A while ago I wrote a blog about the effects of controversial advertising campaigns that Direct Response Advertising agents have used for the likes of Benetton over the years. The latest national campaign to cause a stir was designed to prove there is more to getting the message across than advertising on Google.
The 1.25 million ad campaign was intended to run on more than 11, 000 billboards and poster sites across the country and was backed by one of the biggest media owners in the sector. The three messages that were planned to run were: “Career Women make bad mothers”, “1966. It won’t happen this year” and “Educashun isn’t working”. Each of the ads asks the viewers whether they agree with the statement and pushes them to join a discussion on the website: Britainthinks.com.
The campaign, which launched with its first statement ‘Career women make bad mothers’ on Monday 4th January quickly ruffled the feathers of women the length and breadth of the nation and an influx of angry and upset Mothers posted their rage on the Mumsnet website stating their contempt and hurt at the blazon statement.
The Outdoor Advertising Association had intended these posters run for a fortnight on buses and billboard sites but have had to be scrapped due to the bad attention it has received. The next to run is the statement “1966. It won’t happen this year” which is sure to risk offending football fans and rubbing salt in old wounds, but its got to be said that whilst this campaign has already offended a great deal of people, the attention it has achieved is exactly what it set out to do, which many UK Advertising Agencies often can only dream of.
