It’s been about 28 years since I remember being huddled around a Medium Wave radio with my Brother and Sister, listening to how the Sex Pistols had been goaded into saying naughty words live on TV by some drunk bloke in a suit and syrup.
And thus was vomited into the national consciousness the often misunderstood music tribe of Punk. Now I know Maclaren pinched it from CBGB’s in NYC after seeing the Ramones, but that’s not the point.
The point is; Sometimes you have to offend to get your point across. Sometimes it’s essential to offend as it’s the only way to shake up some people’s thinking.
At the time, all these guys were being was honest in a highly hypocritical, prejudiced society. It all seems a bit naive now. It was a time when powerful people controlled the media, decided what we could see.
Not any more. But that’s also not my point as the subject has been done to death.
My point is, it’s not enough to attract attention, but to instill shock therapy to jolt some people to action. Not everyone, you don’t need everyone. Sometimes only need to reach one person. Sometimes, it may only be yourself.
In the comedy World Bill Hicks was the punk. Here’s what he had to say on marketers. Remember, not safe for work.
The point is, not to offend for the sake of it, but to express a thought or ideal in such a way that if it does offend you do not care.
It’s easy to lose touch whilst in the trenches of the space which this blog inhabits. Persuasion marketing, deft psychological tricks to nudge a thought onto the front of the mind. Being tightly wound into the consciousness of some online social media site so far that you start to see the patterns without even having to breathe.
It is quintessential to creating long term – link grabbing content which continues to attract attention long after the initial link gained, that something challenging perceived wisdom is created.
Sometimes that will offend, sometimes it is essential to offend to smash through pre-conceived thoughts.
Self censorship is vital to be able to conduct reasonable discourse. But sometimes you have to make a stand, plant the flag and say
“This is what I believe.”
And if you don’t like it, well.
You know what you can do.