{"id":1702,"date":"2013-05-28T23:09:24","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T23:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/?p=1702"},"modified":"2013-05-29T16:27:08","modified_gmt":"2013-05-29T16:27:08","slug":"edgy-vs-offensive-how-to-walk-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/edgy-vs-offensive-how-to-walk-the-line\/","title":{"rendered":"Edgy vs. Offensive: How to Walk the Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a planet\u00a0overstuffed\u00a0with advertising and marketing messages, sometimes the best way to cut through the clutter is to startle your audience. Like a splash of cold water in the morning,\u00a0edgy content\u00a0can wake the masses and build buzz in a truly unique way.\u00a0But\u00a0what’s racy to one person may\u00a0be raunchy to another. What’s offbeat to you may be insensitive to me. Yes, there is a wafer-thin line between edgy and offensive material,\u00a0and it’s not a line\u00a0that’s always\u00a0visible, but\u00a0if you’re going to approach\u00a0it, you’d best\u00a0take a lesson in how to walk it.<\/p>\n

\"edgy<\/a><\/p>\n

Let’s start with the two\u00a0examples in the\u00a0graphic above. Now\u00a0you might think the half naked\u00a0man in the shower represents the offensive ad here, while the picture of actor Timothy Hutton being served a meal at a restaurant certainly looks safe enough, right? Nope. Isaiah Mustafa’s brilliant run as the “Old Spice Man”\u00a0struck ad campaign gold, blowing up online and\u00a0injecting\u00a0an enormous amount of hipness\u00a0and relevancy into an 80-year-old company<\/a>. On paper, the concept of a topless man\u00a0boasting of his extreme machismo might’ve\u00a0sounded\u00a0dicey, but the execution\u00a0was anything but.<\/p>\n