Many advertising flyers, posters and TV advertising offend members of the general public or specific organisations. In the 70s people the most controversial advertising flyers were predominately those which highlighted sex depravity, pornography and general sleaziness, however, times have changed and although most people have far broader perceptions on what they regard as controversial or offensive there are still flyers which cause offence or annoyed people in a number of different ways.



1. The most controversial advert in 2006 was the Gay Police Association flyers and posters which featured the image of a Bible and the connection between homophobic attacks and religious motivation, which was depicted in both written text and a pool of spilled blood. Many Christian groups complained about the advert saying it was both offensive and discriminatory in its tone.

2. HM Revenues and Customs also caused controversy with their advertisement of a man trying to evade paying tax by hiding underneath a kitchen sink. This adverts offended self-employed people and in particular plumbers who said it the flyer shed a bad light on them.

3. Dolce and Gabbana managed to design a controversial advert which was said to have glamorised the use of knives.

4. Motorola also offended people by incorporating a knife on their advertising materials which people said glamorised violent crime.

5. Carphone Warehouse annoyed people by saying that calls would be ‘free forever'. This was considered to be misleading as no specific details of the offer were included on the advert.

6. French Connection had repeated complaints about its controversial FCUK slogan, which they still successfully emblazon across their products to such an extent that people no longer bother complaining about it. However, they also ran into trouble with their TV advert which showed two women in the martial art of fencing which ended with a kiss. This advert was deemed as acceptable by the Advertising Standards Agency, ADA, as the complaints they received were not justified.

7. Channel 5 ran a poster campaign with the slogan ‘nothing good ever came out of America' in bold capitals. People complained that this controversial poster and flyer would incite racial violence, however the ASA did not uphold the complaints.

8. Kellogg's. Their advertising portrayed a man riding a large dog in order to get home faster to eat his Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. This sparked controversy as people said it would encourage people to try the same stunt on their own dogs!

9. Dolce and Gabbana ran into more trouble with their advert which depicting two men briefly kissing. This was seen as inappropriate for children to see.

10. National Association of Cypriots. They ran a regional press advertisement which was considered to be offensive to the Turkish community.

These are among the most controversial adverts from which the most complaints were received, however, it should also be noted that controversial advertising flyers are sometimes the ones that get noticed the most. This remark should not be considered as an intimation that your advertising flyers should deliberately be designed to offend, deceive or incite potential violence.