CfMC & Marc Brenner: poking sticks at the monkey
Let’s hope that CfMC’s product isn’t as shoddy as its advertising… or as offensive. Earlier this year the Computers for Marketing Corporation took a stock photograph of a chained organ grinder’s monkey and placed it over some quite bizarre copy – ‘would you trust him with your life’s work?’ – mocking the animal’s plight.
The ad appeared earlier this year in Research, the house journal of the Market Research Society and my wife, an MRS member, was less than impressed. She wrote to the editor, Marc Brenner, who claimed to be powerless to act, as there are no laws against mocking abused animals in advertisements.
While Marc Brenner is correct on that point of law, the implication that he’s obliged to accept any lawful advertisement is nonsense. If anything, a publication of this type should be especially careful when dealing with offensive content and he is responsible for all that appears in his magazine. Research is an important medium for communication between the MRS and its members and is distributed as an integral part of the membership package. To opt out of the magazine would be to distance yourself from your professional body. It’s not like advertising in Nuts, where the odd nipple is to be expected. In this sense, the CfMC ad might be said to have broken the Advertising Standards Authority’s code at 2.2 (‘All marketing communications should be prepared with a sense of responsibility’).
More convincingly, CfMC appeared to have contravened the code at 5.1 (‘Marketing communications should contain nothing that is likely to cause serious or widespread offence’) and you’d think they’d be banged to rights at 9.1 (‘Marketers should not use shocking… images merely to attract attention’).
Yet sadly no. The Advertising Standards Authority responded that CfMC’s mickey taking was not offensive or shocking enough for them to take action. Nevertheless, the ad does give an insight into the kind of people to be found at CfMC and the editor of Research’s low regard for his readers. I don’t imagine Katharine will feel particularly well disposed to any suppliers using CfMC product.
Comments (One comment)
Stephen
i am absolutely horrified that you should consider my company or colleagues to be unscrupulous or irresponsible enough to use an image of alleged animal cruelty to attract attention to our products or for any other purpose for that matter.
The concept behind using an image of an organ grinder’s monkey with the copy “would you trust him with your life’s work” was to portray the fact that market research data collection is a very important and serious undertaking and should not be trusted to less sophisticated products.
I saw the image several times and at no point did i consider it to be offensive or shocking at all (in fact i didn’t even recall seeing the chain) and given that we have ran the ad on many occasions without any complaint at all, it seems that no one else outside your family did find it offensive including as you note, the Advertising Standards Authority that did not uphold the complaint.
Of course the concept of what is offensive is subjective, for example i find your statement that “the ad gives an insight into what kind of people can be found at CfMC” deeply offensive as it alludes that we are somehow irresponsible or depraved human beings. I am even more disappointed given that you at no point attempted to contact us and inform us of your complaint or gauge our reaction to it.
Having said this, one complaint and accusation of animal cruelty is one too many as far as we are concerned and as soon as we were made aware of the complaint we pulled the ad immediately.
I would also like to apologise wholeheartedly and unreservedly to you and your wife for the distress and offence that this ad caused.
CfMC has a 40 year pedigree in the market research industry and we have never been accused of anything other than integrity and professionalism throughout that time. Had you taken a few moments and contacted us directly, i’m sure you would have discovered this and we could have avoided the unpleasant sentiments that appear in your blog.
Stephen Hughes
Commercial Director
CfMC Europe Ltd.
Stephen Hughes / May 2nd, 2007, 6:31 pm / #
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