Offensive advertising

Bad taste in the media
Controversial advertisements
Inappropriate commercials

Nature

Often the sale of consumer goods depends on the success of their ad campaigns. As a result advertising agencies are forced to compete with one another over innovation and public recognition in advertising. Such competition may spur outlandish and sometimes offensive ad campaigns, which inevitably attract the viewer's eye. Although audience attraction is the goal of the advertising industry, their methods may be questionable when exploitation of sensitive and potentially offensive situations is involved.

Claim

The exploitation of sensitive issues for the sole purpose of selling a product is offensive. Such is the case of advertisements exploiting sensitive social, political, religious and sexual situations. When offensive advertising practices are the norm, the society eventually becomes desensitized to what is vulgar and inappropriate. The public should be able to decide what it doesn't want to see when it turns on the television or pages through a magazine.

Counter-claim

The advertising industry practices its freedom of expression every time a billboard is erected or a commercial is created. Often when a portion of the audience is offended by an ad, another portion of the audience is appreciative of it. If the advertising industry suffocated its freedom of innovation every time a viewer disapproved, creativity would reach its end. It is unrealistic to placate all viewers at all times.