A new ad in Milwaukee bus shelters has a lot of people (or at least a lot of bloggers) talking about teen pregnancy. This ad isn't offensive so much as just gross--no one will dispute that babies do in fact produce dirty diapers--but it's clearly "edgy" enough to get the public's attention.
A post on AdFreak about the ad, which compares it to a viral video created with a similar purpose this past May (AdFreak deemed the diaper poster less "hard-hitting" than the video) got me thinking about controversial awareness-raising strategies for complex issues (like, oh, say...teen and unplanned pregnancy, for example).
When I started working at The National Campaign, I was myself offended by a National Campaign ad campaign--dubbed the "Labels" ads--which superimposed negative words on top of portraits of teens, accompanied in very small print by a more neutral message about the challenges of teen pregnancy and parenthood.
In the year or so since I was first introduced to the ads, I've come to respect them, though I can understand why they've been criticized. They are not exactly politically correct, but they confront an important reality, and do so in a powerful way. A colleague of mine assures me that I am not alone in having disliked these ads at first sight--that is, in fact, the point. These negative words have such a strong effect because they draw upon existing negative stigmas and associations to create a visceral, attention-grabbing reaction, but the messages of the ads present the straightforward realities many teen parents face ("Now that I'm home with a baby, NOBODY calls me anymore.") Three years after the campaign launched, we still get compliments and criticism about these ads.
In my "research" on this topic, I stumbled upon a list of the Top 50 Controversial Ads and was surprised to see a relatively high proportion of PSAs and advocacy-related ads. Trendhunter Magazine, who compiled the list, also had a post about "Shockvertising" for the public good and whether it's worth it.
Certainly in the field of teen pregnancy prevention, we always walk a fine line between raising awareness about the likely consequences of teen pregnancy and at the same time not demonizing teen moms or their children. But I imagine most important causes have a level of nuance that makes bold, attention-grabbing generalizations risky business.
So how far should non-profit and advocacy organizations go to make a point? Are there other, or better, ways to get people emotionally engaged in a particular issue? If so, what are they?
Correction: the "Labels" ads launched in October of 2000, meaning they are still getting reactions nine years after their launch, as opposed to three as I originally stated.
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