CENSORSHIP?
In the Land of the Free that is the United States, we don't seem to have much creative freedom. However, a shift away from political correctness to a greater degree of realism is already evident.
The
US advertising community is seeing new ads removed almost as quickly as
they are placed due to viewer and advocacy group pressure. It seems
that political correctness governs too many creative decisions, and in
the few instances where the advertiser does go above the status quo,
the ads get so heavily criticized that the advertiser has no choice but
to pull them. In our opinion, it borders on paranoia when a special
interest group or an individual takes advertising personally, as the
ads in question are simply clever and most certainly have not been
created with the intend to offend. They are not designed to facilitate
drug use, nor are they "political propaganda," as some have suggested.
We
wish the viewing audience would lighten up. Nonetheless, the trend is
in full swing. Hollywood.com reports that the FedEx Corporation, a
global market leader in transportation, information, and logistics
solutions, pulled its "Wizard of Oz"-inspired ad from TV rotation after
complaints about the use of helium balloons in the ad by several
baritone-voiced Munchkins. (The ad premiered during the Super Bowl.)
American anti-drug advocates such as the National Inhalant Prevention
Coalition, the National PTA, and the Partnership for a Drug-Free
America voiced their opposition to the ad, finding it offensive and too
suggestive for teens. First, have a bit more faith today's teenagers
are not that stupid. Second, those who are stupid, that is are much
more likely to be into things significantly more damaging than helium.
It would be fabulous if organizations cited above concentrated on more
realistic threats than a helium-inhaling Munchkin.
Another,
perhaps not so ridiculous instance, was that of the Los Angeles Times
pulling part of its new campaign in response to similar pressures.
According to Hemispheres, the concept of the campaign was to show the
scope of the Times' news coverage by comparing Southern California
images with those from around the world. The ad that sparked the
controversy showed "women in bikinis contrasted with an image of women
in full Muslim dress, wearing long chadors that also cover most of
their faces." Complaints that the ads were offensive came from the
Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Los Angeles office of the
Feminist Majority Foundation. In addition, more than 200 Times
reporters and editors had signed a petition objecting to the ads before
the campaign's launch.
According to Individual.com, CBS has
rejected ads of iBelieve.com, which the latter intended to place during
the airing of the highly-touted miniseries, "Jesus." Interestingly, the
network is also said to have been actively seeking iBelieve.com's
sponsorship of websites for both "Jesus" and "Touched by an Angel,"
which seems a touch hypocritical. However, CBS's explanation is
plausible: The rationale for the TV-based rejection was that
iBelieve.com's ads were too close to the content of the miniseries and
the network didn't want to confuse its viewers. This may be the most
legitimate reason for rejection we've heard thus far.
Despite
all the controversy, advertisers and their agencies as well as the
general public seem to be shifting away from political correctness in
favor of achieving a greater degree of realism. An excellent example is
presented by the recent print and TV advertising campaign created for
the Gay Financial Network (www.gfn.com) by Mad Dogs & Englishmen.
Honest and eye-opening, the ad campaign expresses the
often-uncomfortable way the financial world and its service providers
react to Americans who are lesbian or gay. One of the TV spots, the
anxiety-producing "Nervous Banker," brings the viewing audience face to
face with the truly uncomfortable reaction of an unprepared financial
advisor visited by a same-sex couple. While viewing the ad, one can
feel the air being sucked out of the banker's office, as the discomfort
level rises and spreads to the gay couple seeking financial assistance.
"We wanted the spots to be entertaining and truthful at the same time
by sending out a message that would be welcomed by both the straight
and gay communities," explains Mad Dogs & Englishmen's creative
director Nick Cohen. "We wanted the straight world to say 'Good Lord,
is that how it is?' and the gay community to say 'Thank you so very
much.'"
In sum, the period of extreme political correctness
had to take place in order to raise awareness of a range of issues.
However, it appears that an equilibrium between PC and reality is
emerging. Hopefully.
The following article was adopted from an article first published in Visual Arts Trends 3S and is reprinted with permission.
About Visual Arts magazine
With offices in New York and London, Visual Arts Trends is an international quarterly "state of the industry" report for the creative professional. Focusing on graphic design, advertising art direction, photography and illustration, each report offers a brief, business-oriented, definitive and timely overview of industry developments that affect aesthetics, pricing, salaries, working conditions and client relations. Visual Arts Trends combines unique proprietary research with material gathered by monitoring hundreds of publications, companies, membership organizations, online sources, and other relevant sources of information. The reports review and analyzes professional trends by business category and by specialization. In addition, each report profiles client industries interviews with senior executives of leading companies and organizations. Visual Arts Trends is a trademark of and is published by Colonial Communications Corp.
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