Hell Pizza burning up!!

Hell Pizza, a joint in Auckland, New Zealand faced controversy with its ad campaign in 2009. The campaign was for their new gluten free brownies and their tag line is " At least our brownies won't eat your pet dog." This tag line referred to the Tongan man, Paea Taufa, who made headlines in the news for barbecuing his pitbull terrier earlier.

The people who came up with the idea of having billboards advertised across Auckland with this tag line and a picture of a man eating a brownie were four 19-yr. old advertising students. Hell Pizza's spokesman Matt Blomfield said, "“Basically what’s happened is we’ve handed the reins over to some kids and letting them come up with ideas and we’ll see how far they push it.” Having a younger crowd behind the advertising campaign ideas might prove beneficial because it is them who are part of the targeted market. It would probably increase their potential customer base by targeting youth with brownies, which most teens enjoy. On the other hand, it is arguable that they might lack experience and knowledge and would not be familiar with the fact that the campaign slogan might be offensive.

NZHeraldTV interviewed people on the street and out of those interviewed, some said that it was a little too harsh while others admitted that it was understandable and that they saw the humour in it. Socialist Aotearoa, an anti-racist group lauched a boycott against the store and picketed and blocked the store.

Hell Pizza has been the center of major controversial issues for a long time, one of which was in 2006. In 2006, Hell Pizza promoted its pizzas by mailing out 170,000 free condoms with instructions on how to use them. This was done to promote their campaign for what they called their "Lust Pizza". A Catholic church boycotted the company after finding out about their campaign. Hell Pizza was sued for breaching standards of decency and social responsibility."

It is bold of Hell Pizza to promote an ad campaign that would clearly cause controversy amongst individuals which in a weird way boosts their brand name. They would be well known which might actually work in their favour and boosts their profits and help increase their customer base. Nobody can predict the results of controversial advertising and its those companies who take risks that end up on top.

This is a video of what the billboard looked like and the interviews of people walking by it on the street.

Advertising gone wrong

Making sure that an advertisement does not create any controversy is very important. One example of advertising gone wrong was Snickers chocolate commercials aired in the United States during the Super Bowl in 2007. The commercial was about two mechanics sharing a Snickers bar from both ends and so their mouths touch making them feel like they should do something manly so they start ripping off their chest hair. There was a website on which people could on log onto and vote for alternative endings to the commercial. These alternative endings included, one mechanic beating the other with a wrench and another ending was where the men guzzle motor oil because it is seen as being 'manly' and somehow it eases the tension and the awkwardness.

This type of commercial promotes anti-gay bullying and teaches children that it is correct to act this way. It gives teenagers the impression that hating someone for being gay or lesbian is the right way to behave. It is this type of controversial advertising that leads to the death of innocent teenagers because they are bullied and beaten for being 'different'.

In 1998, Judy Shepard's son was beaten to death for being gay. She said, "It essentially gives 'permission' to our society to verbally or physically harass individuals who are gay, lesbian or bisexual." She goes on to mention that people who watch these advertisements look up to these professional sports figures as role models and that they should set a better example.

Below is the commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. The commercial did not air in Canada and the website where the alternative endings were available for people to vote on, is now not functioning.

Demolishing the barriers of advertising

As most of us know, controversial advertising is usually centered around critical topics such as religion, culture, gender and sex. One of the most controversial advertising campaigns so far was by United Colours of Benetton during the late 80's, early 90's. Some of the television commercials that aired demonstrated a priest kissing a nun, a black woman breastfeeding a white infant and a picture of three human hearts each one labelled Black, White and Yellow. Their ad campaign focussed on racial issues which is a very controversial topic. United Colours of Bentton's philosophy is based on Luciano Benetton's belief that 'communication should not be commissioned from outside the company, but conceived from within its heart.' They focussed value and on the individual and not on the customer.

They were bold enough to speak out about a topic that most advertising companies stayed away from because of the debate it might invoke. In the end, the fact that they took a chance and risked everything paid off. It created more brand awareness and got people talking about their product and their campaign. This in turn increased their revenue because their advertisements were everywhere and nobody could escape them. They focussed all their energy and time on their product and pushed it on their customers.

They used the word 'united' as a metaphor to 'unite' or bring together individuals of all races, gender, sex and colour.

Successful advertising has the characteristics of being persuasive and captures the audience in and convinces them that the product or service being advertised will enrich their lives. It creates brand awareness which in turn proves to be profitable. United Colours of Benetton was one company that proved they could create awareness of their brand by not following the typical advertising 'rules'.

The video below is an advertisement for United Colours of Benetton & it effectively portrays people from all parts of the world uniting together regardless of their race, religion, colour or gender.