Guerrilla Marketing Communication Tools and Ethical Problems in Guerilla Advertising

Problem statement: Companies attempt to reach private worlds of consumers and give them memorable experience with their brands by using guerrilla marketing tools. Guerrilla advertising, which is one of the guerrilla marketing tools, usually attracts the attention of consumers but sometimes irritates and annoys the consumers and even breaks the law. Approach: The study determined these ethical aspects by evaluating different guerilla advertising strategies of the companies. A critical assessment of the printed and visual discoursed of guerilla ads were made in this context. Results: The assessment indicated that there are some ethical problems about guerrilla advertising implementations. Especially the ads, which include fear-appeal, may irritate people. Also, distraction of attention in traffic is the other important ethical problem. Conclusion/Recommendations: These kinds of guerrilla ads may reduce the effectiveness of advertisements in general and dislike of a company’s ad may lead to biased reactions towards future advertisements. Ethical, legal and societal boundaries must be considered in guerilla advertising strategies. In sum today’s marketers have to take greater responsibility for the negative impacts of the practices of guerilla advertising.