Adverts and images crossing the line?

[snowdrop]

Hi

This may seem like an odd question and I totally understand the shock tactics these days of drink driving, smoking, child abuse, strokes adverts etc but does anyone else feel sometimes these can go a little too far?

I take on board the message they are giving out but these images scare me for weeks on end, not just to the point of 'i wont drink and drive' or 'i'll bear those symptoms in mind for a stroke' but I mean they REALLY frighten me to the point I have nightmares and can't sleep.

Is it me or are images etc becoming a little too graphic? It seems a line has been crossed and I am worried where it will end, probably to the point I just won't be able to watch tv anymore.

Of course if they stop people from killing people etc then thats great but do they need to be quite so horrific?? Some will say yes they do to make people stop but do they need to be so horrible?

I have just seen an advert for the 1st time ever of what is supposed to be a dead twisted child on the floor (supposed to have been knocked down I guess by the man in question) and wherever this man goes this child is laying on the floor, supposed to be dead with his eyes open and his body twisted....it Has really freaked me out!!!!

I don't speed anyway and am very aware of the speed i do in my car but all I can see now is that child in my head and even though its not 'real' It was just hideous.

Does anyone else get anxious about things like this?? Or is it just me that thinks advertising is maybe going a little too far? there doesnt seem to be a limit on what images they show anymore, I understand the need to shock to a certain extent but dont they have to curb these images atall so as not to 'disturb' people permanently?

Is it because of anxiety these effect me more than maybe those without? Maybe because of anxiety, i take the part i need on board and then my mind goes into overdrive with it?

PS I dont watch horror movies because I choose not to scare myself, but I have no choice with advertising and there seems to be no limit as to what they will show anymore

[Meewah]

Hi

I agree. The media is going too far. I am really worried for the mind of my 10 year old son who cant stop tuning in to every negative advert on the radio and TV. I feel it is scaring him silly. He does not have the experience to rationalise the adverts. He is like a sponge and this sponge is water logged with negativity about the world outside his bedroom.

I feel a 10 year old should be enjoying life and not absorbing all this c**p.

Mee

[Piglet]

I've noticed this big increase in 'shock' tactic adverts recently too and like you I don't really like it and it can play on my mind too.

I hate the one about fat blocking up the drain and the stroke one and the one about testing your fire alarm and wonder how necessary it really is to put the message across in this way.

To me this is a negative way to get us to change or notice things - it would be better to put across the positives of doing the things they are suggesting by showing how well you can feel if you eat foods with less fat and how rewarding it would be to help someone suffering from a stroke by learning some basic first aid skills.

The stroke one really annoys me because if saw someone displaying those symptoms it would be bloody obvious to phone for help - that particular advert doesn't real serve as any new information.

It's hard because while education and awareness is very very important in all these matters I hate this scaremongering way of doing it. I don't really have the answers and I suppose they would say well it gets us all talking about it and sticks in our minds, so in that way it's been successful in bringing public awareness to the issue and possibly saving lives ...even if in the meantime its scared us all witless.

Piglet

[Jaco45er]

Normally they don't bother me, but that new Stroke advert? when I am relaxing with my bottle of wine watching the footy, last thing I need is an advert of some womans head on fire.

We are adults, we know what can happen if we drink n drive etc etc and lets face it, if someone is going to drive like a **** then an advert won't stop them.

As for the "know your units" advert? I hate that and it's pointless, I can't count past 10 units anyhow.

[mick_uk]

The stroke one really annoys me because if saw someone displaying those symptoms it would be bloody obvious to phone for help - that particular advert doesn't real serve as any new information.

I totally agree piglet, I know it's a nanny state but if someone was acting the way the people in that ad were acting what else would you do but phone for an ambulance

[anxious_88]

I agree completely, I think it's one of the main factors in triggering a kind of HA epidemic. People should be well informed, but not terrified into it! The government is just using anxiety as a means of controlling people which a) is really horrible for people who have to go through that and b) probably won't work for people who aren't anxious about these things.

I don't find the Stroke one that bad, but some have really made me terrified, like "sexually transmitted diseases are spreading fast" whatever fast actually means.

[valleybear]

All the advert terrify me and bring on anxiety attacks. I rush to change the channel while wondering if I have ruined my children's lives cos of something I did or didn't do. I think they are way beyond acceptable..I don't buy newspapers either now in case they tell me something I am doing or have done is killing me or mine!!
Heard Paul O'Grady the other day say"I don't believe anything I read in the paper, me, except the date...and sometimes I'm not so sure about that!!"

[worriedGrace]

The stroke advert doesn't frighten me because my Mum died of a stroke and it was nothing like the advert. The one with the dead child on the floor really freaks me out. When I first saw it I thought it was very effective but after a while as soon as it started I closed my eyes so it defeats it's own object.

[itsonlydark]

Normally they don't bother me, but that new Stroke advert? when I am relaxing with my bottle of wine watching the footy, last thing I need is an advert of some womans head on fire.

i'm in full agreement. and that stroke advert is so long too. i switch over as soon as it comes on. i also hate the saturated fats one.

health anxiety is something you hear more of these days, and i think perhaps this kind of advertisment plays it's little part in triggering it too. i understand the need to be educated, but i don't feel it has to be so full on. it should be about helping people. not scaring them so much they feel they have no choice but to think about it.

ugh

x

[crunchie01]

i do agree with you, i lost my grandma to a stroke 18 months ago and i find it really difficult and upsetting seeing it on tv and hearing it on the radio