ADVERTISING: Controversies can get ads top-of-mind recall, but do they also add to sales? As part of our research for this article, we did a small survey, asking people whether they'd heard of Amul Macho. Nine out of ten responded "" "Oh, the brand with that woman washing a man's undies?" Before the controversial advertisement came on air, and was banned by the Union information and broadcasting ministry, Amul Macho had never enjoyed this kind of brand recall. All the newsprint expended over whether the ad was indecent has helped the brand earn a place for itself in the customers' minds, albeit using controversy. Which brings on the question "" do controversial ads help a brand?Josy Paul, national creative director, JWT, makes an interesting point: some ads are written to create controversy, while some ads have controversy thrust upon them. "Controversy creates disruption and focuses attention on the brand or issue. This kind of approach is often initiated by challenger brands who are looking at making an early breakthrough into consumer consciousness." Nitish Mukherjee, president of Bangalore-based full-service agency Orchard Advertising, feels a distinction needs to be made between "controversial" and "offensive" ads. "There can be advertisements which are outright offensive and those don't help anybody. They, in fact, harm the brand they represent."Take the infamous Tuff shoes ad of Phoenix, featuring Madhu Sapre and Milind Soman wearing shoes and not much else. "Where is that brand now?" wonders Paul. Also the recent GenX undergarment ad from Lux Hosiery too ran into rough waters and was banned.Paul feels that there's a belief popular with most challenger-brands that "all news is good news". During his earlier stint with Brand David, Paul had his fair share of controversies. The KnockOut pepper spray ad, which showed how pepper spray could help prevent physical attacks, created quite a furore. But, says Paul, controversy was thrust upon the ad by opportunists. Although the agency changed the ad and apologised, Paul feels that the pepper spray incident highlighted the need for women to carry self-defence products and thus worked, because it increased the demand for pepper sprays in places like Delhi.Sagar Mahabaleshwar, group creative head, Ogilvy, was the man behind the VIP Frenchie ad in which a man's underwear and that of a woman come "close to each other" and which many people took exception to. "The campaign worked well and still has a lot of recall, although, it was not created keeping controversy in mind!"Mukherjee, however feels that while controversial advertisements at times do create awareness, if not thought through, they can in reality hurt the long-term equity and interest of the brand. "The probability of creating awareness yet losing empathy is high if the advertising does not keep the sensitivities of its target audience in mind."He points out that it is extremely important to find out where the controversy is coming from. If it comes from within the constituency of the brand, in terms of its target audience, then it is indeed damning. If the controversy comes from some other constituency or pressure group then it is important to understand the relationship of that constituency with the consumer for the brand.In other words, ads that court controversy do so at their own peril.
