Creating an emotional connection is crucial to
effective marketing campaigns. One common technique is to arouse the
feeling of shock.
Some of these ad campaigns really push the limits of what could be
considered an effective visual. They include print ads, TV spots,
online virals and guerrilla marketing campaigns. Many are disturbing,
and most are controversial.
Regardless of one’s own interpretation, these ads do what they’re
meant to do: they evoke emotion in order to create buzz. They get
people talking. The ads circulate and the brand name is mentioned
repeatedly and awareness is brought to the company. Whether you agree
with the term or not, these advertising campaigns rest on the saying
that “all publicity is good publicity.”
If it’s the sexier ads you’re after specifically, check out the Top 69 Naughty Ads!
From sex and everything else that shocks, look at these trends…
Awareness
Wickipedia defines Shock Advertising as “a form of advertising where
social or moral boundaries are pushed in order to create buzz and
controversy. It depends on the mantra “there’s no such thing as bad
publicity.” In the above example from the Brazil government, you can
see that the definition of… [More]
If this doesn’t convey the message, nothing will. This very graphic ad
against whaling was done up by the Republic of Everyone, the art
direction by Happy Soldiers. The photograph of a whale whose guts are
literally oozing out is meant to speak out against the unethical
fishing of whales. Although… [More]
These very graphic, extremely disturbing ads are actually part of a
real life AIDS campaign in France. The print advertisements consists of
images of a man having sex with a giant, black scorpion, and a woman
receiving oral sex from an enormous, hairy tarantula. The ads created
by TBWA Paris are… [More]
Statutory rape in Milwaukee is on the rise, so much so, that the Family
Violence Partnership hired Serve, an ad agency to create this
shockvertisement. The point the advertisement is trying to get across
is that just because a girl has a body physically capable of sex,
doesn’t mean her mind has de… [More]
These ads relatd to child-protection are very disturbing. But so is the
subject matter. Domestic violence is a serious issue that can leave a
child scarred for life. This ad campaign, with realistic looking blood,
drives the point home. The child protection agencies are intended to
shield children from pedophilia … [More]
In a unique campaign for the Red Cross of Australia, the M&C
Saatchi has created bloodvertising. Instead of conveying a message
through a typical sign, the inclusion of blood is the medium.
Unfortunately, this may just be a print ad. With the word of mouth
impact they’ll get, maybe we’ll see the … [More]
PETA has decided to alienate their target market, humans. Their latest
ad features slaughtered humans in order to draw out their feelings
about humans slaughtering animals. [More]
PETA has launched it’s State of the Union video, in which a female
reporter strips down to absolutely nothing while educating you about
PETA’s cause. Then, when you’re wondering what comes next with the
second half of the video, the naked woman disappears and you get to
watch animals being mistreat… [More]
The Association for the Promotion of Women in Romania (APFR is the
acronym in Romanian) put out this ad showcasing the plight of battered
women in that Eastern European Country. The very same ad could be
splattered on any public telephone of any country in the world. Some
well traveled, abused clich… [More]
Until now cigarette packs in the UK have carried text warning that have
been much larger than those in the US Apparently that hasn’t lead to a
steep enough decline in smoking which has recently been banned in
public places in the UK. So, the UK will become the first EU member to
print the photo wa… [More]
Do you know what you eat? Manipulated food doesn’t just pertain to
animal products. This Green Peace ad uses creative visuals to points
out the dangers of genetically modified fruits and vegetables. “The DNA
of genetically modified plants may contain the genes of insects,
animals or even viru… [More]
About Face is a unique website trying to promote awareness and combat
the media’s distortion of women in advertising. The site features
responsible advertisers and a “worst offenders” list, which is
extensive! The Worst Offenders List is mostly populated by clothing
designers. The way these compa… [More]
Just when you got all excited, I need to tell you that the human
publically urinating for the Privy Council is actually a maniquen.
