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Webster's New Collegiate
Dictionary defines
offensive as something causing displeasure or
resentment, i.e., producing a negative feeling.
The Oxford Thesaurus explains offensive remarks as those which
are insulting, disgusting, rude, derogatory, hurtful,
abusive, annoying, provocative, outrageous, uncivil or impolite. It is with
such meanings that we use the adjective `offensive' here, in the context
of offensive advertisements.
Why do advertisers take the risk of resorting to offensive
advertising? Many a times, advertisers try to introduce a shock element to
attract consumers' attention. This is essentially done to cut through
the clutter and create brand awareness. Often, the intent is to have
a successful campaign and not a damaging one. However, when
the execution is taken a bit too far, it could make the
advertisements disturbing and offensive to the
target audience, leading to public outcry.
In most situations, the advertisers may have no
specific intent to hurt anybody, but may end up doing so due to their
insensitivity and strong commercial intent to create hype and draw attention
to their brands by using bold or controversial themes in
their advertisements. In some instances, however, the advertisers may
be completely oblivious of the fact that the content or theme of their
ads could cause offense to certain segments of the target populace,
and are taken by surprise when there is a negative reaction. |
