Marketers are always looking for ways to mix things up, to separating themselves from competitors by having advertisements that are unique and that stand out. But sometimes, as this website points out, marketers may cross lines or take things a bit too far.
Everyone’s judgement is different when it come’s to determining if an advertisement is out of line. Obviously in the case of the company that used Barack Obama’s picture without his permission was the wrong thing to do, but what about the other billboards such as the one for the funeral home. Although most likely a joke, this company is pretty much telling people to jump onto the subway tracks in order for their business to increase. To me, something like this should not be allowed to be advertised. Sure the company would probably say it’s all fun and games but the point where a billboard advertisement is pretty much telling people they want them to die is where it crosses the line.
My question is simply this. Is there a limit to how a company can advertise or is it more about whatever you need to do to sell your product. To me as long as an advertisement is not blatantly offensive to a group of people then I think it can probably be considered fair game. What does everyone else think?