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In the news
Global ad watchdogs toughen up on offensive advertising
If the level of pettiness of complaints to the world's advertising standards authorities is anything to go by, the world's consumers are certainly getting a lot more sensitive about what they see in advertising.
And as a result, more and more ads that world have quite easily have passed muster 20 years ago are now being hauled off TV and cinema screens and out of newspapers and magazines.
A quick check on the Internet produced a list of 15 of the world's most "offensive, banned and rejected" advertisements. Admittedly, some of them are decidedly tacky and make no marketing sense whatsoever, clearly just designed to be shocking for shock's sake.
Judge for yourself
But, the majority would probably not have raised a single eyebrow 20 years ago. Have a look at the ads below and judge for yourself.
The big question, of course, is this:
Are advertising standards watchdogs simply getting stricter and a lot more conservative or are consumers really a lot more sensitive these days?
And if the latter is the case, is it just a question of a tiny minority of over-eager Mother Grundies trying to dictate to dictate levels of morality on behalf of the majority or do those few, who complain so bitterly and sometimes from a position of such pettiness, actually represent the opinion of the majority?
Kiss Tobacco - Israel - Banned as it contains "obscenity and ressemblance of human beings"
Paddy Power - Ireland - Banned as "the betting odds referred to each woman's chances of either being knocked down by the truck were offensive and demeaned older people"
NO2ID - UK - Most Complained as "the barcode on Tony Blair's upper lip made him resemble Hitler, which was offensive"
Six Feet Under TV Series - UK - Banned as they were "offensive, shocking and likely to cause undue distress"
Diesel - UK - Banned as its "sexual image was likely to cause serious or widespread offence and was unsuitable in a magazine that could be seen by children"
The Rules of Attraction (movie) - USA - Banned as "the copulating toys were considered offensive and obscene"
The Breast Cancer Fund - USA - Rejected by advertising spaces run by Viacom "over fears that its depiction of mastectomy scars would prove to be too shocking to the public"
About Chris Moerdyk
Apart from being a corporate marketing analyst, advisor and media commentator, Chris Moerdyk is a former chairman of Bizcommunity. He was head of strategic planning and public affairs for BMW South Africa and spent 16 years in the creative and client service departments of ad agencies, ending up as resident director of Lindsay Smithers-FCB in KwaZulu-Natal. Email Chris on moc.liamg@ckydreom and follow him on Twitter at @chrismoerdyk.