Someone Dies…Who cares! – Is the Web Killing Shockvertising?

Of course it is…

I was shocked when Miley Cyrus quit Twitter………

Ok, Who am I kidding -  I didn’t notice. But I was shocked when I found out Conan O’Brien was leaving his show. And I was  shocked when I found out that our earlobs and nipples line up perfectly (test it out).

However, I cant remember the last time I was shocked by an advertisement. While interesting stats and #OMGFACTS constantly have been able to give me something worth talking about.

While researching this topic – I’ve come across several Ads that were controversial, offensive and down-right rude. But they’ve never really affected me. And they definitely didn’t hold the impact they would ‘ve if I was still a child growing up in the 90s.

Note: From here on out you may find the content may be disturbing.

Honey, I Shocked the Kids!

I think back to when I was a kid sitting in front of a floor model, watching a VHS called Dinosaurs. The moral behind the storyline was simple: don’t do drugs – their stupid (Not that kinda stupid). The video showed disgusting looking Dinosaurs, who were stoned out of their minds on what was probably meant to represent marijuana. Now, I don’t know what it was about this movie that hit me so hard as a kid. But lets just say I slept with two nightlights and a baseball bat that night – The shock worked.

Today however, its harder than ever to shock a child and even harder to shock someone from the older generations. Could this relate to the emergence of the web and the availability of shocking content? Or maybe just availability as a whole? Kids no longer go to school singing Disney sing-a-longs; instead they’re singing all the lyrics to a song about sex, drugs and cocoa-puffs. Whether or not they know that know why their seeking Amy or want a Lollipop is a different discussion. The fact is, these songs are available just like all the “PG13″ content on the web.

The Twisted Revolution

Prior to the Olympic games an Athlete died in a horrible crash and this video (NSFW) spread around the web like a bad STD. While some people avoided the video for as long as they could – many couldn’t wait to see what exactly went down. And for every 3 people who watched the video 2 of them were sure to have sent it around or at least promoted the content by mentioning it to someone else.

From watching 2 girls play with a cup to searching for videos of a skeleton crash. We’ve become a group of very twisted individuals.

Individuals who can actually watch a human being be murdered on YouTube (NSFW) then look into their eyes as they die. And  instead of shedding a tear over a lost life – We go on to pass that video to a friend, just to hear their reaction. Possibly even get them to record their reaction so we can make that go viral too.

Its as if we don’t realize that these lives are not just actors and actresses. Its as if we have become accustom to death, abuse, destruction and to put it all in one category – shock.

So if all of this shocking footage is so readily available to us what makes an advertiser think they can keep up with a real dead guy? What makes them think that their little advertisement filled with fake blood and photo-shopped wounds can compete?

Of course they can.

Consumers are encouraging advertisers to go a little bit further. To make the unthinkable happen and ultimately meet our twisted and demented needs. As we corrupt our minds with disturbing images our threshold of shock simply becomes deeper. Recently my threshold has held strong and I’ve yet to be shocked. Took a quick peep around the web and here were two that came close,

Now I don’t know if you found the above advertisements shocking or not. But I didn’t flinch. Maybe were both twisted – Maybe its just me. Either way, I’m blaming someone and the web looks like a good victim not this kid (Seriously NSFW).

photo credit: Jon Ovington

Tagged as: Ads, Advertising, Marketing, Print Ads, PSA, Ross Simmonds, Shock Ads, Shockvertising