Using examples from 'infamous' campaigns to illustrate your argument, critically evaluate the main aims and purposes of so-called controversial advertisements, and analyse the nature of the objections articulated by audience members. In 2003 advertising expenditure was estimated at US $78.7 billion in Europe alone, US $154.5 in the United States and globally it stood at some US $500 billion. (Kotler 2005 p762). This sheer volume of investment in advertising demonstrates the perceived significance of advertising campaigns towards brand success. A successful advert has to manage an equilibrium of breaking through the commercial clutter whilst “…avoiding negative appeals..” that leads to fear, and discourage consumers from engaging with the advert. According to Kotler (2005 p771) controversial advertising campaigns are one way the advertisers break through the clutter and create brands. The implications of Kotlers argument suggest controversial advertisers will succeed, however advertising campaign who have controversial content risk negative associations with their branding, and “…it does depend on who issues them...” and their reasons, in terms of the public response to the adverts. (BBC news, 2000).
Two of the most well-known ethically controversial advertising are the Benetton and Barbardo campaigns. To evaluate these campaigns the exploration of the motivations for the use of such graphic images is necessary, along with the audience reaction and treatment of the campaigns.
Barnardo Barnardo’s single definable objective was the “children’s future” (Goldstein et al pg4) the main aim of the campaign that ran in 1999/2000 was the repositioning of the brand. The challenge with branding is to “develop a deep set of meanings or associations with the brand” (Kotler et al 2005 p559) the latter was the most significant in the new Barnardo’s campaign as the target audience had wrong associations to the brand; with eighty eight percent of young people spontaneously wrongly associating Barnardo’s with homes, orphanages and institutions (Goldstein et al, 2003 p9).
The use of the explicit images (Figure 1 and 2) that are put together throughout this campaign can be shocking and uncomfortable for many viewers. Berger (2001, p307) claims that “...such advertising can be like a punch in the gut of the audience. Many writers (Cook 2002, Goldstein et al 2003, Berger 2001) have suggested that the “realism” demonstrated in the Barnardo’s “giving the children back their future” campaign is generally considered a positive quality as they demonstrate the “reality” of the destructive path certain children are on, balanced with a thought provoking headline. This creates as much visual impact as possible, but the thoughtful headline means that’s the sensational aspect of the images is toned down (Berger 2000, p307). All of the individuals pictured in the adverts were based on real individuals, which is evidence that there is a real issue that needs to be addressed and can be addressed via Barnardo’s (Goldstein et al 2003, p10).
Figure 1
Figure 2
These two adverts are highly emotive: In both adverts pictured here the child is small in comparison to their surrounding the face of the model in figure 2 is “looking out of the frame” to directly address the viewers, which demands attention from the viewer to give a response to the situation. (Kress & van Leeuwen 1996 cited by Chandler 2000). The model in Figure 1 is faceless which leaves this person open to interpretation. In both adverts the clothing of the children is brightly coloured in comparison to the dark background which implies the children are out of context, inviting the viewers to help keep them out of this context.
Barnardo’s would not apologise for any of their campaigns and berated the media for ignoring the real problem. Barnardo’s are not alone in their desperation to show reality,
the vice chairman of partnership for a drug free America agrees with the realistic approach “our philosophy has always been anyway you can get them, try it”. The United Kingdom has “the worst child poverty of all developed nations with 3.8 million children officially living below the poverty line” (BBC news 2003) the campaign was defended as “justified in order highlight the seriousness…” (Advertising standards authority cited by Brierly 2002 p223).
The Barnardo brand was in a crisis situation and the campaigns needed to overwrite one hundred and thirty years of communication history, and therefore they needed a reposition their brand as a “modern organisation at the forefront of childcare.” Barnardo’s set out to turn a generation “…of brand rejecters into active brand supporters” the adverts were aimed at 35 – 55 year olds defined as “..the lost generation” (Goldstein et al 2003 p4 - 10)
The aims for the campaigns were intended for a long term change, the intent being to shift public behaviour towards response and action. In light of this Barnardo’s described their “realistic objective” as “….ads become part of public dialogue that gradually shifts towards public attitude, which in turn can lead to changes in behavior” (Barnardo’s accessed 5.01.2007) Following on from this the question asked by Berger (2001, p308) in response to this is “whether an ad is capable of providing enough motivation to spark that kind of action”.
