Economic crisis promotes dirty advertising
The economic crisis has led to a significant increase in questionable advertising campaigns in recent months. According to a press release from the German Advertising Council, the number of complaints from the public regarding commercial advertising campaigns rose by a quarter to 147 in the first half of this year.
The economic crisis has led to a significant increase in questionable advertising campaigns in recent months. According to the German Advertising Council, the advertising industry's self-regulatory body, the number of complaints from the public about commercial advertising campaigns rose by a quarter to 147 in the first half of this year. Compared to the previous year, the number of complaints by the Advertising Standards Council increased by almost a third from 30 to 39. The number of reprimands ultimately issued rose from three in the same period of 2008 to five in the first half of 2009.
The Advertising Council blames the increase in so-called dirty advertising on the increased pressure to perform on the markets. However, this is no reason to go beyond the boundaries of socially acceptable market communication in advertising, emphasizes the Advertising Council. Smaller companies in particular are currently attracting attention by focusing their advertising solely on the production of attention.
Campaigns that are too aggressive can destroy customer relationships
However, attention alone can rarely create prestige for brands and also arouses little sympathy for the goods and services on offer. According to the Advertising Council, overly aggressive campaigns often return as a negative boomerang that can disrupt and even completely destroy customer relationships. "Crossing the line actually happens mainly in small companies, which usually do not seek professional advice. The boss often comes up with something and thinks he or she can achieve something positive just by attracting attention," explains Volker Nickel from the German Advertising Council to Pressetext. This rarely happens with large companies. "Although the larger companies also deliberately provoke, they almost always know exactly that certain transgressions only have a boomerang effect," says Nickel.
The Advertising Council issued reprimands in cases where advertising used violence, humiliating and misogynistic propaganda and was fundamentally sexist. For example, a company was reprimanded because it had advertised a laptop with a blood-spattered boxing man with blood-soaked bandaged fists and the headline "Unbeatable" and, according to the Advertising Council, initially refused to see why this was inappropriate for a laptop.
However, not every protest from the public automatically constitutes an overstepping of boundaries. In the first half of 2008, for example, the Advertising Council acquitted 108 campaigns. For example, the Advertising Council did not classify common images of models in lingerie on streetcar surfaces as "offensive, provocative and discriminatory towards women".
(Image: Keystone)
The Advertising Council blames the increase in so-called dirty advertising on the increased pressure to perform on the markets. However, this is no reason to go beyond the boundaries of socially acceptable market communication in advertising, emphasizes the Advertising Council. Smaller companies in particular are currently attracting attention by focusing their advertising solely on the production of attention.
Campaigns that are too aggressive can destroy customer relationships
However, attention alone can rarely create prestige for brands and also arouses little sympathy for the goods and services on offer. According to the Advertising Council, overly aggressive campaigns often return as a negative boomerang that can disrupt and even completely destroy customer relationships. "Crossing the line actually happens mainly in small companies, which usually do not seek professional advice. The boss often comes up with something and thinks he or she can achieve something positive just by attracting attention," explains Volker Nickel from the German Advertising Council to Pressetext. This rarely happens with large companies. "Although the larger companies also deliberately provoke, they almost always know exactly that certain transgressions only have a boomerang effect," says Nickel.
The Advertising Council issued reprimands in cases where advertising used violence, humiliating and misogynistic propaganda and was fundamentally sexist. For example, a company was reprimanded because it had advertised a laptop with a blood-spattered boxing man with blood-soaked bandaged fists and the headline "Unbeatable" and, according to the Advertising Council, initially refused to see why this was inappropriate for a laptop.
However, not every protest from the public automatically constitutes an overstepping of boundaries. In the first half of 2008, for example, the Advertising Council acquitted 108 campaigns. For example, the Advertising Council did not classify common images of models in lingerie on streetcar surfaces as "offensive, provocative and discriminatory towards women".
(Image: Keystone)
