ANALYSIS: Live Issue - Asia showing penchant to shock - FCUK and Benetton are big fans of shock advertising, but few others can pull it off

Nothing stands out like shock - at least that seems to be the

current belief, judging by the spate of suggestive campaigns trading

heavily on sex to sell.

In the last few weeks, unlikely advertisers like Yves Saint Laurent and

Christian Dior, mobile phone maker Ericsson, Fosters beer and telecom

carrier Sunday have pumped up the shock volume of their campaigns. In

the process, they've earned the wrath of Asia's uncompromising audience

with their efforts relegated to the banned heap. Do such campaigns work

beyond the initial shock it delivers?

UK-based French Connection cleverly used shock tactics to build up the

brand through its FCUK campaign, seeing it as the "only way to get

attention" and trigger a high sense of awareness and empathy among its

youngish target market.

Since it thrives on publicity generated through controversial marketing,

getting banned is "just fine". All well and good as its series of FCUK

promotions, previously pulled from Singapore, has again caused a stir in

the international market, resulting in a ban in the UK for its summer

2001 campaign.

A spokeswoman for French Connection in the UK explains: "Getting banned

is fine by us - it means we get more free publicity because it is

banned.

We like our shock tactics - our customer is into it - we've been banned

again in the UK this summer for fcukinkybugger.com.

"It might upset our customers' parents, but that's just fine as it's the

kids that buy our clothes. One thing is we always use humour."

Back in Asia, Joe Bananas produced an ad for Fosters beer promoting the

bar and brew in anticipation of last month's Hong Kong Rugby Sevens. But

the ad, featuring a well-endowed woman offering to show her jugs to

those buying jugs of Foster's, was pulled from the rugby union's

magazine. The bar retaliated by blowing the print ad into a "massive

banner" and draping it around its outlet in Hong Kong's bar strip.

Joe Bananas general manager, Mario Musumeci, insists that the

in-house-produced ad was done tastefully. "There is absolutely nothing

wrong with the ad. It may piss people off, but no one will miss it

now."

The advertising industry described the ad as "cliched", but Musumeci

says it clearly illustrates the bar's image and brand.

However, the mounting body count of campaigns driven off air by Asia's

uncompromising public has raised concerns among the region's advertising

professionals, who fear the spate of bans will inevitably curb

creativity.

When YSL and Dior fell foul of the Hong Kong public earlier this year,

the luxury brands' move to readjust their creative sent a troubling

message to the local ad community.

The YSL campaign showed a model wearing nothing but a pair of stiletto

heels. It was modified for its Hong Kong run. Numerous public complaints

forced Dior to pull its outdoor billboards showing a scantily-clad

though somewhat muddied model.

Christian Dior spokeswoman, Tansy Lau, said Hong Kong was the only Asian

market that found issue with the brand's latest campaign.

Using shock executions is of course a double-edged sword.

Leo Burnett's Singapore-based chairman and regional creative director,

Linda Locke, says advertising agencies should carefully consider the

product and service, and whether a campaign that aims to stun can

ultimately harm the brand.

"I think most of the time it depends on the product and service, and

what you're communicating."

In a Burnett ad for the Breast Cancer Foundation in Singapore, shock was

a justifiable tactic. "Basically, what you think is a woman's breast in

the ad turns out to be that of a man. This is to point out that even men

can get breast cancer. This type of shock was used in a relevant way,"

says Locke.

"Women who are apathetic are shocked into realising it is a possibility,

and it is a relevant way of getting them to pay attention to a serious

subject."

But the Foster's ad, in Locke's opinion, is "extremely tired and

cliched, offering a very old joke". However, Locke finds advertisements

such as the YSL campaign featuring voluptuous model Sophia Dahl

tastefully erotic, and "people offended by such ads are likely to be

vexed by any naked body".

Interestingly, the Dior ad passed through strict Malaysian censors, but

not the Hong Kong public.

David Chow, Dentsu's head of creative, blasted Hong Kong's conservative

disposition and tendency to self-censorship. Hong Kong's "double

standards" leave agencies baffled and perplexed in the censorship versus

creativity debate, he added.

"Hong Kong as a whole is very conservative and practices

self-censorship.

People here ban on purely certain values. People comment on certain ads

that they find offensive and call and complain. That is the final

say.

There is no standard here. We advertising professionals have nothing to

measure our work against."

Chow cited Hong Kong telecom company Sunday as an example. The company's

latest ad campaign is charged with gay sexual innuendo and is believed

to be Hong Kong's first major attempt to target the "pink dollar".

"It is wonderful that Sunday has the idea and courage to run this type

of campaign. It all comes down to values. If you look at what's on the

news, it is shocking. But, at the end of the day, self-regulation makes

it very difficult for agencies to do their job. We constantly have to

consider what is acceptable and what's not," he says.

Agencies working on regional briefs face the greatest challenge. Working

across various cultures in Asia can mean a campaign must be tweaked for

every market.

In the case of mobile phone maker Ericsson, an ad featured in the China

Times newspaper in Taiwan was pulled after drawing harsh criticism from

an overseas anti-child pornography group.

The full-colour ad featured a young woman wearing a school uniform and

holding the new Ericsson T20 phone, which displayed text mirroring sex

advertising. The ad was placed by Ericsson's ad agency in Taiwan -

Results Advertising.

Surprisingly, Ericsson spokeswoman, Felicia Uwa, claimed the company did

not receive any complaints from customers in Taiwan. The controversy,

she said, was the result of "cultural differences", highlighted in this

case by a situation which could appeal to the Chinese market but had

offended foreigners.

Ad executives agree shock tactics work best when they are unexpected,

but admit brands take a gamble each time a shock ad is created.

"Shocking consumers only works when you know your target's tolerance

level. If you shock more than once, you have to make sure you can still

make an impact," Chow warns.

"It also only works on certain subjects. The best people to shock are

those that don't expect it. In Asia, places like Hong Kong are still

conservative so when producing a shock ad you really have to think

twice."