MegaPoster To Carry Controversial Anti-Smoking Campaign
Giant poster specialist, MegaPoster, has been selected by the British Heart Foundation to carry the outdoor executions of its controversial anti-smoking campaign, dominating the outdoor advertising market in six major cities.
The campaign, employing three large-scale banner adverts in London, Leeds and Bristol, as well as smaller sites in Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester, builds upon the campaign’s award-winning television commercials, featuring toxic material oozing from a cigarette.
The campaign’s television element attracted a flurry of attention earlier this year, both in terms of press coverage and complaints from viewers. However, the commercials were cleared by Ofcom of being distasteful before notching up several industry awards and achieving a staggering 94% penetration (see Anti-Smoking Campaign Sparks Huge Response).
The sites used by MegaPoster for the outdoor campaign have been selected for their proximity to restaurants, bars and clubs, targeting smokers directly during their leisure time and providing high impact and frequency over youth audiences in busy city centres.
Commenting on the campaign Ian Bohn, sales and marketing director of MegaPoster, stated: “Young people are a primary target group for this campaign and giant banners are now proven to be one of the best ways of reaching them in large quantities.”
Despite attracting the attention of media watchdogs, the use of controversial advertising techniques can yield major benefits for advertisers. The British Heart Foundation claims its television and outdoor campaign helped boost traffic to its special anti-smoking microsite by almost 80% in just over a month (see Anti-Smoking Campaign Gets To The Heart Of The Matter).
The use of shock tactics is often employed by advertisers to get across a particularly powerful message. However, this approach can often prove troublesome. Last year the ASA banned a controversial campaign for Barnardo’s after almost five hundred people complained that it was offensive, shocking and unduly distressing (see ASA Bans Barnardo’s Child Poverty Campaign).
MegaPoster: 020 7960 6037 www.megaposter.co.uk
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