Advertisers would do better to fear indifference than alienating consumers (real people don’t much care)

• When it comes to ads, though, remember that real people don’t much care about them. So negative effects are rare.
• We know of no evidence of any advertising that has had a negative effect on sales.
• Don’t worry about ‘alienation’. Negative effects among existing buyers but not new buyers or vice versa won’t happen; we can’t think of any examples.
• So don’t hold back from bold, provocative ideas through fear of alienation. You should be much more fearful of indifference – and that’s wonderfully liberating creatively.

Excerpt from: How not to Plan: 66 ways to screw it up by Les Binet and Sarah Carter