Still, impressive. The campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi is an attempt
to relieve the New York restroom shortage by taking the issue to the
streets. At the Privy Council… [More]
These creative rape public awareness ads from Thailand relay an
important message. Girls & boys, always have a pepper spray ready
in dangerous places. The campaign smartly plays on the tag line “When
they can’t see, they can’t hurt you” by blackening out the attacker
through the range of the pepper… [More]
Kenneth Cole is using AIDS to sell fashion. Specifically, the latest
Kenneth Cole ads feature luring models with the tagline, “We’re all
potential carriers.” Let that one scare you… In general I’m a fan of
charities getting leveraging corporate marketing machines… However, I’m
still not convi… [More]
This new ad campaign for Olla condoms got me thinking about how hard it
is to advertise certain brands. The tag line of the campaign is “The
day after is more relaxed for those who wear condoms.” The only
indicator of the brand is a printed ‘Olla’ underneath. So when you
think about it, the effect i… [More]
Products
This a controversial ad campaign that has sparked much debate. It’s an
ad for Running Free support bras. It needs to be noted that they were
not actually created by Running Free. DDB had pitched the idea, but the
bra company refused to be associated with the imagery. The campaign
features three ph… [More]
This is an ad from Stella Espresso Coffee which seeks to express to
coffee drinkers in Italy just how strong their coffee is and how much
“bite” it really has. The scorpion, which is made out of coffee beans,
is crawling up the woman’s nose and lingering around her mouth to
graphically represent t… [More]
Toyota thinks that sometimes you gotta overlook and forgive a man’s
wrongdoing, as long as he is driving a Prius! The new Toyota Prius
campaign uses the tagline “Well, at least he drives a Prius” with a
backdrop of three pretty bad/naughty scenarios. Killer, shows a man
dragging a dead body into the… [More]
I am certain that soldiers, fighters and armies all over the world
would love this retry feature. The “Retry” Ad for Sony’s PlayStation
Portable player gives you a gruesome visual with limps and organs all
over the place; a retry is most welcome! The ad was photographed by
Kaustubh Kamat with art … [More]
A funny commercial is always good in my book. A funny and sexy
commercial is even better. These two video commercials for Tampax use
the same clever idea of a sexy girl going for a dip in the pool ending
up draining the pool water to show the ‘super absorbent’ quality of
Tampax. One commercial g… [More]
Naughty, Crude & Nasty
I have to say, looking at these ads makes you wonder what kind of
lifestyle Deutsch Magazine, an International LifeStyle magazine,
promotes. Is ‘animal-love’ the new hip international lifestyle these
days and I did not know? I looked at the magazine online, and it is
actually an elegant über classy… [More]
Sex sells; by now, we all know that. But a lot of advertisers are
having a tough time figuring out where to draw that sexy line. A model
friend of mine spends hours a day perusing high end fashion magazines,
learning from and scrutinizing ads, examining everything from
photography to makeup applica… [More]
Dolce & Gabanna has angered many people with this ad, which
features a woman being overpowered by a gang of men. It’s pretty clear
why people are getting so upset. From D&G’s perspective, they are
happy that everybody is keeping an eye on their ad and will never
forget the brand. International A… [More]
Burt Reynolds is naked again, years past his prime. His hairy ad,
which features a layout similar to the infamous George Kastanza
photoshoot, is for DirecTV’s latest campaign. The ad states,
“Everything should be seen in DirecTV HD ... well, maybe not
everything.” Touche. The campaign is a good … [More]
Sexy Camera is a new erotic candid camera TV show on air on March 2008
on FX channel in Italy. To promote the show, AM-NEWTON21 ad agency,
Italy came up with this creative guerrilla campaign that reaches the
target male audience in their public toilets at pubs and gyms. The
campaign uses soap dispe… [More]
Viral videos are one of the most looked at things on the web and have
proven to be an excellent way to boost publicity. Hollywood actors are
slowly starting to catch onto this wildly popular form of media, thanks
to stars like Will Ferrell who was one of the pioneers of self-made
celebrity virals. … [More]
Jimmy Kimmel has responded to girlfriend Sarah Silverman’s viral video
with a celebrity filled viral video of his own: ‘I’m F--king Ben
Affleck’. The celebrity studded viral includes cameo appearances from
Ben Affleck and Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz, Joan Jett, Macy
Gray, Robin Williams… [More]
Virgin is being criticized for making their latest campaign a little
bit too naughty. The wildlife orgy campaign is Richard Branson’s
attempt to show the environmental perks of Virgin Trains. The video
shows “Pantomime animals simulating vigorous and varied sex acts,” the
Sunday Herald described. … [More]
There’s nothing wrong with holiday wrapping paper that shows horny
angels kissing and fondling one another. Unless you’re Virgin Mobile
Canada, and you’re handing it out to children at movie theaters. All
you get then is angry parents muttering things like, “Somebody had to
have their head s… [More]
Tom Ford’s latest cologne ad might be considered a little crude, but
the sexy advertising technique is certainly proving effective. The
commercial is getting a lot of attention for the provacative image of a
woman grabbing her unnaturally round, full breasts with her manicured
hands, pressing them t… [More]
Adrants recently coined the term “Vaginads,” a hybrid of vagina and
advertising after being inspired by two new campaigns. In Tom Ford’s
risque new campaign, just like his last ad, (see below) a very nude
woman is featured wearing nothing but the product. This time, instead
of being placed between… [More]
That dirty-minded Tom Ford has released yet another risque ad. The
studly young fashion designer has released a series of controversial
ads which people either love or hate, all of them very, very sexy. In
his most recent menswear ad, a young gentleman clad in a white suit
appears to yelp in pain a… [More]
JBS mens underwear new campaign employs the slogan “Men do not want to
look at naked men”. So what do they do? They use partially-nude hot
females in a super naughty, super provocative maxim-like shoot that
borders on softcore porn. I doubt men will argue with JBS’ choice. Well
straight men at least… [More]
After having to withdraw their recent ads (which you can see below) in
Denmark due to heavy criticism of being discriminating to women, JBS
has now released new ads for their JBS Mens Underwear line that are a
bit less racy but still carry the same message and sexual undertone.
