SW: Advertising bans hurt everyone!

When it comes to advertising bans, people often overlook the fact that they can also have negative consequences: for the companies doing the advertising, for the advertising industry, and, not least, for the media, according to SW in a statement released Wednesday. To that end, SW Schweizer Werbung’s current print, billboard, and online campaign featuring the clipped peacock is intended to raise awareness among political forces and the general public.  

The slogan «Ad bans hurt everyone» and an image of a sad-looking peacock whose magnificent plumage has been clipped are intended to highlight that advertising is, in and of itself, a completely natural thing. Advertising bans therefore constitute a significant encroachment on individual sovereignty, the SW press release continues. Sometimes with fatal consequences. Applied to commercial communication, this means, among other things:
– limited information for consumers
– reduced revenue for the media, thereby threatening media freedom
– reduced brand awareness and, as a result, declining brand value
– less economic freedom
– jobs at risk

The campaign, created by the advertising agency Euro RSCG, was supported by various association members and media companies. The clipped peacock will appear in the following media outlets during the current fall session of the Federal Assembly, from September 10 to 28:
 
Online on Tamedia and Goldbach Audience: so-called house ads on more than 130 websites. Also at 100 APG billboard locations in Bern, Basel, and Zurich, as well as in the following newspapers:

– AZ Medien: Aargauer Zeitung, Mittellandzeitung
– Basler Zeitung
– Corriere del Ticino
– The Ticino Region
– LZ Media: Neue Luzerner Zeitung, Zentralschweiz am Sonntag
– NZZ: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, NZZ am Sonntag
– Ringier: Blick, Blick am Abend, SonntagsBlick
– Südostschweiz Media: *Die Südostschweiz*, *Die Südostschweiz am Sonntag*
– St. Galler Tagblatt
– Tamedia: Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung, SonntagsZeitung, 20 Minuten, Le Matin, Le Matin Dimanche, Tribune de Genève, 24 Heures

«Ad bans hurt everyone»
It is far from clear to what extent advertising bans can solve social problems. Even decisions such as that by Australian authorities to allow only plain packaging for cigarettes cannot obscure this fact. This raises the question of cost versus benefit. SW Schweizer Werbung, as the umbrella organization for advertisers, advertising agencies, and media companies in the field of commercial communication, believes that in many cases the benefits are overstated, while the costs are ignored. SW Schweizer Werbung’s current campaign highlights this misconception.  

SW Schweizer Werbung has summarized all the arguments against advertising bans—and many more in favor of commercial communication—in its brochure «Stop Advertising Bans.».