CONTROVERSIAL ADVERTISEMENTS

Controversial Advertisements



Controversial Advertisements

There are many advertisements in the world that have generated lots of controversy because of their subject, content, dialogues and many other elements. It is the responsibility of the advertisers to design a particular advertisement in such a way to effectively reach the target audience. However, there will be chances that the advertisement might generate some form of controversy because of its content but its placement in the media would need to be carried out very carefully. The main purpose of the advertisers in such cases is to develop a proper framework of guidelines rather than to wait for the government to apply strict regulations on them. While preparing appropriate policies for the advertisements, companies would need to keep an eye on the external groups who might monitor their activities. There are various people who must be considered while designing an advertisement. If an advertisement is being prepared on condoms, contraceptive pill or any other issue related to sex, so all those people would need to be identified that will come under a group of target audience. The advertisements on these products would be placed on specific timings in order to avoid the exposure of kids, or any other people to these advertisements that are not part of the target audience. This is one way to decrease the chances of an advertisement being declared controversial. (Arrington, 1982)

The advertisements of few products such as cigarettes and alcohol raise concerns regarding ethical issues because of the nature of these products. Cigarettes are considered very dangerous for health and it is recommended by many medical experts to the people to prevent themselves from smoking, so the advertisements on them raises concerns by various sections of the society. Same is the case with alcohol and there are even more strong feelings against the advertisements of alcoholic products. This is the reason why their advertisements even become quite controversial although there is a huge market for both of these products. However, the advertising carried out on mass levels is the major issue because it affects those people who do not fall under the target market for these products. Children are worst affected with these advertisements because it creates a negative impact on their minds. However, some of the alcohol advertisers are taking few steps to resolve the problems associated with these advertisements. Still lot of work needs to be done to prevent these advertisements being declared controversial by the public. (Bonifield, 2007)

One more aspect which is there is the cultural definition of controversial products that can vary according to different environments setups prevailing in the world. For instance in the United States of America, there was ignorance on the issues related to children such as childhood obesity and the companies were not even taking necessary steps to address this problem. However, then the issue was raised by many healthcare and medical experts to address the issue on childhood obesity because it was growing at a very rapid pace in ...