JBS still insists tha… [More]
Political
“The world needs a tape like this.” That’s the genius tagline of the
new print ad campaign for Tesa tape. Four of our recent “great” world
leaders are featured with one of their pretty “smart” quotes (of which
there is an abundance) with red Tesa tape used to tape their mouth
shut. The campaign wa… [More]
The Photoshopped picture is from an ad put out by
Hogeschool-Universiteit (HUB). The higher education institution in
Brussel Belgium seeks to increase attendance by offering prospective
students a college and university in one and by asking the question,
“Why choose if you can combine?” That ad ph… [More]
Saatchi & Saatchi, New Zealand has created a controversial campaign
to promote the TVNZ premiere of the cult thriller, American Psycho. One
of the ads show a close up on American President George W. Bush with a
big and clear “American Psycho” printed under it. Another ad shows the
American flag crea… [More]
Movies & TV
Amsterdam street walkers were shocked when they found a severed arm
lying down on the street. If you look closely, you’ll see this is a
great examples of guerrilla marketing. The arm was holding a copy of
the Death Proof DVD, the latest movie starring Quentin Tarantino. The
bloody limbs was foun… [More]
30 gratuitous billboards depicting abduction, torture and murder of
kidnapping victims in Elisha Cuthbert’s latest movie, ‘Captivity’ have
censors and concerned citizens in an uproar at the shocking content of
these ads. [More]
This very clever parody ad would convince you that Canadian men love
their diapers - until the end of the commercials and you find out the
need the diapers so they can watch the all horror channel, Scream TV.
Fun kiddie music, men frolicking in diapers, what could be more fun?
The commercial was pro… [More]
The actress Jennifer Aniston and her friend Courtney Cox surprised us
with a kiss that they gave each other in the mouth for a TV series. The
video is an affection touch between these two women, that after sharing
lunch, they kiss before leave the restaurant. According to information
that publish… [More]
Branding & Shock Labels
The Hersheys Co. didn’t think this one through. Their Ice Breakers Pacs
are packaged similarly to the way illegal drugs such as cocaine, crack,
and heroin are distributed - in small, heat-sealed baggies. The candy
is really a dissolvable pouch with a powdered sweetener inside. A
Philadelphia Police … [More]
Never one to shy away from controversy, Agent Provocateur’s co-founder
Joe Corre thought of a creative protest message when he discovered that
members of the U.K. human rights charity Reprieve had been accused of
smuggling underwear to a prisoner held at Guantánamo Bay. And out came
the “Fair Trial… [More]
You knew this was coming, so why are you in shock? A new company,
Ass-Vertise / Assvertise is already landing new clients with its
innovative human-ass billboards. Stare at the bum of an appealing lady
OR man in NYC, and you’ll find yourself reading ads, including those
shown for the New York Heal… [More]
Traditional branding was based on choosing names that exude the
product’s qualities and attributes. Why bother? That’s the attitude
of many hot new companies who are choosing shocking titles for their
identities. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in the wonderful
world of wine. Here, shocking… [More]
Flap Art Book Covers are shocking covers that slip on top of your
book. The covers are shure to shock with titles like: Make Your Mother
a Pornstar, How to Kill a Complete Stranger, and Perfecting the Art of
Fart Projection. If you find yourself bothered by people on the
subway, a book cover like … [More]
I can’t figure out if this product is more for shock value or whether
or not the company feels that people will put anything in their hair as
long as they say it works? It’s pretty disgusting when you think about
it, gorilla snot in your hair for maximum hold? And how do they get
those gorilla’s to … [More]
In 2005, we introduced you to Raunchy Wrapping Paper, just on time for
the Christmas season. Now, it appears that the erotic gift wrap is
available with either men or women on the inside… Your mother will be
so impressed. The perfect gift wrap for only £3 from Suck UK. [More]
Shock yourself, get ideas, or see what you missed. Depending on your interest, you’ll find this site and book entertaining.
