The Pros And Cons Of Shock Advertising

Shock advertising is that advertising which is meant to startle audiences by violating norms and portraying what is usually not portrayed. When people usually think of advertisements they only think of pleasant images propagating a product but never any unpleasant images and the real truth, such advertisements that do the uncommon are shock advertisements also knows as offensive, controversial or even disturbing. These advertisements use varying shock appeals such as guilt, shame, fear, disgust or such other negative emotions to portray a message. It is meant to shock the audience and immediately attract their attention to the message at hand.

The subject of these advertisements usually prompt controversy by the use of profanity, racist, nudity and sexual appeals. The subject of this advertising type instigates controversy mainly by the use of nudity and sex in advertising. These advertisements are usually considered to be unethical and cause audiences to raise an eyebrow.

Use of sexual images in a manner to objectify women is condemned by many because of how much influence visual media has on people. Many complaints have been registered across the world against shock advertisements. Therefore marketers planning to implement this kind of campaign need to take great efforts to conduct relevant research in order to understand what the audience will consider as acceptable and what they might reject.

This kind of advertisement was first introduced by United Colors of Benetton