It wasn't long after we discussed Snapchat and its inevitable movement toward integrating ads into its business model, and its first ad rolled out this weekend has caused quite a controversy. The company expressed in a blog post that it didn't want its ads to be "creepy," however, since its first ad was for the horror movie Ouija, Snapchat managed to do quite the opposite.
As a person who goes to great lengths to avoid watching horror movies, even to the extent of changing the channel when a trailer is played on TV or muting my computer when an ad runs on Spotify, I was not pleased with the ad or its placement. I'm also seriously Type-A, so there was no way I was about to leave the icon on my "Recently Added" list, so thanks to Snapchat's "tap to skip" feature I was able to remove it from that list, but not without a little anxiety about seeing or hearing something I might not want to. (This seems silly for someone twenty years old, but seriously, I HATE horror movies!) Given my quickly negative reaction to the ad, I googled the simple phrase "Snapchat ads" and six of the nine results on the first page had headlines referring to the irony of Snapchat declaring its ads would not be creepy, when its first ad was for a decidedly creepy horror movie!
It's common knowledge that Snapchat is used by people of all ages; I know of even eleven and twelve year olds who use the app. As a middle schooler, there is no way I would've been comfortable with an ad like the one ran this weekend. Though I should mention I was an overly-anxious child, I would have been kept awake thinking about that ridiculous ad at night, even though I would have known it wasn't real, and I'm sure there were plenty of children who saw the ad who reacted the same way I'm sure I would have.
This ad prompts an important question: should Snapchat be more responsible for any content it may push, ad or not? Snapchat states in its Terms of Service that its services are intended for people aged thirteen years or older. Ouija is rated PG-13, which means even the trailer is technically suitable for those thirteen or older, but clearly the backlash of the ad shown on Twitter has shown that many users do not think the ad was appropriate. Additionally, a parent of a child who uses Snapchat who has heard of the ad may be inclined to revoke his or her child's "Snapchat privileges," since I'm sure many parents, like my own, do not let their thirteen year old see every PG-13 movie in theaters; I know for a fact my parents would not have been happy had I been exposed to that ad as a child.
Though I'm sure this ad will not deter a significant number of people from using Snapchat, I do believe the company should be more careful in their selection of ads to publish. Snapchat might feel the Ouija ad was appropriate, but really, how difficult is it to avoid running ads for horror movies? I'm sure the company had plenty of other options, and I'm puzzled as to why it chose this movie from any other options when it should have been clear it would cause a significant negative reaction.
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