Controversial Ford Campaign Puts Cat Among The Pigeons
A controversial television commercial for Ford’s new SportKa has claimed the top spot in a chart of headline grabbing advertisements, despite being banned by the car manufacturer.
The 40-second spot, showing a cat being decapitated by the SportKa’s sunroof, sparked outrage from all corners after being leaked on to the internet.
Originally created by Ogilvy & Mather, the advert was condemned by Ford, which issued a statement describing it as “totally unacceptable and reprehensible”.
Nonetheless, the advert has succeeded in creating a plethora of newspaper headlines, according to a study carried out by Propeller Communications and Durrants Media Monitoring, which measured the volume of stories about individual advertising campaigns in the national press.
The research placed another campaign by Ogilvy & Mather for Dove’s new skin firming product range in the number two spot. The campaign used a number of models who do not conform to the usual stereotypes. Coverage of the story was boosted by the Sun, which launched a campaign to find stars for the next campaign.
Grabbing third place in the league table was Tamsin Outhwaite’s appearance as the new face of Avon make-up. However, more controversial was the Barnado’s adverts featuring babies with bottles of methylated spirits and syringes in their mouths. The adverts fuelled a record number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency during March (see Barnado’s Campaign Ranked Most Complained About In 2003).
Commenting on the findings of the research, Martin Loat of Propeller Communications, said: “The Ford Sportka viral looks like a rare case where not all publicity is good publicity. Any suggestion of animal cruelty plays badly with the UK public and its media, so Ford needs to be careful. Yet Ford Sportka’s appearance at number one in this month’s Ads That Make News demonstrates just how incendiary a force adverts can be for generating press coverage.”
He added: “A campaign does not need to be official, or even appear in mainstream media to gain press coverage. Clever brands will continue to use this phenomenon to their advantage and create cut-through for their brands for a limited traditional paid-for media expenditure.”
During February the British Heart Foundation won acclaim for its anti-smoking campaign featuring clogged arteries and cigarettes dripping with fat. The series struck a chord with the nation’s smokers, achieving 94% penetration but also drawing complaints from more than sixty viewers. Ofcom cleared the campaign of being distasteful, proving further still that controversial advertisements can pay off despite a reasonable amount of public outcry (see Anti-Smoking Campaign Sparks Huge Response).
Propeller Communications: 0870 066 4608 www.propellercom.com
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