How to Turn Controversy into Sales

When the Internet first took off in the 1990s, the prevailing thought was it would even the playing field among small and large companies. Now about twenty years later, that thought still holds true, especially with the power of social media.

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Controversy Breeds Publicity

One of the fastest ways for any company to generate publicity and sales is with controversial content. Controversy is a seed that can quickly breed publicity in an exponential fashion. That’s because as the controversial story gains popularity, more journalists and media companies seem to write about and replay the story. With social media, the story can stimulate viral marketing. Before you know it, millions of people–including your prospective customers–can become aware of and instill passion about the product or service that is the involved in the story.

Controversy Takes Guts

Creating controversy is risky, but without risk there is no big reward. Many companies are too conservative and avoid taking risks. However, entrepreneurs and executives who have guts are able to withstand the “slings and arrows” the media and their peers may throw at them. And when they do, they can laugh all the way to the bank with increased sales and profits they earn.

So how can you start controversy? It all begins with content.

Controversial Content

Nutritional Supplement Sales Increase in Spite of Controversy
The nutritional supplement industry is the perfect example of the relationship between controversy and sales. The industry relies heavily on scientific research to support the usage of vitamins, minerals and other substances. Many studies show the benefits of nutrients. Supplement companies include this research as part of the content they publish in articles, blogs, brochures, websites and other forms of marketing.

Yet, when studies show these substances do not provide benefits of usage, sales seem to climb even higher, according to a January 2014 report in Euromonitor International. That’s in part because the media publicizes these studies and interview scientists that represent both sides of the argument. Supplement users trust scientists that support vitamins and distrust those who state otherwise. Therefore, each controversial report the media publishes incites consumer emotions.

The media reignited the controversy of multivitamins following a December 2013 editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine that concluded,

“Supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful. These vitamins should not be used for chronic disease prevention.”

However, as the media fuels the controversy with interviews of scientists on both sides, supplement sales continue to rise.

JBS Textile Group
JBS Textile Group A/S is Denmark's largest and leading underwear manufacturer. JBS purposely developed a controversy to draw attention to its men’s underwear. They did this by creating advertisements featuring female models wearing the men’s underwear. The thinking behind the strategy was that more men would rather look at near-naked female bodies than half-naked male bodies.

In the television ads and videos they created, the female models grabbed the attention of the audience and kept them engaged throughout the entire episode.

httpv://youtu.be/2dfsV9W7XzI

The ad starts out stating,

“How do you turn an old-fashioned men’s underwear brand into the most successful in Europe?”

The answer:

“We made an ad so dirty…it could only be shown on the Internet.”

The result of the ad was that it went viral instantly since they published it on YouTube on September 24, 2012. It caused a huge controversy and a tidal wave of media generated publicity. In fact, it is the only full length ad ever to air on national Danish news. They attained over 400,000 views with 1 in 5 Danes seeing the ad. Most of all, the ad campaign helped to increase product sales by 18%, while reducing competitor sales by 20%.

Agent Provocateur
Agent Provocateur is a luxury brand of women’s lingerie. Customers worldwide can purchase the lingerie online or in boutiques in select cities throughout Russia, the United Kingdom and other countries in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Australia.

Unlike other brands of lingerie, Agent Provocateur instills controversy with each “mini-movie” advertisement it publishes on YouTube and Vimeo.

Three controversial mini-movies include the 2013 Autumn Winter campaign to launch Penelope Cruz’s new product line called L'Agent, Valentine’s Day series that began in 2010 and Fleurs du Mal in 2011, perhaps the most controversial video of all.

L’Agent by Penelope Cruz
Academy Award-winning actress Penelope Cruz made her debut as a TV ad director for the controversial release of L’Agent. Cruz wrote the script for the commercial with the vision to tell a story that highlights the beauty of all types, shapes and sizes of women wearing the L’Agent brand of lingerie.

The movie features supermodel Irina Shayk, Cruz’s pregnant sister Monica wearing a baby doll a few days before giving birth, Spanish actors Miguel Angel Silvestre and Academy Award winner Javier Bardem, and many female models showing off the lingerie.

httpv://youtu.be/hpqhUpiUYy8

Agent Provocateur published the L’Agent commercial on YouTube on August 1, 2013. Google quickly removed the commercial because it violated the website's content rules, but Agent Provocateur uploaded the video again only a few hours later, according to a report by the Latino Post.

