Outrage Factor

I noticed in today’s Guardian, Owen Gibson’s article about how adverts these days are attracting a record number of complaints.  The advertising industry watchdog’s annual report is published today, and it lists stylised violence, same sex kisses and religious offence as some of the top ten most complained about adverts for last year.  An advert placed by the Gay Police Association depicted a Bible and supposedly intended to highlight that a rise in homophobic crime was due to religious motivation.  This was the most controversial advert attracting 553 complaints.  The list is endless.

In my opinion this is really no surprise these days.  It’s the “outrage” factor which makes a commercial, according to advertisers. It amplifies the advertisement just to get publicity.  The advertising planners all too often seem to believe that they actually understand PR.  Shame.