Fear in advertising?
Mar 22nd, 2011 by crystalwong
As I was reading Avi Woodluck’s post, Creativity in Advertising, I found myself ooh-ing and aah-ing over the few ads that he had drawn attention to. That got me thinking about the ones that don’t make us go ooh, but the ones that shock us or make us gasp in horror. ( I apologize in advance if any of these are offensive to any of you. Don’t look if you’re easily grossed out! They’re not too bad, but just in case)
For example:
Dettol Hand Wash:
Ewww... better you never thought of germs on public transportation this way!
WWF:
This one kinda makes you recoil in horror
Aware Helpline:
Took me a second to see it...
Just liquid Hand Soap
THAT'S GROSS!!
While not all of these print ads are for products, it really shows the power of promotion and the importance of brand awareness. Looking at the second ad, I’m pretty sure most of you recognize the logo with a panda as associated with the World Wildlife Foundation. The two ads for the two brands of hand soap have pretty simple messages. In this way, marketers are ensuring that viewers of the ads can decode properly and associate proper cleanliness with their brands. With the two organizations, they encoded it in a way that will stick in people’s minds.
Certainly a little disturbing, but what a way to capture consumers’ attention!