Advertising itself can be perceived as “unlimited and intrusive, thrust upon the reader or viewer without consultation….with the avoidance of adverts virtually impossible” (Cook 2002 p203). Some critics question whether “the barrage of shocking and disturbing images is the best way to address difficult social issues” (Berger 2001 p307) this argument is echoed by Garfield, a columnist for “advertising age” (ibid p307) who wrote “lets face it the damn things are depressing” this supports Cooks theory “that opinion and behavior in the rich world are too hardened to the plight of the poor and oppressed for such ads to have any effect” (Cook 2002 p228). However the responses to the Barnardo’s campaigns have contradicted this theory with the public and media support that surrounded them. The number of articles featuring Barnardo’s rose by forty percent twelve months prior to the advertsing and Graph 3 demonstrates the newspaper attention of articles surrounding the campaing dramatically increasing.
Graph 3 (www.Barnardo’s.org.uk accessed 07.01.2007)
The media attention of the campaign rasied awareness equivilant to a public relations campaign valued at £630,000 (Aylings and Associates cited at Banordos webpage) This media attention gained plently of attention, Katie Weitz, Features Editor The Sunday People says “The turn around of Barnardo’s from old news to headline news is remarkable.” (cited at Banardos website accessed 07.01.2007). One of the most ambitious advertising campaigns in the United Kingdom took the risk of insulting the public, who in turn were made aware of the valuable cause and has ensured donations for years to come (Goldstein et al 2003 p4).
Benetton
In 1984 Benetton hired award winning photographer Toscani whose work changed the perception of the Benetton brand image permanently. The advertising campaigns are famous for turning a brand audience from local audience to a scale of worldwide recognition. Toscani claims that his purpose through the Benetton’s campaigns was to “drive his social message” through advertising. He declares that advertising is a “social message” and for people to take interest, the advertising has to be bigger that the product itself (Cited in Berger 2001 p245). Benetton were fully aware of the controversy surrounding the campaign, they shifted from passive images of black and white and to “a hornets nest of controversy” (Saunders 1996 pg50). When asked what his pictures had to do with sales of Jumpers Toscani said "Nothing at all. Selling jumpers is the company's problem, not mine." (cited in BBC news 2000)
Benetton adverts blurred the lines of art and commerce (Berger 2001 pg3) the image was exhibited in a Flemish museum as part of a show celebrating the images of motherhood, and Toscani claims that advertising “could be an incredible art form” this questions the motives of his use for such graphic imagery. (ibid) The critics charge that the single purpose of the campaign was controversy itself and the free media ride that surrounded it. Many writers (Cook 2002, Tinic 1997, Saunders 1996) agree that the controversy is a marketing tool for public awareness without cost to Benetton. Although Toscani claims that the controversy is a result of his “message”. The suspicions towards the motives are vocalised by editorial director of “Campaign Magazine” who concludes that Benetton didn’t have its own funding needed for the campaign and therefore used the media to its own purposes. (cited BBC news 2000)
Unlike public service adverts that provide a solution via the charity itself, the Benetton adverts have no text other from being labeled with the Benetton logo. An example of this is Figure 4 which shows a grieving family surrounding David Kirby, a dying AIDS activist; his family is shown in a state of anxiety and desperation. Toscani claims “The ad was to act as a window to the horrific reality of the disease while educating the public of the diseases' pervasiveness” (www.ciadvertising.org accessed 05.01.2007) however it leaves the pubic overwhelmed and “powerless to help” (Berger 2001 p308) as there is no solutions present, instead the Benetton label which bears no significance to the situation.
Figure 4 This considered the media and AID’s organisations have accused Benetton of “exploiting the illness” (Tinic 1997 p18) and this exploitation is elaborated by Mulvagh (cited in Tinic 1997 p18) as “…at best wooly philosophising and at worst cynical manipulation”. This description of Benetton’s efforts to “combine politics with high fashion” (Giroux 1994, p7), is found to be controversial as the latter is a transitory and fickle commodity and is described “artificial unreal plastic and unnatural” (Tinic 1997, p15) Benetton adverts because of this, have been described as cheapening social problems.
Berger (2001, p250 - 251) questions Toscani’s position in terms of “moral objectivity and authority” to examine these highly important social issues. Toscani claims to be outside the constraints of the market research for the Benetton target audience, and this may be one of the reasons why he caused such controversy “I look at what marketing research says, and if you want to have success, you do the opposite” (ibid p245) Fill contradicts Toscani’s disregard for research and says that effective advertising is gained “by appreciating the underlying emotions of the target buyer” (Fill 2005, p549). The adverts were used throughout the public eye where the general public could not avoid them they were thrust upon the viewer who has no choice (Cook 2002, pg 203). The advertising standards authority claims that Benetton should change future campaigns as they “will be
best received by a certain audience, and not everybody walking down the street,". (BBC news 2000) As Steve Ballinger, spokes person for the advertising standards authority says "People don't find a picture of a newborn baby offensive - what they find offensive is having it blown up to a 36-sheet poster," (ibid) this advert is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5
Despite the criticism the Benetton brand was also “praised for incorporating urgent social concerns into its ads” (Giroux 1994 p9). This immediate reaction was shown in the company’s sales figures that firstly sky rocketed. The implications behind the brand were that the consumers is “purchasing a philosophy” the consumer can feel satisfied that this brand has put political problems above brand promotion (Tinic 1997 p 21), as Toscani describes it “a company that speaks up”. (cited in Berger 2001 p245). Toscani claimed that even if people didn’t agree with his cause they would still appreciate he had the courage to say it. The awareness of the brand is the “most valuable thing” (ibid). This argument was thought of highly in some regards as “Toscani has garnered more than 50 awards in 16 different countries.” (www.ciadvertising.org accessed 03.01.2007) demonstrating the advertising artistic angle.