Cruz received criticism for the sexually charged content of the commercial. Adweek called the commercial a “sleaze-fest” and said,

“The sheer volume of thonged and bikini-bound lady butts that Silvestre ogles is staggering.”

Yet despite the controversy, Adweek acknowledges,

“Cruz in her directorial debut, manages to create a soft-core mini-masterpiece.”

As of January 25, 2014 the video has had over 1.5 million viewers on YouTube with over 93% clicking the “like-it” button. The comments by viewers show polar extreme reactions to the commercial.

ShaSupreme said,

“I hereby challenge any man, born of a woman, to try and hit stop upon starting this video. I deem thy to be impossible.”

Jon Freeze said,

“That was sick!”

David Newton-Jones said,

“Wow; what a fantastic trailer with intelligent inspiration & performance in all details and scenes; make daydream believers true reality forever!”

Sbayo9 said,

“Who likes this video? This is ridiculous.”

Penelope Cruz has sure made a splash in her directorial debut!

Love Me Tender...or Else
Agent Provocateur’s Valentine’s Day series of mini-movies has sparked a controversy in the way it has erected sales of its lingerie. The series began with the ad titled “Love Me Tender...Or Else.” This video has been on Vimeo and YouTube since the start of 2010.

httpv://youtu.be/r6H2dLTcvEQ

The short movie is about a lover who is dressed up on Valentine’s Day ready for a romantic evening when her partner calls to cancel due to work. She is visually upset and undresses wearing just her lingerie. Then she decides to send a powerful message to him in person. She puts on a coat over her lingerie and arrives at his office, ties his hands to his chair and performs a lap dance in her lingerie. Then she smacks him and tells him to never forget about Valentine’s Day again and leaves.

Agent Provocateur has followed this hit by creating new mini-movies each year to promote their lingerie for Valentine’s Day.

Fleurs du Mal
Fleurs du Mal is perhaps the most controversial of all the Agent Provocateur’s advertisements. Agent Provocateur uploaded this horror genre video to YouTube on Halloween in 2011 to celebrate the launch of 2011-2012 Soiree Collection.

The horror ad depicts scantily-clad models wearing lingerie dragging a scared woman in her home. It quickly got an incredible 450,000 views upon its release.

httpv://youtu.be/HbltwHdA7TI

After receiving a complaint that the short movie was "offensive” and "disturbing and misogynistic", the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) suspended the video pending investigation. After review the ASA gave the short movie the green light, according to a report by MyDaily in March 2012. The ASA stated:

"The online video appeared in the context of the website of a luxury lingerie retailer. We acknowledged some viewers might find some of the scenes distasteful but considered the highly stylised nature and clearly fictional content of the video meant it was unlikely to be interpreted by most viewers in the way the complainant suggested. We considered the ads did not demean women and were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence to visitors to the Agent Provocateur website. We also considered the ad was unlikely to cause fear or distress without justifiable reason. We therefore concluded that the ad did not breach the Code."

In a review about Agent Provocateur’s controversial ad Fleurs du Mal, the Daily Mirror says,

“Agent Provocateur are the kings of controversial adverts, wheeling out banned campaign after banned campaign and raking in some serious publicity while they're at it.”

Controversial videos have a big impact on sales for Agent Provocateur, even during a worldwide economic downtime. Global sales increased by 25% to £39m while pre-tax profits more than doubled from £1.7m to £3.8m in the year ending March 2013, according to accounts filed at Companies House and published by The Guardian on January 8, 2014.

GoDaddy
It all started with a kiss on Super Bowl Sunday, and it ended in the biggest pay day in GoDaddy’s history, according to a report in VentureBeat in February 2013.

GoDaddy–one of the leading providers of Web hosting services and domain name registration–created the “granddaddy” of all controversial ads in 2013. It involved a kiss between supermodel Bar Refaeli and an unknown, chubby and geeky-looking guy.

httpv://youtu.be/o-3j4-4N3Ng

The kiss incited more people to post comments throughout social media about GoDaddy. It prompted almost 300,000 tweets, more than any other Super Bowl ad. The tweets revealed passions on both sides of the controversy. Most people hated it and thought it was distasteful…more than any other ad.

