Mike On Ads

Seems 50-cent wasn’t too happy about an ad on Myspace that asks the user to shoot the rapper to win a free something or other (xbox, ps3, whatever). Article can be found here.

I remember this ad very well as I used to manage some publisher relationships when this first came out. If I remember correctly there were about 5 different variations on the ad, each time a publisher would ban one iteration the advertisers would come out with a new slightly less offensive one — it started with a bloody ‘shoot the rapper’, then the blood was removed and then various “beat the rapper” and finally I think it settled on “guess the rapper” with a multiple choice between various famous rappers. Needless to say publishers weren’t too happy with any of the above.

What this shows is how much advertisers are willing to push the envelope. The more offensive an ad, the more likely someone is to click on it. I know, strange but true. And guess what, once you’re on the landing page it’ no longer about the rapper but about getting a free Xbox or PS3 by completing all sorts of offers. If you don’t care about your “brand” why care if you offend your users?

I wasn’t able to find this ad running anywhere so I’d much appreciate it if someone could send me a copy or link to the ad.

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