Shock tactics, the big picture.

The Scotsman speculates about the effectiveness of shock tactics in advertising, when it works, and when it doesn't. Says the following about the latest Barnardo campaign.

"...the picture of a child shooting up turned heads but did not necessarily have people reaching deep into their pockets. It was obvious the image had been digitally altered, which perhaps led people to switch off..."

But it is not just Barnardo’s which chooses the ultimate shock factor. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are not averse to a little controversy either. Its campaign last year to attack the fur trade and those who support it featured Sophie Ellis-Bextor posing in a glamorous evening gown holding a dead skinned fox.
A caption read: "Here is the rest of your fur coat". The US version of this campaign features Persia White.

Actor Persia White of the UPN hit Girlfriends will unveil her stunning new anti-fur ad and public service announcement for PETA.

In a dramatic bid to show consumers that behind every fur coat, collar, or cuff was a living animal who endured tremendous suffering, White appears in the ad dressed in a glamorous black evening gown and holding a gruesome accessory: the dead body of a skinned fox. The ad is titled, "Here's the Rest of Your Fur Coat."

White's ad will appear as a billboard in Hollywood next month, just in time for the holiday shopping season.

White explains, "This image is shocking, but it brings home the harsh reality that is kept out of deceptive fur ads and fashion spreads: Before animals are skinned and made into fur coats or trim, they suffer incredible—and needless—cruelty."

Will the shocking image stop the sales of fur dead in its tracks, or just make people hungry?