Value in Design

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Recommended: Advertising influence on society

Value in graphic design can possibly be summed up with some of the following criteria; is it informative? Is it aesthetically pleasing? Is it eye-catching, clear or interesting? What makes this piece of design good, or possibly, bad? Is it valuable to society? Though there is no definitive list…
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Foundation (PETA), a non-profit UK organisation, are notorious for their shocking and often distasteful advertising campaigns that are usually very difficult and uncomfortable to look at. Along the same lines are Amnesty International, a human rights charity, who also produce shocking advertising to stir emotions and to make the general public aware of issues we are ignorant of or would rather ignore.
In this essay, I am going to explore the social, cultural and moral values in these advertisements and compare them to an advertising campaign that aims to shock but appears to have no real emotive value and it is just shocking for the sake of it. I will investigate whether shock advertisements are useful to society and do they have significance and worth, or does the value decrease when shock advertising is used without any real purpose other than to sell frivolous products?
As an activist non-profit organisation, PETA do not have to worry about negative views or raging criticism; in fact, they often thrive on it and deliberately go out of their way to offend the audience to rouse emotions so that their advertisement is noticed and people remember the message.
The advertisement by PETA I want to discuss is their “Holocaust On Your Plate” campaign from 2003, which was banned by Germany’s High Court. The campaign consisted of eight sixty square-foot panels depicting shocking images of people ta...

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...nd therefore has more aesthetic value than PETA’s campaign. There is something quite pleasing about the colours and layout of the design, though it is not beautiful, it is more attractive than PETA’s.
In conclusion, are shock adverts valuable and worthy to society? I would argue that they are but it is mainly about context. Though shock advertisements are fairly successful in their aim, I believe that the shock tactics used in trivial advertising could devalue the shock advertising on campaigns with real moral or ethical reason and value. Once you have been shocked because of a crime channel advert, it could take the shock out of more important campaigns and desensitise the public to this approach. The only answer for adverts to regain their value is to take the next step and become even more outrageous and appalling for the public to stand up and take notice again.

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