The Benetton brand is one of the five best known brands worldwide, so was Toscani correct in his theory? The statistical evidence would indicate otherwise, the sales figures may have amplified at first but then the sales crashed down during the course of the controversial campaigns. Eight hundred complaints were received in the United Kingdom regarding the new born baby advert (see Figure 5)
Conclusion
Critics claim that shocking advertising campaigns that lead to success stories are infrequent, and whether or not these campaigns are effective is not supported by enough evidence (Berger 2001, p308). The validity of media sources should be questioned as they are likely to be bias towards a sensational viewpoint to gauge public interest. Ultimately public opinion according to Cook (2002, p214) is hard to assess as most advertising research uses “quantitative methods where qualitative ones would have been more appropriate”. This considered the correlation between advertising and brand success may be positive they do not necessarily work together.
One study by Harvard university school of health found that melodramatic scenes did not have a lasting impact on young people who viewed them, in contrast to Doria Steedman (Vice chairmen of the partnership for a drug free America) saying that advertising is constantly improving as campaign producers are learning what is more effective with young people (Berger 2001 p305). The implications of the study were that to influence
behavioural changes adverts need to discard “shock-and-scare tactics and begin to incorporate some more sophisticated marketing approaches” such as sponsorship, more research and testing of adverts and manipulation of news programmes to get the message across in a non advertising format. (ibid p313).
There are also high risks that must be considered when using shock tactics through out advertising campaigns. Shocking adverts risk “alienating the very people they want to reach. The debate over the merits of these ads also tends to obscure the issues they were intended to highlight." However the risk that the Barnardo’s took has been calculated at a return of sixteen on every one pound invested (Goldstein et al 2003 p13). The success of the Benetton campaigns depends on the perspective of success. In Toscani’s opinion the advertising was used to bring ore important issues to people’s attention and the adverts were award winning, however the sales figures did not reflect this but he deemed that the sales were the “problem” of Benetton (BBC news 2000).
It is really the motives behind the advertising, and the motive in public opinion is defined by who issues the adverts. An advertising campaign that is issued by a “good cause” is more likely to be stomached by the public (BBC news Jan 2000). Benetton’s “not – so – hidden agenda” meant a decline in sales, (Saunders 1996 p34) Whilst Benetton demonstrated what could be seen as real issues the general opinion was that it was the wrong channel used, where as the appeal of Barnardo’s was supported widely and praised for its passion towards a real situation partnered with a real solution.
References
Berger, Warren (2001) Advertising Today. London: Phaidon
Brierley, Sean (1995) The Advertising Handbook. London: Routledge
Cook, Guy (1999) The Discourse of Advertising. London: Routledge Fill, Chris. Marketing Communications: Engagement, strategies and practice (4th Edition) 2005. Prentice Hall
Tinic A, Serra. United colours and United meanings: Benetton and the commodification of Social Issues, Journal of Communication Summer 97/ Vol.47 No.3 pp3 – 25 1997
Giroux, A Henry. Disturbing pleasures (1994) London: Routledge
Goldstein, Dan & Mary Daniels (2003) 'Barnardo's: "Giving Barnardo's Back its Future', in Marco Rimini. Advertising Works 12: Proving the Effectiveness of Marketing Communications. Henley-on-Thames: World Advertising Research Center/IPA, pp. 3-42
Saunders, Dave (1996) Shock in Advertising. London: Batsford
Websites Olivero Toscani. Available from: http://www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/98_fall/theory/blouin/toscani/toscani.html#t heawards[05.01.2007]
Shockvertising: Ads that divide BBC news. Friday, 21 January, 2000 Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ [05.01.2007]
Watchdog bans Barnardo's adverts BBC news Wednesday, 10 December, 2003, Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/ [07.01.2007] Chandler, Daniel (2000) Notes on Gaze. Available from: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/gaze/gaze08.html [06.01.2007] Advertisements Sourced Figure 1 and 2 available from: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MC31120/barnardo01.html
Figure 4 and 5 available from: http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/MC31120/benetton01.html