Misplaced Targeting

It’s time for lunch. Naturally, this means it’s time for me to scour the social networks and see what my friends are up to. While I’m checking out a friend’s photos – her in Africa on missionary work toting a machine gun – I get a delightful ads propositioning me for a single’s site. Irony would be the theme.

I understand that the Internet is still rather untamed. Sometimes though, the stupidity of how ads are targeted just baffles me. Facebook knows I’m single, granted, but it also knows that I’m a guy, and that I’m straight. I’m sure of this because I checked, and normally, I get a scantily clad woman pressing her rear in the air for me to ogle. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t let me specify that I don’t like that type of woman, so I deal.

Still, you have to appreciate the humor of misdirected Internet ads. In many ways they are funny. In some ways though, you have to feel sorry for the person who wasted money on an ad that’s so poorly placed.

And yes, You can add me on facebook.

Nudity and Religion Clash

I have a double lesson in this blog for you. One is a general concern for discression, and the other is the actual blog topic, which covers ethics and how it can clash with major religions.

 

First, the real topic:

The WCVB out of Boston reported that a fitness ad for a gym depicted catholic nuns sketching a male nude. (http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/15174073/detail.html, retrieved January 30 2007) This ad was blasted by at least three catholic groups as offensive.

In a response to the complaints, the gym released a statement saying that, “…throughout history the body has been considered a form of art," among other things.

As communications and business professionals we have to take care to realize that the products and advertisements, in addition to other forms of communication, may appear funny and witty, but can have the potential to insult some basic sensibilities of large groups. While there seems to be no intention to change the ad, the gym might think twice the next time. In this situation, ethics was defined by insulting a large group.

A thought to consider here though: What if the ad insulted a religion with an insignificant population? Does that make it less ethically sensitive since there are less people to complain? One has to be careful where to draw the line. Groups such as the ACLU are built on the foundation of giving small minorities voices.

In regards to my experience with this blog, I had to make a choice whether or not to post the images or not. I chose not to because the target audience could have been offended by it. I have to remind myself that I am teaching at a Catholic College. Additionally, I avoided the attention grabbing headline “Nudity and Nuns” because it could have offended the target audience. It may not have been unethical to use it, but it could have alienated my audience as offensive.