USHA PRAVIN GANDHI COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT

ADVERTISING IN CONTEMPRARY SOCIETY ASSIGNMENT-2 CONTROVERSIAL ADVERTISEMENTS

BY: SHARANYA NARAYANAN TYBMM- A 53001118038

WHAT IS A CONTROVERSY? Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus- " turned in an opposite direction," from contra- "against"- vertere- to turn, or versus (see verse), hence, "to turn against." Perennial areas off controversy include History, Religion, Philosophy and Politics. Other Minor areas of controversy may include economics, science, finances, organization, age, gender, and race. Controversial in matters of theology has traditionally been particularly heated, giving rise to the phrase odium theologicum. 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. Benford's Law of Controversy, as expressed by science- fiction author Gregory Bendford in 1980, states: Passion is inversely proportional to the amount of real (true) information available. In other words, the fewer facts are known to and agreed on by the participants, the more controversy there is, and the more is known the less controversy there is. Thus, for example, controversies in physics are limited to areas where experiments cannot be carried out yet, whereas Benford's Law implies that controversy is inherent to politics, where communities must frequently decide on courses of action based on insufficient information.

CONTROVERSY IN ADVERTISING Judging an AD as being suggestive, irrelevant in terms of the product its trying to sell or simply controversial is purely relative one may think. What may seem like a vulgar ad to the ASCI (Advertising Council of India) may seem innovative or appealing to the consumers or at least that is what has been proved over the past 2 decades of Indian Advertising. Most companies, that have made controversial ads that have either been banned from transmission or made to be released in highly censored forms, have recorded highest turnovers and improved market shares post the release to the so called inconsumable ads.

Do companies then consider controversial ads the easiest route to Indian publics mind? Well, if the very aim of an ad is achieved then one would say, why not? Over the years, if Indians advertising companies have realized one thing its nothing but the fact that Sex sells and appeals more to the masses than maybe a good humorous creative commercial. Sex may indeed sell to the public and the masses of India but the Indian advertising council and other associated legal authorities are not willing to buy the concept that easily. The Indian advertising industry has seen many a controversial ad in the past 2 decades and most of them creating controversy on the basis of being vulgar, obscene and unfit for public consumption. Speaking of controversial ads, vulgar and obscene may not be the only reasons for raising an eyebrow or shaking up the authorities. What companies have also tried and experimented with often is brand infringement. Explicitly referring to another companys product in an ad, either by boldly referring to the product or by using parts of its tagline, or any other means through which an attempt is made to hurt the companys brand value, is considered strictly out of the rule books of fair advertising. The 90s and the current decade have had their share of some of the most controversial ads in the history of Indian advertising- from naked model to steamy showers- we have seen it all! There may have been many that created a little ignorable noise, but following are the ones, which have created a lot of controversy and noise amongst the audience.

INDIAN ADVERTISING. Most companies, that have made controversial ads that have either been banned from transmission or made to be released in highly censored forms, have recorded highest turnovers and improved market shares post the release of the so called inconsumable " ads. Do companies then consider controversial ads the easiest route to Indian public's mind? Well, if the very aim of an ad were achieved then one would say, why not? Over the years. If Indian advertising companies have realized one thing is nothing but the fact that "sex sells" and appeals more to the masses than maybe a good humorous creative commercial. Sex may indeed sell to the public and the masses of India but the Indian Advertising Council and

other associated legal authorities are not willing to buy the concept that easily. The Indian Advertising industry has seen many a controversial ad in the past 2 decades and most of them creating controversy on the basis of being Vulgar, Obscene and unit for public consumption. Speaking of Controversial ads, Vulgar and obscene may not be the only reasons for raising an eyebrow or shaking up the authorities, what companies have also tried and experimented with often is brand infringement. Explicitly referring to another company's product in an ad, either by boldly referring to the product or by using parts of its Tagline, or any other means through which an attempt is made to hurt the company's brand value, is considered strictly out of the rule books of Fair Advertising. The 90's and the current decade have had their share of some of the most controversial ads in the history of Indian Advertising-from naked models to steamy showers- we have seen it all! There may have been many that created a little ignorable noise, but following are the ones that have created a lot of controversy and noise amongst audience.

INDIAN ADVERTISMENTS PRODUCT: CAR COMPANY: FORD AGENCY: J. WALTER THOMPSON (JWT) BRAND: FORD FIGO CONTROVERSY: PRINT What was the advertisement about?

This advertisement that was leaked is not more than a couple of weeks old. What the ad is trying to portray is that despite it being a small hatchback car there is enough boot space for 3 grown women to fit. This ad shows three famous Indian female celebrities bound and gagged in the boot of the new Ford Figo.

