ASSIGNMENT 2 CONTROVERSIAL ADVERTISEMENTS NAME: SHRAVAN A SHAH TYBMM B SAP NO:5300110099

Controversial Advertising - a judicious mixture of flattery and threats. Northrop Frye

What is Controversy?
Wikipedia Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. A public dispute, between sides holding opposing views. Its usually something that causes disagreements among the masses, something that is arguable and questionable on both sides and something that cannot be proved right or wrong on either side. The most contentious subjects, topics or areas are politics, religion and sex. Other areas of controversy include history, advertising and philosophy. Other minor areas of controversy may include economics, science, finances, organization, age, gender, and race. Controversial issues are held as potentially divisive in a given society, because they can lead to tension and ill will, as a result they are often taboo to be discussed in the light of company in many cultures. Controversies are frequently thought to be a result of a lack of confidence on the part of the disputants.

What controversial Advertising?

Controversial Advertisements can be termed as ads having a public dispute, something that cannot be proved or approved right or wrong by either of the two sides. As the amount of advertising increases, it would appear that there has been an increase in the amount of controversial advertising shown in various media. Some of reasons for this include that society has become more complex, increased awareness of the harmful effects of some products and as agencies try to become more creative to "cut through the clutter" to gain attention and brand awareness. For advertisers the problem can be that a controversial advertising campaign can be very successful or very damaging, depending on what ultimately happens in the marketplace. The issue for some advertisers and their agencies is to determine who may be offended by their controversial campaign and what are the reasons for offence, particularly when the product itself may be controversial, eg: condoms and feminine hygiene products. To some extent the advertisers, particularly those with controversial products, have a social responsibility not to offend people by their advertising images, yet in a free market they should be able to communicate a message to their customers. This paper presents some preliminary finding on a study of controversial advertising and what are the underlying reasons for offence towards the advertising of particular products. The objective is to determine types of people who are offended and the areas of offence to assist advertisers in making better managerial decisions when is comes to deciding on a controversial advertising strategy.

INTERNATIONAL ADVETISEMENTS
1. CARLS JR RESTAURANTS (PARIS HILTON AD)

Product: BURGER Company: CKE RESTAURANTS Advertising Agency: MENDELSOHN ZIEN ADVERTISING Brand: CARLS JR The ad, for a US West Coast hamburger chain called Carls Jr showed swimsuit-clad Hilton cavorting on top of a Bentley with a sponge, hose and burger in hand. The spot was racy enough to generate protest from the morals lobby. And that enabled the chain to put the ad on its website so that the public could judge for itself. Suddenly the 30-second spot became a sequel: another raunchy Paris Hilton tape on the internet and, by definition, a must-see event to savour privately. Enough thrill-surfers the people who spent hours chasing the original tape across the web two years ago logged on that the Carls Jr site crashed, the company proudly announced. It seemed to prove the simple proposition that if you show Paris Hilton, add something sexy, they will come. Yes, it is true. Surprisingly, famous heiress of Hilton hotels, Paris Hilton, is shooting an advert for Carls Jr. restaurant chain. The advert is being controversial for its sexual content and connection between rich beauty Paris Hilton and greasy hamburgers. Moreover, the advert is misplaced sexualy because of Hiltons almost naked body in little bikini and car washing. When people saw this advert, they asked a question what is the commercial for? For Pariss new song, for a car or is it really a hamburger commercial?

2. UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON (UNHATE AD)

Product: CLOTHING, ACCESSORIES AND FOOTWEAR Company: BENETTON GROUP Advertising Agency: FABRICA Brand: UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON Marketing brilliance or simply distasteful? This is what you think when you see some of Benetton advertisements. In fact, the Italian clothing company has become synonymous with the term 'shockvertising', a model experimented by a few other clothing designers and upscale product companies like Calvin Klein. Each time Benetton releases a controversial ad, it is making a statement by pushing a political agenda, or sensitive subjects that are deliberately offensive to some people. In a way, it takes the age-old advertising tactic of challenging reality to its extreme. The campaign titled 'Unhate' was launched on Wednesday with an aim at promoting tolerance and global love. Contrary to its message, it did evoke some strong reactions.It features ads showing Pope Benedict XVI kissing a top Egyptian imam. It was withdrawn almost immediately after the Vatican denounced it as an "unacceptable" provocation. The others ads in the 'Unhate campaign' feature fake photos of half-dozen purported political nemeses in lip-locked embraces, including President Barack Obama and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Benetton's in-house communications agency Fabrica was behind the work, which involved doctoring the leaders' pictures without their permission.

NATIONAL ADVETISEMENTS
3. AMUL MACHO AD

Product: INNERWEAR AND UNDERGARMENTS Company: JG HOSIERY PVT LTD Advertising Agency: SAINTS AND WARRIORS Brand: AMUL MACHO A newly married woman entering a dhobi ghat, the camera lingering all over her with the glimpse of other women eyeing her inquisitively. Regardless of their stares, the woman opens up her bundle of clothes and no guesses here the very first garment she pulls out is the Amul Macho underwear belonging to her husband. She then starts brushing it, and through her (crazy lip twitching) expressions, it is clear that she visualizes that her man is still wearing it. The women surrounding her also are drawn in by her fantasy, so much so that when she raises a bat-like object the women cringe at the thought of her man being thrashed like that. The ad ends with the newlywed stretching the underwear in her hands, while the voiceover concludes, Amul Macho. Crafted for Fantasies. The suggestive expressions of the woman and the complete setting of the ad, make it sexually explicit and vulgar. This ad attracted strong protests and cases were filed on the aforesaid grounds. The court also upheld those allegations and scrutinized the frequency and airing timings of the advertisement on TV.

4.WILD STONE AD

Product: DEODRANTS Company: FUTUREBRANDS Advertising Agency: MERIDIAN COMMUNICATIONS Brand: WILD STONE Wild Stone is a market challenger. This brand from an unknown company has been able to make its presence felt in the market thanks to the controversy generated by the ad. The ad is set in the background of Durga puja. The plot is that a homely bengali lady accidentally bumps into a stud and the Wild Stone perfume takes her into a fantasy involving the stud. The ad certainly justified the tagline "Wild by Nature" and although the ad was not banned, a highly censored version was aired on television. The ad certainly has obscene scenes and sexual tone to it thus was edited and aired on television. While youtube has the uncensored version, the channels are showing the heavily censored version.

5. TUFF SHOES

Product: SHOES Company: TUFF SHOES Advertising Agency: ASP ADVERTISING Brand: TUFF SHOES This one has to be one of the most controversial print ad's India has ever seen! In 1995 when Milind Soman and Madhu Sapre posed nude for the Tuff Shoes Ad campaign, they probably never saw a 14 year long court case ahead of them. 2 bad pairs of shoes, a python and 2 nude models got various women's groups fuming ,the models slapped with a case of obscenity and the ad deemed unfit for public consumption!14 years later in 2009,the models and the others involved were finally acquitted and all charges against them dropped.