted, however, positioned itself against the far-right.

In 2013, the German lingerie company Blush played on the NSA scandal that revealed it had been spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel: "Dear NSA, don't spy on Angela, peek at Angelique," says this ad. In another ad, a woman in underwear called on the world's most famous whistle-blower: "Dear Edward Snowden, there's still a lot to uncover."

Australian-based company Valley Eyewear didn't aim to provoke with its campaign, but the ads featuring slick black-and-white pictures and videos of a model on the site of the Jasenovac concentration camp in Croatia, where over 80,000 people died, inevitably caused outrage. After users called for a boycott of the company's products, it apologized and removed the ads.

A 2016 ad by Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics showed a black man being "washed" into a fair-skinned Asian man. The firm was accused of racism and pulled the video after apologizing. However, a representative of the company also told a Chinese nationalist newspaper that critics were "too sensitive."

Similarly, Dove was accused of racism in 2017 following a campaign that showed a black woman turning into a white one. The company also apologized and deleted the post. It wasn't the first time that it had been at the center of similar controversies. For example, back in 2015, it released a cream that advertised for use on "normal to dark skin."

This 2018 ad for Dr. Oetker, a German company specialized in baking products, was accused of sexism. Released during the World Cup, it shows a woman with a soccer-shaped cake and reads: "Bake your husband happy — even if he has a second love." The company claimed the campaign was developed "with modern women" and that critics didn't understand its irony.