Cheating has been seen as a taboo for many years by many cultures around the world. I'm not talking about hiding aces in the sleeve of your jacket during a poker game; I mean being unfaithful to your partner. Most people in North America have been brought up to believe that one day they will find a partner, get married, start a family, provide for that family and so on and so forth. Being unfaithful is seen as a sin or an immoral act. That's just it, isn't it? We believe it is an immoral act because it goes against our faith. Yes, there are many different faiths out there. Some take more than one wife, some take only one, some don't even believe in a marital status. All in all, the concept of cheating all depends on WHAT you were raised to believe. I'm not saying you have to believe in some higher power to think cheating is wrong. Most teenagers and young adults think sleeping around with another partner is wrong whether they believe in a god or not, but they are surrounded by an environment who believes that this is immoral, so in turn, they will believe it is. I don't think it is necessarily right or wrong. In my opinion, if you love someone, then you should respect them enough to either let them know, or move on. My generation think being unfaithful is immoral more or less because one person is getting hurt in the end and their friends/family don't want to see them hurt.
What does cheating have to do with advertising? The fact that many companies/brands exploit this tactic into making the consumer switch to their brand. Why? Because they make themselves seem BETTER. In my opinion, this is actually a great tactic to gain popularity and a larger market. I do not believe that these companies are promoting adultery or infidelity in all forms. I think they are simply recognizing that this is a typical human behaviour and nothing more. Many would argue that this is not only wrong, but offensive. Yes, it can be offensive if approached in the wrong manner. For example, this Reebok ad is trying to promote their brand as being the best sport equipment for getting you in shape. I even find this offensive because they made it very personal. This kind of ad is promoting unfaithfulness. I believe if they took a different twist on it, they would have had better reviews.
This Ashley Madison ad for a dating website also promotes cheating and has been seen as offensive. They could have promoted it using a different concept or comparing different things. There is a fine line between making the ad emotional so the viewer can relate, and attacking their beliefs (even if it wasn't intentional).
Something like this Pretzel Crisps ad is a great example of this tactic. It is not directly relatable to adultery or human relationships, so it cannot be seen as offensive. It is actually playing on our basic instincts to seek out the better brand/product, rather than the weak one.
You are probably wondering what the hell I am talking about referring this tactic to be tapping into our basic instincts. If you think about it logically, we are the only species on this planet that believes that cheating on their significant other is wrong. Why? Because we believe it to be. Every other organism on the earth has survived because they are programmed to. The females seek out the strongest males to make strong babies that will SURVIVE. Where do you think the phrase "survival of the fittest" came from? The fact that 74% of men and 68% of women would cheat on their partner if they wouldn't get caught proves what I have just stated. We do it because we are programmed to, but we are afraid of the guilt and shame that goes with being caught. Many people would tell me that this is a load of crap. Here is a link to a study on how women feel more attracted to strong men when in "heat" or fertile. http://www.livescience.com/8779-fertile-women-manly-men.html
How can women even think this way while devoted to their man? Because this is how we were made. This doesn't just apply to women. The male gender of a species seeks out healthy females to fertilize and make babies to carry on their genes. This doesn't happen to be just one female, they mate with as many healthy females as they can so their species can survive.
All in all, I believe that these ads are NOT promoting adultery, but playing on our natural instincts. I do think that if they approach it this way, they should be sensitive to ones beliefs as to not offend their audience, otherwise, this was all for naught.
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