The marketing campaign surrounding Netflix’s “Griselda” is raising eyebrows due to its unconventional portrayal of real-life drug kingpin, Griselda Blanco. The series, which features Sofia Vergara’s noteworthy performance, seems to be celebrating the notorious life of Blanco, who was infamously responsible for importing $80 million worth of cocaine into the U.S per month and implicated in countless murders.
Many observers find it distasteful given the backdrop of the violent drug wars of the 1980s, during which numerous people lost loved ones. Publicly acknowledging and glorifying Blanco’s brutalities is seen as insensitive and questionable.
Adding to the controversy, Netflix France pulled down a promotional tweet that featured a truck snorting lines off a road in Paris. This ill-conceived attempt at humor was viewed as trivializing the drug trade and the murders associated with it.
Another marketing material found on Reddit featured a poster that almost revered Blanco for her involvement in around 200 murders. The poster was sharply criticized as it seemed to equate the deaths with achievements, thus portraying this murderous monster as a role model.
However, Netflix’s marketing team seems to be selling cocaine and murder as something amusing and cheeky, coincidentally enough in the year 2024. Such depictions are likely to continue fueling debates about responsible marketing.
Source: The ‘Griselda’ Marketing Campaign Is Something Something.
