Advertising, Parody and Mainstream Audiences - a tricky triangle.

This may be of interest to those of you who attended the Media Magazine Conference this year.  Director Garth Jenning's ad for Phones4U earned over 500 complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency. However, they weren't upheld, meaning that the ad can continue to be shown.  It goes to show how parody and irony are tricky approaches as not all the audience necessarily "get it" and can end up being offended or, in this case, scared.

All American Muslim - Advertisers and Representation

The American TV market is much more aggressively commercial than in Britain but this story illustrates how advertisers can potentially exert pressure on broadcasters to represent different communities in a particular way.  It also shows the power of the web and social media in both the creation of reaction to this storm.  Read the attached BBC article (link embedded in title of post) and google "All American Muslim" for more.  There's a lot more to this story than I can write here. Explore for yourself.