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Controversy in Advertisements

The intense competition among businesses for the attention of consumers has led
some businesses to intentionally use shocking and sometimes offensive messaging and
images whose primary role is to capture the attention of consumers and also arouse their
curiosity (Madni et al., 2016). Other businesses find their advertisements generating
controversy against their wishes. Regardless of whether the controversial ads are
intentional or not, some cross the line and backfire for the businesses. Others, however,
end up succeeding with their brands attracting a lot of attention from consumers thanks to
the controversy generated by the advertisement.
My controversial advertisement would be a video of a Catholic priest openly
carrying a packet of condoms of my business’ brand. The advertisement is likely to
generate controversy because Catholic priests have a celibacy vow. They are, therefore,
not allowed to be engaged in sexual relations with anyone, let alone use a condom.
Additionally, the Catholic Church officially opposes the use of contraceptives among its
members. The combination of these two factors – celibacy vow among priests and
opposition to the use of contraceptives – is likely to generate a lot of controversy not only
in the Catholic Church and its members but also in the wider public. The controversy
generated will lead to my brand receiving significant attention from the public. The
attention, while not entirely positive, may result not only in greater brand awareness but
also greater number of sales.
In conclusion, a key goal of advertisement is to attract the attention of consumers
to the brand. With consumers bombarded with many advertisements on a daily basis, it is

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important that advertisements stand out from the rest. The use of controversial
advertisement is one way in which advertisers can make their brands stand out.

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References

Madni, A. R., Hamid, N. A., & Rashid, S. M. (2016). Influence of Controversial
Advertisement on Consumer Behavior. The Journal of Commerce, 8(1-2), 14.