Last week we got wind of the graphic ads for Captivity offending people to the point that the promotion company is removing them. But they are taking their time.
Yesterday’s self-imposed 2 p.m. deadline for After Dark Films to remove the controversial Captivity billboards turning various Los Angeles intersections into gruesome instruction manuals on the capture, imprisonment, torture, and disposal of B-list actresses has come and gone, but buck-passing CEO Courtney Solomon’s clean-up crew seems to be lagging a bit behind schedule
Are we the least bit surprised that it looks like they are in no hurry to comply with this? After such “success” as the Boston bomb scare generating so much publicity for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force promotion, is it any bit of a shock that the promotion company would drag their feet while still complying with the removal of these offensive images.
Unfortunately for the offended public, we wont see the end of these sort of stunts here. Instead all this does is instill a behaviour in the promotion of these films. Want to make your buck stretch 10 times farther while advertising? Do something offensive.
This way when the public cries out “foul” you can look all shocked and dismayed that your offensive ads upset people, offer a pretend apology, and then take them down. At this rate, you could put up half as many billboards and posters and get 10 times the publicity out of them. Thats good use of money.
In this case, the company responsible for removing the ads is citing that they were unprepared for this extra workload to remove the offensive images, and BOOM, more publicity.
The public is crying that these images are still offending and now Its a two for one sale. And I just gave it to them!
Update!The new billboards that are replacing the offensive ones now sport a bold white background with Captivity was Here on them in black solid letters. The damage is done. They don’t even have to tell you. You already have the signs in your head. This one is just a reminder of what was there.