“These examples from the forthcoming book, Best Rejected
Advertising Volume Three, are print ads, TV and radio commercials that
prompted consumer complaints.
All campaigns ar… [More]
Can displaying a shocking, disturbing image be worth it to the public
good? Shockvertising is reaching new highs, or lows, depending on your
opinion. Industry experts say public-service ads are becoming more
shocking than ever. The gallery includes a series of images from PSAs
that have evoked a l… [More]
Source: Trendhunters.com
Shock Advertising - Pedestrian Safety Ad in Brazil
3D Activism Ad - Graphic Anti-Whaling Campaign
Biomimicmarketing in Shockvertisement - French AIDS Campaign (GALLERY)
Youth Shockvertising - Statutory Rape Awareness Ad
Youth Shockvertising II - ‘Don’t Lose Control’ Child Abuse Ad (GALLERY)
Bloodvertising - Red Cross Ad For Blood Donation
Shockvertising - PETA Slaughters Humans
Strip and Switch - PETA Video Uses Stripping to Get You to See Animal Abuse
Eastern European Shockvertising - APFR Battered Women Ads
Shocking Cigarette Labels - UK Follows Canada With Graphic Attempt to Discourage Smoking (GALLERY)
Mutant Veggie Ad - Green Peace Uses Shock Factor (GALLERY)
About Face Website - Fighting Against Distorted Images of Women in the Media (GALLERY)
Public Urination as Advertising - Guerrilla Ad Campaign
Rape Public Awareness Ads - Pepper Spray (GALLERY)
Kenneth Cole Uses AIDS to Sell Fashion
Difficult Advertising & Branding - Olla Condoms (GALLERY)
Creative Support Bra Ad - Running Free (GALLERY)
Shockvertising with Bite - Stella Espresso Coffee
Toyota Prius Campaign - Prostitute, Lover, Killer (GALLERY)
Gruesome Shockvertising - Sony PSP Retry Ad
Funny Feminine Hygiene Ads - Tampax Swimming Pool (VIDEO)
Controversial Ads - Deutsch Magazine (GALLERY)
Dolce & Gabbana Gets Overly Sexual in New Controversial Ads (VIDEO)
Violent Advertising - Amnesty International Furious at Dolce & Gabbana Ad
Naked Hairy Shock Advertising - Burt Reynolds Strips Down for DirecTV
Playful Guerilla Ads - Sexy Camera in Public Bathrooms (GALLERY)
Celebrity Shock Virals - Sarah Silverman is F--king Matt Damon (VIDEO)
Celebrity Banter - Jimmy Kimmel is F--king Ben Affleck (VIDEO)
Controversially Viral - Virgin’s Naughty Campaign (VIDEO)
Shock Advertising? That’s not a surprise for Virgin Mobile.
Tom Ford’s Racy New Ad - Controversial Cologne Campaign (GALLERY)
Racy Product Placement - Do Tom Ford’s Vaginads Cross the Line? (GALLERY)
Tom Ford’s Controversial Ads Part III - Naughty Menswear Ad
Hot Girls Dress & Act Like Guys To Sell Men’s Underwear - JBS Underwear (VIDEO)
Hot Girls Dress & Act Like Guys (UPDATE) - New JBS Mens Underwear Ads (GALLERY)
Political Tape Ad - Silencing Bush, Chávez, Sócrates & Berlusconi (GALLERY)
Political Shockvertising - “Hillary Obama” to Promote University
Controversial TV Campaign - Bush is American Psycho (GALLERY)
Severed Arm Holds DVD - Guerrilla Marketing for Death Proof
Shock Advertising - Elisha Cuthbert Depicted In Gratuitous ‘Captivity’ Billboards
Crap-vertising for Shock Movies - Canadian Men in Diapers (VIDEO)
Shock Factor Used To Boost Ratings - Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston Kiss! (VIDEO)
Hershey’s Cocaine Packaging - Ice Breakers Pacs
Agent Provocateur’s Guantánamo Bay Protest - ‘Fair Trial My Arse’ Panties
Assvertise / Assvertising - Exactly What You Think: Everything is a Billboard (GALLERY)
Dirty Laundry Wines - The Rise of Shock Labels
Flap Art - Alternative Book Covers That Shock (GALLERY)
Gorilla Snot Hair Gel
Raunchy Wrapping Paper - Now Available for Men and Women
Best Rejected Advertising: Book & Website
Shockvertising - Does It Work? Jury Still Out (GALLERY)