Menu
Mark Borkowski.
Mark My Words
  • Blog
  • About
  • Talks
  • Press
  • Books
  • Social
  • Archive
  • Contact
Close Menu
April 30, 2008

Anti Smoking Ad Tops Complaints

Out of the 14.080 adverts which drew complaints last year, the official government anti smoking campaign, showing a woman with a fish hook through her cheek, provoked the most anger. Over the last few years there has been a growth in the amount of complaints that the Advertising Standards Authority has received, particularly for commercials which aim to deliver shock, horror and revulsion. In the good old days, all this outrage would have been articulated by the late great Mary Whitehouse. I have been talking about the reasons for this growth for some time now. In order for brands to get traction in every day life and the amount of money that’s demanded from them from advertising agencies, they need to do more than just sit on the terrestrial channels, they need to get into the mainstream. They need to bring these ads alive and right now, shock, outrage and horror are the only tricks left for advertising agencies to get ads into the mainstream and to charge the kind of money they charge to make them.

The government anti smoking ad has now been read about by probably more people than actually saw the ad in the first place. The real problem will come when people start saying “oh no, not another ad that’s going to get complaints”… but until then, we need a 21st Century funky Mary Whitehouse who can bring all these heinous and outrageous matters to our attention!

Related Posts

Mark My Words

The sedative effects of PR speak

Mark My Words

As we clap for Captain Tom, remember him for the hero he was

Mark My Words

To get its head around Reddit, Wall Street will have to stop calling it ‘dumb money’

Recent Posts

  • How Harry’s very LA relaunch has only just begun
  • Piers Morgan to return ‘turbocharged’ with new ‘TV show & columns’ after quitting GMB
  • William plots royal ‘fightback’ as he urges Queen to respond ‘robustly’ to Harry’s attack
  • ‘The royal family was castrated’ – the US & UK PR verdict on Meghan & Harry’s Oprah interview
  • Meghan and Harry’s revelations not yet fatal for British monarchy

Previous posts

April 2021
M T W T F S S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
2627282930  
« Mar    

Archives

Back To Top
Mark Borkowski.
  • Blog
  • About
  • Talks
  • Press
  • Books
  • Social
  • Archive
  • Contact
© Mark Borkowski. 2021
Mark My Words
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram