With reference to Jackie’s recent post featuring the suggestive Axe commercial, I did a bit of research as to the purpose of utilizing the “shock” factor in advertising, and whether or not it is effective.
UTalkMarketing’s Melinda Varley had a good write up of several recent ads containing graphic and otherwise provoking material, as well as society’s response to them. The majority of the ads she mentions have come under intense scrutiny, and in some cases – like the Women’s Aid ad with Keira Knightly – the ads have even been banned from being aired. Melinda asks the question if “shock” factor goes too far and “undermine[s] the actual product.” New Zealand Air’s past stint in which they had air crew walk around the airport and airplane in nothing but body paint took “years … [for] the airline industry … to lose its sexual connotations.” As far as getting noticed in the saturated world of advertising, shocking society certainly gets the job done.
Melinda never gave a definitive “yes/no” answer as to the question of whether the “shock” factor has a place in advertising, though that’s likely because there isn’t an answer. My take on the strategy is that it’s simply something that has its rightful time and place; like most everything else. One certainly has to consider the nature of their product as well as the segment they’re trying to target before going overboard – seniors likely wouldn’t respond well to a company using violence and sexuality to get their new denture adhesive noticed.