Does this ad cross the line?
Posted at 12:07 PM on April 7, 2010
by Bob Collins
(11 Comments)
Filed under: Marketing and advertising
Is this City Pages ad for a Twin Cities jewelry store offensive? It's got the marketing community buzzing today.
The company also denying any responsibility, according to a statement posted on its Facebook page.
Thank you to everyone who commented on our recent City Pages Ad. We take your comments very seriously and are taking action because of them. This ad ran without prior viewing or approval by RF Moeller management and was created and published at City Pages by their writer and our spokesman, TD Mischke. Mr. Mischke would like to personally field any questions or concerns. His email address is tdmischke@yahoo.com. If you email him directly, he will give you his phone number if you would like to speak with him about this advertisement.Thank you again - James Moeller
We haven't had a good ad controversy since the infamous Target snow angel ad:
Comments (11)
They're claiming they didn't have any knowledge of the ad before hand? 1) BS or 2) Incompetence.
No prior knowledge? Where is your marketing done in your company? France?!
Sounds like bad management all over...
Also the ad doesn't make me want to buy diamonds- should've used a diamond studded gun that was purchased at the other diamond store instead of the plain black one.
Reminds me of the "Buy this magazine or we'll shoot this dog" or the Texas Monthly “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, Dick Cheney Will Shoot You in the Face.”
One word here - Mischke! HA
As a 24-year veteran of volunteer police chaplaincy, this ad brings out in my mind those horribly painful scenes of family and friends who have discovered the suicide of a loved one. Please, Mr Mischke, no joking about suicide!!
@ RF - I agree 100%.
This ad could have been successful without the gun to the head graphic. think of the old V-8 ads.
Yes, we get it, it's for shock value. Kudos for taking suicide so lightly.
Protip: Get a different ad agency.
I'm not sure I buy the no prior knowledge bit, considering they posted this on their facebook page on 2/18.
"For all you Mischke Fans who appreciate his creative genius, we've asked him to help us put a little zip in our message. Stay tuned... I guarantee it'll be fun!"
Link: http://bit.ly/9qOWsr
Without trying to be self-righteous, I'll share my observations on the ad:
* Either A.) Moeller indeed never knew about the ad, which would be a grossly incompetent move for any ad for any company, or B.) They knew about it all along, and are lying about it to cover their behinds. Neither scenario makes them look good.
* It's possible that this would cause subscription cancellations for other weeklies/newspapers. Because they're not supported by paid subscriptions, City Pages doesn't need to worry about it. If anything, this may provide incentive to potential advertisers ("we'll let you get away with whatever you want!")
* It would have been bad enough on its own even if the ad had been for dog treats, dish soap, or spaghetti sauce; it adds injury to insult that it happens to be advertising diamonds, which have perhaps the most violent connotations of any consumer product that isn't firearm-related.
I must have missed the great snow angel controversy. So, the woman's crotch happens to be at the center of the target. Only people with dirty minds would even notice.
From the What-Was-Jim-Henson-Doing-Before-He-Was-Famous file:
Some of these were actually run on TV. I am prettty sure the first one (with the cannon) was.
Plus ca change...
From an advertising perspective, this was irresponsible. Suicide is violence and graphic images of violence such as this should not be fair game in mainstream advertising.
My sister took her own life and the worst part of the ad was the awful memories and renewed grief it evokes. There is very real post-traumatic stress associated with the discovery of a loved one dead by their own hands. We endure and ignore so many reminders of our personal tragedies in everyday life, but this ad caused needless pain.
| April 2010 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | |
Master Archive
Recent Entries
- Foreclosures: Better but still not great
- Minnesota kid falls short in Geographic Bee, still a winner
- The best bee
- When the high school prank isn't so bad
- How to kill a wolf
- Is your appetite killing the ocean?
- Getting the Busy Signal
- Scotty beams up at last
- No small step
- Twins playoff odds? Still bad
Categories
- Add category
- Art or Eyesore?
- Arts
- Aviation
- Bridges and roads
- Coffeeshop Chronicles
- Crime and Justice
- Disasters
- Economy
- Energy
- Five by 8
- Floods
- Floods 2011
- Fresh Eye on the Radio (with Mary Lucia)
- Health
- History
- Icons
- Life
- Marketing and advertising
- Media
- Music
- News
- News Cut on Campus
- Northwest Airlines
- People doing good
- Politics
- Race
- Regional history
- Religion
- Schools
- Science
- Sports
- Surveys and trivia
- Tech
- The jobs we do
- The political conventions
- The Quiz
- The Unemployed series
- Things that are puzzling
- War
- Weather
- What's the Story Here?
- When people do good
- wildlife
- You Should Meet...
Services
In The Spotlight
-
Sound Learning
Looking for ways to ensure your students are doing quality research from credible sources? Sound Learning is a launching point to Minnesota Public Radio's content on the Web. -
The Current Music Blog
Your daily note for good music, news and pop culture. With attempted jokes.
- Become a Member
- Member Connect Accounts
- Leadership Circle
- Sustaining Members
- Member Discounts
- Become a Sponsor
- Tax Information
- Planned Giving
- Vehicle Donation
- Donate Stock