How to avoid audience activists

Keith Crozier and and B Zafer Erdogan

Advertising, to break through consumer indifference, may increasingly carry provocative content, which may offend certain groups (including those outside the target): recent examples are Benetton and French Connection.

How to Avoid Audience Activists

Keith CrosierandB. Zafer Erdogan

In a speech to the TV 95 conference, the chairman of Lowe HowardSpink deplored what he called 'the yob tendency in British advertising', citing three commercials that had been cleared by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and entered for awards: Holsten Pils, BK sports shoes and Harley Davidson. As a result, he was invited to propose the motion that 'advertising seriously damages your health' at a debate sponsored by the International Advertising Association. Opposition speakers from two other prominent advertising agencies argued that 'political correctness should be left in...

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