1. What do you think of "shock advertising"? Is it a good way to advertise to consumers?
Explain.
2. If the people being caught on tape are not actors, is it okay to put them in those situations?
3. Why is this type of ad being created in the first place?
Since consumers have an appetite for brief and humorous streaming media, why not give it to them? This was the thoughts of TV manufacturer LG when they made a "prank vertising" video and uploaded it to YouTube.
The idea was to have people witness a meteor dooms-day scenario all the while implying the video setting was real.
Prank vertising (or "Buzz" marketing) is a type of marketing communications which uses low costs to create impact with the consumer. It typically involves real-life scenarios, exposing people to situations that are abnormal and quite often either scary or very stressful.
It isn't all fun, however. Not everyone approves of this form of marketing. What if someone being "pranked" got hurt? Another concern is: do the ads actually create the impact the companies making them are looking for in the first place?
Christopher Heine, staff writer at ADWEEK, says it is difficult to find out what direct impact the ads have on sales, but he does go on to say the ads do create publicity. The question is: will the publicity be positive and is it worth the risk?