Sexual Olympics for Trojan, blowjobs while driving for Ann Summers and a Ford car that kills pigeons. For brands looking to side-step television advertising regulations over explicit content - or with a tighter-than TV budget - using the internet has become the media of choice for releasing risqué films.
The question of how clever a marketing ploy it is, tapping into the immense power of the viral social world of the internet, varies wildly. Just ask Ford. It was subjected to global criticism for a pair of virals for FordKa - that showed a pigeon and a cat being killed the "evil" car. Although entertaining they passed the thin line of good taste for a blue chip brand.
For the likes of Mates, Trojan or Ann Summers, taboo is a central brand tenet and is to be expected in communications. Trojan's sexual Olympics virals a few years back - that used real athletes participating in sexual events mimicking the Olympic Games complete with commentary - have become legendary.
One of the most famous cases of viral distribution was the incredibly popular Kylie Minogue riding a bucking bronco machine in lingerie for Agent Provocateur. The story goes that the clip - which generated millions of pounds of ad coverage for AP - was only ever meant to air in cinema a few times. However, the company got a much bigger marketing bang out of the clip "accidentally" running riot over the internet that certainly had ever been agreed with Kylie and her management. Kylie was reported to have been less than pleased.
For the global male populace however, praise was heaped high indeed. Perhaps the biggest case of accidental brand damage is the example of the unauthorized suicide bomber viral ad that was mocked up to look like a sanctioned VW ad. To an extent the internet is a regulatory Wild West. It turns out to have been made by two London-based advertising creatives.
With TV advertising increasingly losing out to the internet in terms of ad spend, are brands, ad agencies and production companies looking for "shock" stand out being responsible enough?