In fact, two earlier versions of the GoDaddy ad were so controversial CBS rejected them. GoDaddy insisted it wanted the controversy and craved the negative publicity so it toned down the content a little to meet CBS’s request.

The viral explosion of passion that the ad caused resulted in more new customers and new sales than any other campaign in the history of GoDaddy. This included:

• 45% jump in hosting sales
• 40% increase in domain sales
• 35% rise in new mobile customers

GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving said,

“Attracting new customers is what advertising is all about… we wanted our Super Bowl commercials to generate new customers and overall sales, and that’s precisely what happened. We set all-time Super Bowl Sunday records for mobile sales, website builders, website hosting and new customers.”

In a report by Forbes following the 2013 Super Bowl, Barb Rechterman, GoDaddy’s Senior Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer, said about the ad:

“Perfect Match highlights the two sides of GoDaddy, the sexy and smart sides. Whether you loved it or hated it, it’s a memorable spot, and that spot, by the way, helped us achieve our best sales day ever, the Monday after the Super Bowl. We’ve been in business since 1997, and we’ve done nine years’ of Super Bowl ads, so for us to have our best sales day ever, that’s saying a lot.”

Controversy pays. The negative publicity about the ad put more money in the pockets of GoDaddy.

Apple
Apple may have created one of the most controversial ads of all time. It first appeared to the public during the third quarter of the Super Bowl in 1984. And it changed world history.

The controversy started in Apple’s boardroom prior to the approval of the ad. According to reporter Chris Higgins, after the board members saw the ad that Chiat\Day advertising agency had created for them to support the launch of the Macintosh computer, many were outraged and demanded the firing of Chiat\Day.

The message in the commercial was:

httpv://youtu.be/axSnW-ygU5g

The tagline "You’ll See Why 1984 Won't Be Like 1984" alluded to George Orwell’s famous novel in which he imagines a dystopian future controlled by a televised "Big Brother." Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple, saw IBM–known as “Big Blue”–as “Big Brother.” Apple was planning to launch the Macintosh computer the week following the Super Bowl, so the timing of the ad was perfect.

Jobs revealed the concept of the ad to Apple’s employees in the fall of 1983. He said:

"It is now 1984. It appears IBM wants it all. Apple is perceived to be the only hope to offer IBM a run for its money. Dealers, initially welcoming IBM with open arms, now fear an IBM-dominated and controlled future. They are increasingly and desperately turning back to Apple as the only force that can ensure their future freedom. IBM wants it all and is aiming its guns on its last obstacle to industry control: Apple. Will Big Blue dominate the entire computer industry? The entire information age? Was George Orwell right about 1984?"

Then Jobs showed them a preview of the ad. Afterwards they applauded while some screamed!

However, weeks later when Apple’s Board of Directors first viewed it, they hated it. As a result, CEO John Sculley told Chiat\Day to sell off the Super Bowl airtime they had purchased. But Jay Chiat, principal of the agency, quietly tried to change their minds.

Chiat had already bought a sixty-second slot in the third quarter to show the full ad, and a thirty-second slot later on to repeat a shorter version. They were able to sell off the thirty second spot, but it was too late to sell the longer one. Chiat went ahead and televised the commercial, disobeying the Board of Directors’ demand. Nonetheless, Chiat’s decision cemented Apple's place in advertising history and made sure 1984 wasn’t like 1984.

Apple’s executive team decided to run a 100-day campaign of the commercial after the Super Bowl. The airing caused a huge controversy among viewers. Many loved it and many hated it. Media coverage grew quickly. They replayed the ad during newscasts, giving Apple free airtime.

Apple knew what it was doing when it decided to create an ad campaign that would cause controversy. It did this successfully. Chiat won many awards, including best commercial of the decade. Apple sold 72,000 computers in 100 days, 50 percent more than it had projected, according to Forbes.

Today, many feel the Apple commercial is among the most memorable and controversial TV advertisements ever made. It changed Apple and the course of the computer industry. As a result, it affected how individuals, businesses and governments function throughout the world.

Bottom Line

The bottom line about controversy is it sells products and services. That’s because controversy stirs up “high-valence” emotions that have passion and are extreme. These emotions include anger, fear, joy and pleasure. When you have different people who can be passionate about one of the two extremes surrounding an issue, there is bound to be controversy.

Go create controversy with your content and watch your audience rise and your sales soar.