Controversial Ads and Their Roots

¶ … Advertising Controversy and Assessment Overview

Stage 1 Controversial Advertising

Dolce Gabbana

The advertisement in this controversial case aimed to actually cause some sort of stir by having models pose in proactive poses. These marketing techniques are directed at young women aged 16- 35 and fashion conscious men who are seeking to say in step with the current fashions of the day. The advertisement in this case was very effective for several reasons. The first reason for its effectiveness is because the picture is very risque and promotes a challenge to sexual and violent taboos. This cutting edge style certainly appeals to a demographic that looks to set itself apart by pushing the social envelope using sex and violence as a tool to stir emotions. The scale of the controversy also depicts the success of the ad campaign and created a definite buzz amongst the fashion industry. This ad could be improved by making pushing the envelope even farther to test the limitations of their audience. Payne (2007) defended the campaign in her piece by offering the following comments "D&G said it was an international fashion house with a youthful and innovative clothing style, designed to reflect Mediterranean culture. D&G explained that its latest collection was designed to evoke the Napoleonic period and the related ad campaign took its inspiration from well-known paintings by Delacroix and David. The ads had run in the U.S., Europe, China, Hong Kong and Japan without complaint."

Ad 2: CONAC Smoking Ad

The objective of the Chilean Corporation against Cancer (CONAC) ad of a child apparently being suffocated through a haze of smoke shaped like a plastic bag is to stun or shock the viewer into giving attention to this ad. The ad is against smoking, but uses pain and suffering to get its point across. The intended audience appears to be smoking adults who have children. The advertisement in this case is moderately effective as its shock value tends to override the true origins of smoking and how second hand smoke is dangerous. The effectiveness of this ad may be improved by placing more information about the picture. The ad itself is dominated by the suffocating child and there is very little written about the picture. This approach may be useful for getting attention, but the shock value may cause others to view away if there is not a practical accompanying message that delivers a true message to the audience. Huntington (2014) discussed this ad in his article and highlighted the following "The reason behind the controversy of the ad stems heavily from the look of anguish on the child's face. However, we can rest assured that the cloud of smoke was computer generated, and he didn't experience pain during the shoot."

Ad 3: Sisley Fashion Cocaine

The objective of this ad is to cause controversy by associating cocaine with glamourous fashion. The intended audience is young women who are looking for reasons to do hard drugs and still feel aligned with popular and beautiful people. The use of cocaine in the ad as it sits on the credit card also is effective as it demonstrate the economic aspects of high fashion and expensive drugs. The ad creates and idea of status and behavior by associating its product with explicit cocaine use. The lawlessness of these actions also suggest to the viewer that the wearer of these fashions is somewhat above the law. The advertisement could be improved upon by adding and even deeper sense of reality and the cocaine experience. Highlighting the glamour and feel good vibes that cocaine can often bring should be done to its fullest extent in order to make this advertisement stand out even more from its competitors. The fashion industry and its association with cocaine is nothing new and while to many on the outside, this may be more controversial, but fashion insiders are perhaps quite use to casual cocaine use. "The presentation of the campaign has surely compelled some people to raise question over the idea of depicting women snorting symbolic cocaine. The addictiveness aspect could have been shown in some other way rather almost explicitly showing women taking cocaine," (Jagyasi, 2012).

Stage 2 Ads by Category

Brand

This advertisement from the Coca Cola Company is a fine example of brand advertising. The intended audience for this ad and mostly all brand advertisements is the general public at large. Since cola drinkers come from all types of backgrounds and ages it is intended for almost everyone in the public. The advertisement by itself is not effective as a standalone piece. The real value of this type of ad lies in the amount that it seen and ultimately recognized by the deeper memory of the consumer. The ad sticks with the traditional logo and coloring to promote and a consistent message to its general audience. This advertisement piece can be improved upon by creating the ad in a manner the pierces further towards the unconscious parts of the customer's mind. This type of advertising is commonplace in large scale battles between big brands trying to gain control over precious market share. Ehrenberg (2002) agreed with this analysis when he suggested that "brand advertising seems to work mainly by creatively publicizing the brand, without trying to persuade people that the brand differs from other brands, or is better or best. Fairly few advertisements actually feature potentially persuasive inducements for their brand. Nor do they usually appear to change people's opinions."

