Creating controversy to communicate

What is controversy Oxford English Dictionary defines it as a prolonged public disagreement or heated discussion. Webster defines it as a dispute, argument in which people express strong opposing views. Controversy means a quarrel, often public, involving strong disagreement but the topic can be as unimportant as a new movie. Controversy continues and does not resolve; it is feared, analysed, dramatised and often parodied. Controversy tends to veer towards scandal because it has got more stickiness and scandal never resolves.

In a 24x7 media galore, controversy is a standard staple; it provides body to an issue which otherwise would have confined itself to a cryptic news headline. Electronic media has a wonderful capability to convert a news feed into a full feed to the curious mind. It blends picture with opinion, juxtapose the points of views of opposing parties with the visual credibility of sketches, illustrations, statistics, expert opinion, interviews of eyewitnesses and so on. Controversy snowballs and has a life of its own. No wonder TV channels plan their own debate around some controversy every evening. Junta loves them. The love is displayed in spiralling TRPs of the programme.

Controversy attracts and invites participation. It tickles our desire to put our own bit and to be heard and counted. Controversy also gives courage to differ. In a public space where opinion is divided people take sides with complete confidence of not being singled out for any consequence. It is like a mob-lynching where the most innocuous and harmless person suddenly pulls up his sleeves and attack the hapless victim of public fury and then merges in the anonymity of crowd as if nothing has happened.

I have always wondered if controversy is such a crowd-puller and attention grabber why commercial communication has such scant use of it. I mean, there are controversial ads, banned ads, ads which have been forced to discontinue but majority of these controversies are limited to inter-brand rivalries.

Sometimes controversy brewed from a monopolistic claim of a generic manufacturing process. Miller beer is healthy because the bottles are sterilised by dipping in boiled water, Lucky Strike cigarette is different because the tobacco is toasted, and Promise is the only toothpaste with the goodness of clove oil. Reality is, all beer bottles are sterilised, all tobacco leafs for cigarettes are toasted, clove in an ingredient for many toothpaste brands. Rival companies cry hoarse. Complaints are lodged with the legal authorities; ads are stopped after limited media exposure. Hair care, skin care, oral care categories are full of such controversial claim games.

Controversy makes things more interesting because it brings in a perspective which is different. It would be pretty boring if everybody talks about the same thing or have the same opinion. Being different is being conspicuous. Years back Pepsi made a mockery of Coke’s official sponsorship of the Cricket World Cup by making fun of all the stereotypes of the gentleman’s game. Pepsi’s “Nothing official about it” campaign hijacked Coke’s official sponsorship. Consumers only talked about Pepsi that year in the context of cricket. Devil preaching envy and pride, worked as a differentiated strategy for Onida in highly cluttered TV market of those days.

Controversy also creates discomfort. People tend to avoid, ignore topics which are controversial. Embarrassing question asked by a child “Shaadi ke baad kya kya hua” — a recent AC ad shocks the audience. Pushing the boundary, crossing the limits in sexually charged communication has always created its own controversy. The Kamasutra condoms, serpentine encounter of Madhu Sapre-Milind Soman for Tuff shoes, “yeh to bada toing hai” campaign of Rupa underwear have all created their controversies and have been banned; but how much of these controversies have helped the brands is debatable.

This is a fact of life that people can secretly enjoy the forbidden but would shun public association of products and visuals which offend so called norms and sensibilities. I saw this interesting clipping doing its rounds in Facebook. At a bus stop, a girl holding a pack of sanitary napkin in a see-through polybag draws attention of everybody — men and women alike, while a man urinating just behind her is being ignored.

Marketers understand the irrationality of common people’s thinking hence they create controversy more subtly and suggestively in ads. Way back in 90s, Liril ad became popular because it created a silent controversy.

In an era when average middle-class women had shower or sex with their clothes on, a woman bathing in a bikini under waterfall was more than controversial, it was disruptive. Although there was no predatory male gaze in the film Liril made junta privy to a voyeuristic experience. The ad it seemed conspired with viewers to mute a controversy and secretly pushed the envelope of fantasy of both men and women. The dividend that the brand gained from this discreet controversy has not been matched ever again.

Glamorous girls have gone under the waterfall again and again for Liril but none could match the watershed mark created by Karen Lunel. The context of controversy had vanished. Leave Liril, remember the cricket ad of Cadbury Chocolate — one of my favourite ads. Every time it would come on TV my dadi used to sizzle specially in the penultimate frames when the girl breaks into an impromptu jig. “Look at the shameless girl”, she used to hiss.

For ads controversies are parts of everyday issues, “Bhala uski kameez meri kameez se safed kaise ” everything in the house is modern then why use primitive acid in the bathroom In toothpaste ads, controversy jumps down like a spiderwoman and asks “aap ke tooth paste mein namak hain ” How could you have a toothpaste without salt, neem, charcoal and god knows what! Marketers are smart people they create controversy through communication but never allow controversy to go out of control. They raise issues, create enough noise and disputes and even if it goes viral control the drift of it. Brands butt in, take charge and resolve all controversy. “Surf Excel hain na” and all issues and controversy around removing “daag” comes to an end.

There are spaces where controversy finds a natural fit. Fashion and glamour take to controversy as horses to watering holes. Let’s look at the recent Salman Khan controversy over his selection as India’s goodwill ambassador for the Rio Olympics. Salman has multiple facades. On the one hand, he is a glam hero, owner of a time-defying sculpted body, painter, social activist, and eternal bachelor on the other he is continuously embroiled in controversies and cases. In the current debate, while people and experts went vocal about the questionable profile of Salman media almost silently conspire to play the clippings of his upcoming biopic Sultan. While the debate went full steam, Salman Khan would probably laugh all the way to the bank because of the free publicity of his coming film.

Celebrity is a space in which production of mythologies takes place .I cannot think of a better celebrity brand who continuously harnessed controversy to catapult herself on her ever spiralling popularity curb than Madonna. While some people think consistency is key to building a brand, Madonna has shown that change, as brand essence, can be a powerful tool to sustain it and controversy can be the spindle to churn that change. From mesh-wearing, fish-net stocking “Material Girl”, to pointy-cone bra, tuxedo-wearing diva, to sex-crazed woman, and finally to Zen and yoga-practising mother, she has crafted a mythology around herself. Controversy stitches the multi-shaded Madonna as she pushed envelopes left, right and centre. “I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay.” — Madonna

Controversy can catapult you provided you are resilient to tackle its recoil.

The writer is former VP, consumer insight, McCann Erickson India. He can be contacted at kishore.chakraborti0@gmail.com