Which part is distasteful for the advertiser?

NYT times article “The Distasteful Side of Social Media Puts Advertisers on Their Guard” discusses undesired matches between advertisements on social media sites and the content surrounding them.  This is not a new phenomenon – we’ve seen this happening from day one of automated advertising placement when contextual advertising generates what are usually ironic combinations that give us a chuckle and maybe even make the ads more memorable.

The scenario in the case discussed in this article is a bit different.  Feminist activists had been trying to get Facebook to take down pages glorifying violence against women – something most of us would agree is a good cause – with no success.  By shifting their tactics to highlighting ads of large companies alongside these controversial pages in their own media campaign, the activists were able to use the companies voices, which resonated with Facebook a little more.  With a couple large advertisers pulling their ads temporarily, Facebook was encouraged to take another look at removing the controversial pages.
 
Another scenario – this one hypothetical - is discussed about advertising on Twitter.  The example exemplifies when negative matching may help.  The example is a pizza ad in-line with a conversation about pizza that takes a turn to a new subject about anorexia or bulimia.  These controls would allow the advertiser to avoid having their message appear in this conversation.
 
More than anything, I think this article captures the fact that digital marketing is constantly changing.  With every new way to advertise, there are new issues to deal with.  Sure there is some content out there that is distasteful, but the greater distaste from the advertisers perspective has got to be having to deal with the unfortunate scenarios that this dynamic and ever expanding digital world will never cease to produce regardless of the controls that are put in place.  The occasional less than desired match-up in and of itself is not the real concern.  When social forces dictate that as the advertiser you spend money and man hours dealing with what shouldn’t be your problem, the concern is exacerbated.