Searching through various websites on this print ad, I found very varying comments and thoughts from people who have seen it. The two most common comments though seemed to be between two groups. The first being those who are offended or think that this advertisement has gone overboard and those who are not bothered by the controversy and in fact liked it (mostly because of the half-naked male model). The reason for the difference in their opinions can be attributed to the difference in subjectivity in interpretation between the two groups which eventually leads them into taking a figure and ground approach in organizing their thoughts and opinions towards the print advertisement.
Although the people who had left comments on the multiple websites had not left their details such as their religion, nationality and basically any other information except for their online alias, it would still be safe to assume most of the people from the first group (the print ad haters) should be Christians. Because of their religion, they have not zoomed in on the intended implied message (that the ice cream is irresistible) but focused only on the part of the nun and priest almost kissing. The same thing had happened before back in 2006 when ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was about to show in cinemas. Based on a book that was purely fictional, the main idea of the story was in the process of how the main character, Robert Langon, solve the mysteries in the book, but because there were usage of Christianity and biblical stuffs that were not the same as the bible, the Christian community had decided to protest in anger and even thought of boycotting the movie as a sign of protest. Other people, presumably the non-Christians or not-so-devote individual, had on the other hand just read and book and watched the movie, taking in the plot as just a good plot with good climax and mystery, instead of taking it to the more extreme way that it is blasphemy. Similarly, the other group of people (lovers of the ad) could be assumed to be non-Christians with characteristics that are not as affected by religious differences. Because they are not tied down by religious subjectivity, they were able to put aside the roles of the two models but focused at their point of interest; the male model, at which we can also assume the majority of those who had commented to be females.
As for me, my first point of attention was not even on the models. I had known this is an advertisement for an ice cream company before the picture loaded so my first instinct was to actually look for the ice cream in the ad before looking at the bigger picture to search for the controversy. Even then, I was not too affected by it and ended up still focusing more on the ice cream but this might have to do with the fact that I am a big fan of ice creams in general. The guy had not appealed to me as much as to the others and personally, I thought the advertiser was clever to use such a controversy for more media attention. They might be treading on thin ice but it gives them greater media coverage too, which is basically the main point of marketing.
So what are your thoughts about this? And are there any reasons behind it? Discuss!
(Credits:
http://great-ads.blogspot.com/2009/05/antonio-federici-gelato-shocking-print.html
http://www.ireallylikefood.com/701006870/controversial-ice-cream-ad-may-be-excommunicated/?ref=xn
http://www.adrants.com/2009/05/federici-gelato-poses-fresh-temptation.php)
To me, such an advertising media was not an issue. Perhaps, this is Singapore, where there are many people would give their 2 second thoughts about what they see.
ReplyDeleteWell, it had been stated as an advertisement for ice-cream, and for me, of course I will take a look at what is the brand of the ice-cream before looking at the whole of the image. This is rather new and fresh (the poster) and I like the ice-cream company who use this approach.
Yes, it may seems to be offending in some religions, but afterall, we are moving in to a new century. So I guess, because of the new generations, I would be expecting more of such advertisements coming up, as younger generations had already westernise their thinking.
So in short, this is really an intelligent marketing for the new generations, but at the same time, it may affect the religions.
In my opinion, i have no problems over such advertising media. Perhaps this is due to the fact that i am not a religious person.
ReplyDeleteWhichever the case is, advertising is about getting the consumers' attention to the products. Thus, i feel that in this article, the following advertising poster has achieved its objective to catch consumers' attention. If i come across this advertisment, i will stop to take a look on what is this about rather being offended in a religion point of view.
There may still be a small market of consumers who may be offended due to religion, but in a modern world most people are able to accept such concepts.
Therefore, such advertising methods is something new and creative. It does'nt matter if is offensive to the minorities as long as it can reached out to the large market of consumers.
Personally, I am not a Christian and I have nothing against this ice cream advertisement. But I cannot be sure how a Christian might think or react when he or she sees this.
ReplyDeleteStill, it is only right that the different religions get their utmost respect without having certain advertisement compromising this aspect. I agree with you that such an advertisement can stir up the news and media, but conversely it will also create negative publicity for the company in the long term and this is not abit wise at all.
I really do not feel that this is an intelligent marketing effort at all. Antonio Federici Gelato is just another media attention seeker.
This advertising is wrong advertising even if bad press is good press. what does this say about that brand? it has no ethics? it has no values?
ReplyDeletewho ever came up with that advertisement probably or should be fired. it says nothing about the product