When Anything Might Offend Someone
Posted on | January 29, 2008 | 2 Comments
by Andrea Learned
Have you ever noticed, how, if you try, almost any marketing campaign can be viewed as sexist or offensive to one person or the other? For example, a year or so back, The Gap ran this ad [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1BppoosV3U[/youtube] with Lenny Kravitz playing guitar and singing while Sarah Jessica Parker danced in tight jeans. This ad likely succeeded as a hip/sexy message for a lot of consumers (I liked it), but may have seemed overly sexy to others. And then, there are always the AXE Body Spray ads, which are targeted very much toward libidinous young men and may well be offensive to anyone but said men. A particular person’s reactions to ad campaigns depends on a wide range of demographic and less-measurable factors: age, background, sense of humor, mood that day, and so on.
Recently, there’s been a bit of a to-do about one female blogger’s perspective of a Target ad,* wherein a woman looks to be straddling the brand’s logo in a way that makes her crotch look like the target’s center. How many of us would ever have noticed that, if it hadn’t been brought up in the buzz of blogs?
I myself have written (on my own blog) about the possible lack of wisdom in male-bashing ad campaigns (wherein, for example, the woman might be rolling her eyes as her husband supposedly does something dumb). Some people may disagree with me, and not find it offensive at all. As it is, my unique perspective likely comes from the fact that I am doing a lot of research on the mind of the male consumer, especially in relation to marketing to women efforts. Brands, and the people who read my blog posts, can take or leave what I say – of course!
As marketers, bloggers and consumers, we may all want to weigh which issues take priority and what might rile us enough to take a strong, public stand. The idea may be to balance things out and take responsibility for ourselves. There is great power in quieting the keyboard and letting the smaller things slide, so our voices will be heard when the larger, more serious issues arise.
I hereby resolve to keep my own, very unique, biases in better check (and you can keep me honest, dear readers). Here’s to a blogosphere brimming with honest and responsible give and take!
*Note: As to Target’s response to the blogger’s complaint (as included in a New York Times piece by Michael Barbaro) that they don’t “participate with nontraditional media outlets” – THAT would be worth rethinking.
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2 Responses to “When Anything Might Offend Someone”
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January 31st, 2008 @ 12:07 pm
Andrea, you make an excellent point. I still am itching to post on the topic but I’m tempered by your words.
All digital outlets are considered “nontraditional” and Target is a leader in both the tried-and-true banner real-estate ads and next-generation digital media components. Their agency, Haworth, prides itself on being visionary (and has to be to keep the retail behemoth’s biz) so I have no doubt that the clued-in at both client & agency will have balked at this PR statement. It just ain’t true!
January 31st, 2008 @ 1:00 pm
Thanks Christine. I figured as much with Target (re: their “getting” that they need to interact with nontraditional media), so thanks for the extra insight on Haworth!