The order of the day for advertisements at the moment seems to be *SHOCK*.  The more shocking a campaign the better.  Master Chef led the pack with their sexist advertisements pimping their Girls vs Boys season which is due to start tonight.  The advertisement’s debut over a month ago sparked outrage on social media with a call to boycott the show.  Seems counterproductive don’t you think? It’s not, and here’s why.

The producers of these shows and advertising campaigns WANT you to talk about their show…by showing outrage on social media, talking about it at every turn, you are playing right into their greedy hands.  But we are outraged and it will stop people watching it I hear you cry.  Yes that may be true…but there is also that chance that people who wouldn’t normally watch it, will tune in just to see what the fuss is all about.  It doesn’t guarantee return viewers but the numbers on debut look great on paper.

The use of the phrase OMFG has raised a bit of concern locally, with people worried that the fashion store that caters to teens is having an adverse influence on it’s customers.  Personally I think the style of clothes worth more concern but that is a whole different blog post.  Locals have called for a boycott of the stores to show them they *we* aren’t happy.  I say that the advertising team at Jay Jay’s has catered perfectly to a generation who live their lives on their phone…talking in text speak such as OMFG, LOL, and LMAO.

While we keep being outraged and sending their advertisements viral, the companies will keep using shock tactics to sell their product.  Who needs to spend thousands on getting their message out there when they can post it on social media.  The outrage bandwagon takes care of the rest.

Do you let a company know when you aren’t happy with their advertising? Does the way a company advertises their product have an influence on where you spend your money?