Expletives in Advertising: Clever or Careless?

As a child growing up I didn’t encounter “the naughty words” until the later years of primary school. Even when I became aware of their existence, regardless of whether I knew what they meant or not, I knew of their status as a “naughty word.” Following my awareness of the words, I only remember very few occasions of hearing somebody using any of these words, despite my eager hoping that I would.

Nowadays, walking down the street, sitting on the bus and out shopping, I regularly hear many examples of these words being used. Yes, my maturity level has advanced significantly from the 10 year old I once was however what about the 10 year olds of today? Do they still consider these words “naughty words” or do they talk back to their parents using them?

These words have become more integrated into the language and like it or not, swearing has become more acceptable and is no longer seen as taboo.

Is it acceptable? Well, we say thousands of words every day, why should these words hold such negative importance? Surely if children grow up seeing these words as being just an extended vocabulary, they won’t be used with malice and hatred? As the mainstream attitude to swearing has changed, even if individuals take a stand by not saying swear words, there will always be people on the flipside putting a curse word into every sentence that they say.

So how does this affect advertising and product marketing? Well this comes down to the market you are targeting. By putting an expletive into a brand name, a product or an advertising campaign, the size of the market sector will decrease staight away. Parents with small children will avoid the stores like the plague, middle class may label the brand as ‘common’ and although an expletive in a store window might attract attention for its boldness, it will rarely attract interest, apart from potentially teenagers without an income.

Featuring a swear word not only immediately affects customer interest, but also in the long term impacts the brands reputation. If consumers consciously decided against buying products because of the advertising campaign, the association will remain and it is likely that in future the customer will develop a stigma against purchasing from the brand.

Consumers aren’t looking for cheap, but for value for money. The use of an expletive would ‘cheapen’ the brand perception. Product pricing therefore would be very challenging; price it highly and consumers will turn to competitors who supply alternatives without the negative perception, otherwise if priced reasonably, its perceived value would be so low that consumers could easily buy from other cheaper stores and still fell like their purchase is more valuable. It almost works as a competitive disadvantage.

Swearing in advertising is a very risky strategy. Its long term effects are felt by the brand and unfortunately, more strongly, by the youth of today. It blurs the boundaries of what is right and gives the perception of these words having little impact when used publically. Swearing isn’t a crime, but morally its consequences for the attitudes of children today aren’t reversible. Their more relaxed attitudes will continue to push these boundaries.