Contemporary advertisement practices have created many
social and ethical problems due to their materialistic focus. One
of these problems is the extensive use of shock advertisements with an
offensive content which raise a lot of controversial and ethical issues in the
society.
As today’s consumers are exposed to thousands of messages each day, there
is a rather difficult task in front of advertisers to cut through and secure
the attention of the target audiences. “To make advertising appeals more
distinctive and hence, perhaps more persuasive, advertisers frequently use
dramatic emotional ads – messages designed to ‘shock the emotions and make the
brain itch” (Moore, in Moore and Harris, 1996). Shock advertising is a
marketing communication tactic which has been used increasingly in recent
years. This approach proved to be very effective for numerous organizations,
but at the same time others were faced with profitability loose or destroyed
brand image.
