I’m a big fan of when people just don’t get things.  I love it when there is a lot of discussion around something and people somehow just go the wrong damn way, for hours, days, whatever.  It just kills me when people take up arms to stop something and when that something changes, they feel like they’ve really made a difference in the world and pat themselves on the back with little letters and postings.

Here’s a really great example of one group of people trying something with a really specific response in mind, getting that response from the crowd they expected, exactly the way they thought they would, the original group removing the issue at hand like they had planned to all along, and the crowd thinking they have accomplished something.

So, to prove that outdoor advertising actually still works, the Outdoor Advertising Association and ad agency Beta put up this bus ad and one other one making fun of football fans, then directed people to visit BritainThinks.com to share their feelings on the matter.

Almost instantly, the shit storm… scratch that, the TOTALLY EXPECTED SHIT STORM started and people flocked to the website to flick right the fuck out.  Plus, as a bonus, the freak out spilled over onto a British site for working mothers, Mumsnet.

Beta left the ads up for a few weeks to let the pot simmer appropriately and then had them removed.  The working mums over at Mumsnet declared it a victory over sexism and even issued a thoroughly British, mock apology over the matter. Man they were proud of themselves for that one.  I dated a British chick for a couple of years and that tone is no stranger to my ears.

Following me so far?  Let’s sum up.  Beta and the OAA put the ads up to solicit a response and they got a big one.  They knew going in that the ad above and the one about football would cause an uproar.  The only way it wouldn’t cause an uproar is if people don’t read outdoor ads anymore.  They clearly do, because people freaked out.

Who is the winner here?  If you said Mumsnet, you would be incorrect.  The winner is Beta and the OAA who can now present some fantastic data on the response that outdoor ads can cause when done right. Trust me, these guys are sitting in their offices, writing their hands and laughing manically because they just pulled off a whopper.

What’s that Mumsnet? “Oh, but no, they didn’t count on…”  Yes, yes they did.

Now, the people that really should get this are people in the advertising business, including people who write about advertising for a living.  Let me be blunt, it is Advertising Age’s job to “get it” about the world of advertising.

Instead, in their original post about this matter, they actually said, “Talk about stirring the pot for no good reason!”  No, no, it’s a fan-fucking-tastic reason to stir the pot, to prove a point about the effectiveness of outdoor advertising.  Then, Ad Age posted another entry to announce that the ads came down; but instead of just saying, “Wow, apparently outdoor still works fine!”, they buried the lead and made it more about the mock apology from Mumsnet.

So, Ad Age and Mumsnet, what do you think really happened here? That Beta and the OAA really took down the ad because of your outcry, or because they had the answer they needed?  I know your fragile sense of self relies on the former being true, but sorry, your opinion and outrage here mean dick.

It was just business.

J.

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