Don't Be Stupid. Protect Yourself.

In order to sell certain merchandise to potential customers, an advertiser must at first awaken in them the impression of needing the product. This is often achieved by subliminal messaging, or simply put, deceitful persuasion. Advertising companies often use techniques such as invoking in the target customer a sense of familiarity. Coca-Cola Hellenic chose to achieve this by recreating a family atmosphere of bickering at the dinner table. Henkel aims at invoking in their consumers a sense of guilt by bombarding them with images of nearly fluorescently white laundry.

On the other hand, there are those bold advertisers who chose to expose their targets straight to the point. This is mostly the case with organizations which have certain goals, such as PETA, WWF, WHO and others. A series of ads I found interesting exactly for not beating around the bush is a campaign by CondomShop.ch, an online prophylactic dealer.

In their advertisements they chose to depict unprotected intercourse by using clear metaphors. Those practicing unsafe sex were shown facing extreme situations such as extinguishing a fire or fighting in a battle without any protective gear. These situations can be seen as dumbing-down the consequences of carelessness in intercourse, for they make a point that sexually transmitted diseases can be just as dangerous as a burn or a bullet to the chest. Furthermore, they chose their slogan to be “Don’t be stupid, Protect yourself” which is to evoke in the viewer a sense of being responsible by using protection.

One must not forget that these are advertisements and aim at selling certain products, however, I find it far more acceptable than the emotional blackmail of detergent-makers. With the focus on a goal which is beneficial – fighting HIV and AIDS – CondomShop.ch actually managed to raise awareness in addition to creating a successful campaign (which so often rely on selling hot air to unsuspecting customers).