What was controversial? India has already seen some major activities like gang rape, female foeticide that have made women and people in general extremely averse to any anti-women sentiments. This ad here is showing women bound and gagged angered women and sparked womens rights protests. This ad is extremely sexist and garnered the wrath of critics and people alike. This particular ad had gone viral on the web and the officials from JWT, the agency responsible for this ad and Ford the manufacturing company has apologized for this ad. Ford was quoted saying, These posters are contrary to the level of professionalism and decency within which Ford and its agencies operate. We deeply regret this incident and are looking into so that such incidents never occur again.

PRODUCT: MOBILE SERVICE PROVIDER COMPANY: TATA AGENCY: DraftFCB ULKA BRAND: TATA DOCOMO CONTROVERSY: AUDIO VISUAL What was the advertisement about?

This advertisement hit the television screens 2011. It shows how a housemaid who steals the phone of her memsaab while cleaning her room and hides it in her blouse. When she is leaving the phone begins to ring causing the maid to get caught. Then the tagline appears NO GETTING AWAY causing the maid to cut a sorry figure in front of her employer.

What was controversial? The Domestic Servants Association and human rights activists met the ad with outrage. The ad is nothing but a blatant display of disrespect towards certain set of people. This again confirms of the stark divide within our shallow society. It's not only demeaning but also disgusting especially for company like TATA to come us with such concept, a company which has been uprooting the marginalized tribes & villagers from their own land & setting up ports & factories. The company needs to look within their own deeds & theyll see themselves sneakily stealing poor peoples only possession, their land. This ad is utterly disrespectful & designed in bad taste with no regard towards a larger set of people, who are often crushed with the power of money & status. The protests and outrage led the ad being pulled off the air and the company issued an apology for the same.

PRODUCT: DEODRANT COMPANY: McNROE PVT LTD AGENCY: ASIAN SHOPPING CLUB BRAND: WILDSTONE CONTROVERSY: AUDIO VISUAL

What was the advertisement about?

This advertisement is set in the backdrop of Durga puja where a young woman is getting things ready for the puja. They show a young good looking man spraying on the new wildstone deodorant. He bangs into the woman and helps her pick up the things she dropped. While doing so the woman smells the fragrance of the deo and get attracted to him. The next scene they show the man is lying on the bed and the woman is draping her sari and leaving the room. Then the tagline appeared and was said in a very seductive tone WILD BY NATURE

What was controversial?

The ad was very high in sexual undertones even despite the fact that the ad that actually mad it on the air was a highly censored version of it. The original ad features the man and woman indulging in sexual activity that was highly inappropriate considering that children would watch the ad as well. The censored ad received much flak because of the Durga Puja backdrop, it is considered sacred and a homely woman having inappropriate feeling and relations with a man who is not her husband was considered highly inappropriate. Despite all the controversy that surrounded this ad it catapulted the brand Wild Stone into the limelight making the deodorant extremely fast selling.

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INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISMENTS PRODUCT: ICE CREAM COMPANY: ANTONIO FEDERICI AGENCY: CONTRAST CREATIVE, UK BRAND: ANTONIO FEDERICI CONTROVERSY: PRINT What was the advertisement about?

The magazine ad for ice cream maker Antonio Federici showed a heavily pregnant nun eating a tub of ice cream, with text that read: Immaculately conceived ... Ice cream is our religion. This ad appeared in The Lady and Grazia magazines in July 2010.

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What was controversial? This advertisement was drawn into controversy over its portrayal of nuns and the Roman Catholic Church. Nuns are supposed to have dedicated their entire lives to God and a nun being shown pregnant with the tagline Immaculately conceived & Ice cream is our religion was not well received by the Catholics. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) announced that it had banned the ad for the Antonio Federici brand for "making a mockery" of the beliefs of Roman Catholics.

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PRODUCT: CLOTHES & ACCESSORIES COMPANY: BENNETON GROUP AGENCY: 72 AND SUNNY, ITALY BRAND: UNITED COLORS OF BENNETON CONTROVERSY: PRINT

What was the advertisement about?

United Colors Of Benetton came up with a series of ads under their UNHATE campaign that featured many global leaders kissing their biggest adversaries. These ads were categorically placed in some of the biggest cities of the world with their leaders on the poster. Some of the leaders they featured in their ads were US president Barack Obama kissing his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez. Another ad featured Pope Benedict XVI and Imam Sheikh Ahmed El-Tayeb.

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What was controversial? The ad featuring the Pope kissing top Egyptian Imam was removed on the same day as it was unfurled in top cities like Milan, New York, Paris, Tel Aviv and Rome. This was done after Vatican called it disrespect to the pope and said it was unacceptable. The company apologized immediately after the incident and promised to have it taken down from all publications immediately

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