Ault Dairies launched an orange flavored milk in the late 90’s. As their agency at the time, we proposed the idea of approaching farmers with land bordering on major traffic routes and pay to have their cows dyed orange. We would then send out news releases and create documentary type commercial spoofs to propagate the stunt.

Back then this was considered a strange idea, because it was about creating news, not just a TV spot. Unfortunately, Ault was bought by Parmalat and the idea never got off the ground.

What was considered a weird stunt back then is becoming the norm today.

The Gap just picked up a lot of news by letting the world know they were changing their logo. I believe they had no intention of changing their logo, it would have cost a fortune. But for little money, they generated millions of dollars worth of free publicity. And even though most feedback was negative, they turned it positive. After a week, or so, they capitulated, saying the audience had spoken and they didn’t want the new, ugly logo. A great head fake.

Whether the news rubs negative or positive doesn’t seem to matter much in the fight for attention.

Neither does taste.

A BNET article titled, “Ass-Tastic: Why Ads Are Becoming More Disgusting” cites a few campaigns that - depending on whether you’re permanently stuck in adolescence or not - have not only crossed the line. They’ve erased it.

These range from the mildly distasteful Levi’s strapline, “All Asses Were Not Created Equal,” to the completely disturbing (not to mention, irrelevant) Diesel Kick Ass Sneakers, “Assland.”

David Ogilvy famously said, “Advertising reflects the mores of society, but it does not influence them.”

I think we might have jumped the shark.