This advert showed a
picture of a naked woman with the tagline “the naked Truth” to advertise The
Voice Newspaper. According to (Christy, 2006) this type of advertising is more pervasive in
people’s lives, increasing the likelihood that consumers outside a target
market will be exposed to messages that are not intended for their viewing.
Furthermore, the head of city council legal department as cited by (Staff Reporter, 2011) stated that “The law
states that if a billboard is objectionable in style and presentation and the
public complains, then it must be pulled down”. People did complain, so it was
removed.
Now this begs the
question, “who are these people that complained?” which then leads to the
question “who was this advert intended for?” According to their website
(www.thevoicebw.com) anyone who can read is a potential customer. Then I
believe it is safe to conclude that this advert was meant for all to see, hence
its central location. Sometimes an Ad has to be daring, in your face for it to
get the message across. What message you may ask? Well if you still talk about
it with your friends, you could be discussing how disgusting it was, or how
awesome it was, the fact still remains that it is still placed in your mind.
This is the art of advertising!
A good advert is an advert
that gets people talking. The most powerful method of advertising and most
effective by far is Word Of Mouth. It is cheap boundary-less and efficient. Sex
sells simply because it gets the people talking, whether we like the adverts
its irrelevant, what is important is the more I like it the more I talk about
it... The more I dislike it the more I talk about it. Either way the job of the
advert has been manifested. The subconscious mind is a very powerful thing it
will combine the message of the ad along with the company it is being presented
by next time we come across the company it will spark our interest and as a
result it will remain in our long term memory bank.
Sex sells... It depends how tasteful it was done.
Could'nt have said it better myself chawa :)!, hate it or love it sex sells,and its time to give credit where credits due. The "naked truth" billboard represents what most beautiful about democracy...freedom of expression/speech
ReplyDeleteYou're right Butterfly. But this is Botswana we're talking about here..do you think we as a country at at that point where we as marketers are "free" to freely express ourselves through adverts. Like i said, the advert was removed due to public outcry.
ReplyDeleteI often take adverts to heart. A bit too much. Im told the reason some adverts irritate me so much is because i over analyse them (even though my knowledge of marketing is limited to 1 marketing unit in my first yeah of varsity)! I therefore appreciate a good ad. 1 that grabs my attention, makes me smile, makes me think, stays on my mind for quite some time (and in turn so does the company).
ReplyDeleteMust say though when i first saw the billboard with the naked lady by the bus rank my thought trail went like this;
1. whoa! naked lady! In public! In Botswana!
2. nice pic, tastefully done (don't judge me ;-D!)
3. "THE NAKED TRUTH" huh...? oh, The Voice...! niiiiiiice! good
one (for a reputable newspaper :-D)... personally i think the voice has a lot of tabloid material type of reporting. doesnt mean its not true though. they will tell you like it is, whether you believe that a man really "slept with a ghost" is entirely up to you :-D...
however, it is not the newspaper's reputation that is under review here, rather their ad; which in my opinion was absolutely genius! even after they took down the "tastefully naked" lady, her nakedness is stuck on our minds forever! all that matters now it that every time we look at that billboard we remember there once was a daring picture, by the The Voice; a daring newspaper (for what is the The Voice if not DARING!?!?! A newspaper that is not afraid to report on the truth! THE NAKED TRUTH!)
wow! this is exacly why i created this blog. for young batswana like us to have interesting conversations about our local adverts. I appreciate your comment (you too Butterfly) and you guys should keep watching this space for more articles.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, you're right the newspaper's reputation is not under review here, but i've gotta say,The Voice has ballz!
exactly!!! and we all know that! the ad was thus a true reflection of the newspaper ;-D
ReplyDeleteKeep those articles coming pls...?