What’s up with gratuitous violence in commercials? We see all kinds of physical abuse in television advertisements in a vain attempt at humor. How has this become mainstream? Are companies and ad agency creative strategists that lacking in imagination and that desperate to get noticed that they take the PR dictum - any publicity is good publicity - and apply it to advertising?
A beer can beans an old man in the head. A soda can (intended for the husband), strikes a woman in the head. A boy nails his dad in the noodle with a baseball as he surfs the net on his cell phone (really?!). A beer bottle knocks a knight out.
Say, um, what’s that taste like?
Chicken. Why? What’s yours taste like?
“WHAP!” = a smack in the face.
That sounds good! Giggle. You got yourself a sandwich sir!
This exchange doesn’t (or shouldn’t) pass the gut check test. Really, it’s downright ridiculous and it’s not funny. Nor is it acceptable behavior; yet, where’s the outcry?
Crickets chirping.
Have you noticed it’s the guy most always taking the beating? Mock, denigrate and humiliate men. A male being bruised and abused is all the rage. Hitting below the belt, figuratively and literally, is common, be it insulting his intelligence, challenging his manhood, or whacking him in the nether regions with a walker, football or a lad’s fist.
This passes for CLIO-worthy advertising? How does an agency and company develop a campaign on this approach? How does any of it sell product? How does this behavior ingratiate a company with its customers and nearly half of the population i.e. men? How does it burnish the corporate and product brands?
I daresay it doesn’t. Descending to such base humor and behavior smacks of an absence of vision, strategy, differentiation, an understanding of your customers, or respect for their intelligence.
It’s a bad trend and it can’t end soon enough.
What’s your take? Do you disagree with me? Present your argument in the comments section. Hit me with your best shot.
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