"Why make your insecurities our problem?" reads a tweet from supplement brand Protein World, after complaints poured in over a controversial billboard. It's followed by a passive aggressive winking emoji and tweeted directly at a potential customer – breaking every rule in the social media playbook, right?

According to the world of online dating, coming across as an arse to some can make others love you more. If having haters makes those who like you like you all the more, does the same psychology apply to our relationships with brands? And does it actually pay for a brand to rub part of its audience up the wrong way?

Ads are meant to get people’s attention, but not always for the right reasons. Gourmet Burger Kitchen has royally pissed people off with its recent – and rather insensitive – ad campaign that offends vegans and vegetarians alike, sparking the hashtag #gourmetmurderkitchen.

The 2016 elections in the US and UK may be making headlines, but democracy's messy embrace now stretches far beyond politics, with social media offering people a say on almost anything. How can brands make the most of the consumer vote without ending up with egg on their faces?