Shockvertising.

The advertisements you have just viewed might have brought forward some unpleasant emotions or revelations. The made you feel sad, scared, worrisome or may offend you with their blatant, unapologetic visuals. These types of advertisements have been coined with the term; Shock advertising, or  Shockvertising. Ads that are made to shock are usually created to bring the general publics awareness to a specific social issue. This is when they are the most successful. In this day and age people are so numb to the news headlines about shootings, kidnappings, poverty and much more, that they barely give it a second thought when something bad happens yet again. 
Something happens when people see these ads, it makes them stop, shocked by the image they are seeing. This is probably because they are used to seeing these types of images in the newspaper or on tv, not in a magazine or on the side of a building, at a bus stop. The ads that bring our awareness to these very important facts of life are important, if only for a minute or two they make people think. Maybe it's naïve for me to say, but I do believe these ads work towards solutions. People will remember these images because of the emotions they felt and the impression it made in their mind, possibly on their whole day. Maybe after seeing that ad they donated to a cause, took an extra step to make sure their child is safe, or changed opened their mind to a new way of thinking. These are the types of shockvertisments that are tasteful and important to have in society.

In regards to using shocking ads for the fashion industry and other products, I think the advertisers are being quite smart. For example;

Sisley uses sex in a majority of their advertisements. Some people may find it offensive, but I think its a good tactic. They know who their target audience is (young, wealthy, fashion forward, men and women) and they know how to appeal to them. They're shocking people, but they are also getting people talking. They know how to use Shockvertising in a not-so-classy-but-it-works type of way.




These scandalous and remorseless ads keep things interesting in the advertising world, they give us something to talk about and to be excited by.