Here come the mediocre ads

Claire Beale of Campaign raises a good point in Monday's Independent, wondering if the recent controversies over that Snickers ad (above), that Heinz ad with the two men kissing, and a few others are a harbinger of a rise in mediocre advertising. Whatever you may think of the recent smorgasbord of controversial ads, she notes that the globalization of advertising—in which any commercial can be seen in any country—makes controversy global as well, even though some ads that don't offend local sensibilities get pulled because they garner complaints in markets where they've never even aired. The result? Watered-down ads which seek not to offend anyone, anywhere. She seems particularly annoyed at the recent Ad Age poll that asked readers which of three spots offended them (or none of the above). Beale writes: " ... although the poll is running on a site aimed predominantly at a US audience, two of the three ads in the poll are resolutely British. They're written for a British audience with British cultural reference points, British sensibilities and a British sense of humour. Are Americans really qualified to judge whether they're offensive in the context for which they were created?"