But that doesn’t mean the truth shouldn’t be told.

Such a shame that the pressure – especially on front-line staff – resulted in this campaign from Heart Foundation being pulled. Brave marketing that gets cut through needs airtime.

As Mark rightly said:

“There’s a lesson here, right? Let’s take it away from heart disease for a second. Most marketers play it too safe. Most marketers don’t achieve salience. Most consumers never notice or digest the message, because we don’t push whatever the position might be far enough,” he said.

“If there’s one thing you see across successful campaigns, back to this bravery point, you have to push it up to the line, and maybe sometimes over the line – not intentionally, but the attention and effectiveness depends upon it. And I think for me it’s one of the great shames, if this is one of the great campaigns of the last five or 10 years in Australia, one of the great disappointments, though it’s understandable, is it’s been pulled.”

Kudos to Chris Taylor for a gutsy campaign. And for the honesty and authenticity in speaking to the fallout.