Tag Archives: controversy

As full-time marketers we understand the importance of grabbing consumer’s attention. Heck, it is our job to do so. But what happens when a brand goes too far? In today’s cluttered and noisy marketplace, “going too far” is a strategic dance and those who travel down this path find themselves in the middle of controversy. Now we find ourselves asking the question “is controversy such a bad thing?”

SKYY Vodka is under fire for being too promiscuous in their new print and billboard ad campaign. An image of a woman – from the thighs down – is shown wrapped around a bottle of SKYY. The rest is left up to the reader’s imagination and that, my friends, is what’s causing the heated debate.

The Marin Institute is a strong voice in the alcohol prevention community and they feel this campaign may fall into the hands of impressionable minors who will look at the ad and associate sex with drinking SKYY.

In SKYY’s defense, the company is simply trying to stand out and get noticed by the Facebook generation. To grab the attention of their digitalized consumers and create the much talked about “viral buzz,” SKYY must push their ads to the edge.  Read more...