If you ask New Yorkers on the street what they think about the giant, controversial print ad campaign in the NYC subway system, their initial response might be, “Which one?” In the past two months alone, not one, but two ad campaigns fitting that description have appeared on the subway.
The first debuted in late September, when Friend, an AI company billed as a portable “companion,” ran a $1 million print campaign featuring a variety of servile messages like, “I’ll never leave dirty dishes in the sink.” The campaign received massive criticism, to the point that the MTA was forced to continuously remove Friend’s vandalized ads. In an interview with Fast Company, Friend CEO Avi Schiffman said he “expected that would happen,” and, in fact, he designed the ads with white space to invite graffiti.
Now, another controversial print ad campaign has joined the fray. The new ads are paid for by Nucleus Genomics, a genetic health company specializing in genetic testing, IVF services, and embryo screening. The company’s ads include phrases like, “Height is 80% genetic,” “IQ is 50% genetic,” “Have your best baby,” and “These babies have great genes.” In emails to Fast Company, Nucleus said that its new campaign was inspired by yet another contentious ad from this year: Sydney Sweeney’s recent American Eagle partnership, which sparked backlash for what many people believed was a casual promotion of eugenics.
Shock value marketing is as old as advertising itself. But Friend and Nucleus’s recent campaigns represent a novel kind of rage bait marketing that is primed for the current moment of political and technological divide. This new era of attention-seeking provocation, incubated on social media with companies like Cluely, has now made its way into the physical world where brands are looking to double down on turning backlash into opportunity.
We spoke to leading experts about the rise of rage bait marketing and where it goes from here. Hear from:
- An NYU Stern School of Business professor on why the new crop of tech startups is perfectly primed for rage baiting.
- The head of strategy at The Martin Agency on the advantage provocative marketing campaigns give young companies—and what it might cost them.
- The cofounder of Joan Creative on what comes next after this initial wave of rage bait campaigns.
