Campaign controversial – but is it effective?

What do hipsters, cat lovers, beautiful people and crazy old aunts have in common?

According to a controversial ad campaign south of the border, they all deserve to die.

They showed a random assortment of people who all supposedly deserve to die. Not surprisingly, the eye-catching campaign went viral and raised a few eyebrows from people offended by what seemed to be unprovoked attack ads.

The organization behind the ads is actually the Lung Cancer Alliance. It says the whole point is to show that no one deserves to die from the disease – it can hit anyone, regardless of their life choices. But from a marketing perspective, did the campaign hit the mark, or did it just make people angry?

To talk more about this, we’ve got Marvin Ryder with the DeGroote School of Business, and Hamilton-based marketing and social media co-ordinator Jeff Sykes.

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