Has Advertising Gone Too Far?

Have you ever seen an ad in a magazine or a TV commercial that disgusted you so much you cant help but remember it? Shocking advertisements has become increasingly frequent when a certain company is trying to effectively getting their message across. By appealing to your emotions, whether it be pity, anguish, disgust or humor, certain advertisements will stick with you forever....just like it was intended.

But are some of these companies going too far? I came across a few anti-smoking advertisements that almost shocked me to my core. The images baffled me. The one above states "The average smoker needs over five thousand cigarettes a year. Get unhooked. Call 0900 169 0 169 or visit getunhooked.co.uk" If I hadn't read the text, I would never have understood the point of this ad. I understand that cigarettes are an addictive drug and that it is easy to become 'hooked' on them, but is the picture portraying the text in a literal sense going too far? On the other hand, is this horrid picture effective enough to show how bad smoking is?

I understand why an ad like that would have that particular picture and I believe that in come instances it is a smart marketing tool. However, there are other such ads that have emotionally disturbing pictures that sometimes do not effectively relate to its message.

This next ad is also an anti-smoking campaign. The text reads, "NO MORE KILLING. It is estimated that one person dies every 8 seconds from smoking. Stop smoking now!" While the statistic is a shocking truth, the picture bothered me a lot. Obviously the two burning cigarettes look like the World Trade Center during the 9/11 attacks, but does that have to do with the smoking? Yes it says "No More Killing", but wouldn't it have made more sense if the statistic had said something like 'The amount of people who die from cigarettes is equivalent to that of how many died during the terrorist attacks" (if it were true of course)? I think that people who were personally affected by the terrorist attacks would be very offended by this advertisement. Why should they have to be reminded of a loved-one they lost by seeing an advertisement about cigarette smoking?

While I commend what these people are advertising for and how they are promoting a healthier life style, I believe there are better ways to achieve that. In the instance of the first advertisement, I think that while mildly disturbing, it is an affective way to promote their message. However, when it comes to the case of the second ad, i think they went to far.

After coming across these ads, it only made me think that this will be a new trend in the PR world. We've been sheltered from the type of gruesomeness that is all around us, such as not showing injured/deceased people from a car accident on the news, to a point where advertising like this has a real affect on us. I think that is becoming a very marketable and powerful tool in this industry, and we will be seeing a lot more of it to come.