Point of view: The era of outrage advertising

This article discusses the advertising tactic of provoking outrage, and argues that advertisers should not 'poke the bear'.

Point of view: The era of outrage advertising

Darika AhrensLDN Stock

In the picture, there's a woman on a yellow background. She's young. She's blonde. She's in a bikini. And she asks, in large bold type, "Are you beach body ready?" At the bottom of the poster someone has scrawled "**** off. I'm describing one of the now-infamous defaced Protein World ads. A couple of months ago, in London, the ads were graffittied, parodied, and finally removed after people protested about them online. Detractors called the ads sexist, inappropriate, and body shaming.

It became a big news story. Not...

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