Retail

The advertisement for Target retail stores is aimed to promote buying at their stores due to the change of season. The ad attempts to remind the consumer that the changing of seasons requires new clothes and gear for school and other activities. The intended audience of this particular advertisement is for the female student and or her parents who would be buying the clothes for their daughter. The advertisement is effective due to its manipulation of the word 'fall' and places motion and emotion together to capture the viewers' attention. The various angles the model is presented in this ad is also effective as it suggests that many differing outfits and clothes will be needed to successfully transition into this new season. The ad is also aimed ad females as there is not a male model in this ad. This ad could be improved by mentioning specific specials or sales to reinforce the message in the pictures and meaning in the words. This indirect approach however is supported by the research of McQuarrie & Phillips (2013) when they concluded "we develop the proposition that when consumers are presented with an indirect metaphorical claim, they become more receptive to multiple positive inferences about the advertised brand. In addition, when the indirect metaphorical claim takes the form of a picture, consumers are more likely to spontaneously generate such positive inferences at the time of ad exposure."

Social Media

The preceding video depicting a Burger King advertisement was displayed on a YouTube video dedicated to piano lessons. The advertisement's objective is to simply bring awareness to Burger King in a new way. The ad was placed as a surprise and when clicked on, the piano lesson video was delayed by this commercial. YouTube as social media has changed many aspects about how we communicate with one another and advertising is not well versed in its development. The idea behind social media was largely to avoid corporate and commercial influence, but large companies such as Burger King have effectively found ways into the market. Social media is virtually unexplored in terms of advertising and marketing in many aspects and there are many untapped markets and industries in this arena. This advertisement could be more effective if it was tailored to a more relevant YouTube video that was related to food or meat. Campbell et al. agree with these ideas and wrote in their research that "As a result, a lot of advertising communication today is different than in the past. Unlike in the past, ads are not unidirectional (from advertiser to audience) and responded to passively. Customers are now making their own ads, and propagating them on free Web 2.0 conduits such as YouTube."

Business to Business

This advertisement is useful for examination because of its style. Business to business advertising is not practiced with the same scope and intensity that other types of advertising may display. The objective of this ad is to inspire other businesses to advertise at this location. This example was taken from the internet but could be found in a number of public places such as a bus or billboard. The plain and generic tone of the ad is most likely placed to simply attract and then inform the viewer of its intent. The intended audience of this ad are small business owners or leaders wishing to expand their brand for greater exposure. The ad suggests that the location of where it is located is the only product for sale, further targeting a smaller scale business. The ad is effective because it is simple and grabs the attention with the coloring and patterning scheme. The advertisement could be improved upon by placing contact information or other directions for actually purchasing this ad space. This ad was chosen for analysis because of its color and the way that it drew attention to itself. This approach is valid for this type of advertising and is recommended in practice. "Advertisers understand the importance of color. For more than 60 years, researchers have studied the effect of colors in print ads. They have found that colors are multifaceted in nature and can stimulate emotional responses, affect persuasiveness, prestige, and the consumer's overall perceptions of the product. Colors have been shown to reinforce copy claims, improve learning, and increase readership and sales. The average magazine reader also recognizes that utilizing color increases advertising costs," (Clarke & Honeycutt, 2000).

Not-for-profit

This example of a not-for profit or non-profit ad is very effective and presents a strong and bold message using a classic symbol of strength to deliver an emotional shock. The goal or objective of this ad is to demonstrate the strength of AIDS through the visual destruction of a superhero. The message is intended to alarm young people, mostly likely males, into considering their health when practicing unsafe behaviors that may lead to AIDS. Nonprofit advertising of this sort can be very effective, however it is often difficult to determine how effective due to the difficulty in measuring the message being communicated. This advertisement is very dramatic and its use of symbols and color make it very difficult to improve upon. The message is clear and scary at the same time and provides an emotional message to the viewer of this ad that resonates with the story of Superman. The nature of NPO advertising being difficult to measure was supported in Helmig et al. (2004) work which commented on the issues with this arena. They concluded "the interdisciplinary aspect of NPO research is a reflection of the distinctive nature of NPOs, the complexity of their operations and their relationships with their environment, the difficulties of defining the boundaries of NPO activity and determining, categorically, what is and what is not an NPO. These different dimensions of NPO activity have also defied analysis by standard approaches to investigation as applied to "for-profit" organizations."