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Committed to Cursing

1/5/2021

10 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch - professor of Marketing at Messiah University -
​author of 
Honorable Influence - founder of Mindful Marketing
​

Do you have a resolution for 2021?  According to Parade, the most popular annual self-promise is to lose weight.  Given interests in appearance and health, it’s understandable that many people want to watch what they put into their mouths.  What’s surprising is that individuals seem increasingly unconcerned about what comes out of their mouths.  In fact, an ad campaign from an unexpected source is encouraging people to let profanity fly.
 
One might guess the campaign comes from a company like Budweiser, which a few years ago ran an infamous Super Bowl ad featuring outspoken British actress Helen Mirren who delivered a caustic anti-drunk-driving rant that had parents rushing to cover their kids ears.  Amazingly, the current profanity-laced campaign is from the Mental Health Coalition.
 
Actually, “laced” is an understatement.  The 90-second spot’s central theme and action are the F-word and its accompanying hand gesture.  Why so much obscenity?  The premise is that since people have suffered so much over the last 12 months from a global pandemic, racial injustice, and an extremely combative election, the best thing to do is to blow off steam by telling 2020 exactly what we thought of it.
 
The ad ends with a fittingly obscene call-to-action: “Text [middle finger emoji] to 1-877-EFF-THIS and donate $5 to the Mental Health Coalition.”
 
Why would the Mental Health Coalition want to connect its mission and brand to cursing?  The rationale is not as tenuous as you might first think.  In fact, there’s a body of literature that suggests that expressing anger through swearing is good for mental health.
 
One study, which asked participants to submerse their hands in ice water, discovered that swearing increased pain tolerance by nearly 50%.  Other research found that people could achieve greater physical performance, pedaling a bike, when employing profanity.
 

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Writing for Psychology Today, Neel Burton, M.D., a psychiatrist and philosopher who teaches in Oxford England, offers “The seven best reasons for swearing,” which he suggests are:
  1. Pain relief
  2. Power and control
  3. Non-violent retribution
  4. Humor
  5. Peer and social bonding
  6. Self-expression
  7. Improved psychological and physical health
 
It’s hard to argue against empirical science and respected health professionals, but it seems that the preceding research and writing gives less than adequate treatment to a pair of important considerations, which the following two questions address:
 
1) What’s the long-term impact of swearing on self-concept?  Even if uttering a curse word helps reduce pain in the moment, it seems that swearing could affect one’s extended mental health, which is partly a function of others’ perceptions of us.
 
First, to be forthright and hopefully avoid seeming self-righteous:  I have sworn.  I’m not sure that any of those irreverent expressions helped me in the moment, but one thing is certain: I never felt good afterward about what I said; rather, I regretted each of those instances.
 
While it’s uncomfortable for me to admit that I’ve sworn, it would be very painful if I had to think of myself as ‘a person who swears,’ and it would be unacceptable if I in some way encouraged others to have such a perception of me.  I don’t want to swear and, for various reasons that include my faith, I would never want swearing to be something that defines me.
 
A few years ago, triggered by what I saw as a troubling increase in casual cursing, I wrote an article for The Marketplace, “Don’t curse your own brand.”  In the piece I identified five adjectives, or “unbecoming brand qualities,” that profanity projects: unintelligent, angry, unproductive, indecent, and untrustworthy.
 

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Granted, it may be more important for some people/professions to maintain the impression of piety than it is for others.  Still, a vulgar vocabulary fuels the preceding unfavorable perceptions in others, which is hard to believe have a positive net impact on anyone’s self-concept. 
 
2) What’s the impact of profanity on others?  Almost all of the research and writing of others I referenced above suggests that ‘You should swear because it’s good for you.’  Largely missing in the analyses is the affect that one’s cursing has on those exposed to it, especially if the unpleasantries are directed at them.
 
Burton does mention that swearing can foster “peer and social bonding.”  I believe there are better ways to foster social bonds than swearing, but I can understand how cursing could work to that end, if it’s ‘friendly’ and mutually accepted.
 
In most instances, though, being on the receiving end of a curse word is not appealing.  That’s why in any kind of potentially volatile situation, from a customer service encounter to a hostage negotiation, swearing rarely helps.  In fact, it usually increases the tension by making people more uncomfortable, angry, or upset.
 
Overlooking the impact of cursing on others is probably the biggest irony of the Mental Health Coalition’s ad campaign.  On the organization’s own website, its homepage expresses an important truth: “The language we use is powerful, so let’s talk about it.”  Yes, words are powerful, and, contrary to the “sticks and stones” adage, poorly chosen ones can hurt deeply. 
 
Of course, being bullied or shamed can’t be good for anyone’s mental health, but how that belittling often occurs is particularly pertinent here.  A report on workplace bullying by Safe Work Australia found that “The most common forms of bullying included being sworn at or yelled at (37.2 per cent).”  Others affirm the connection between cursing and bullying, for instance:
 
  • “Shouting and swearing while doing criticising is bullying” (Business-Live.Co.UK)
  • An example of bullying is “yelling or using profanity” (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety)
  • A report from an Anita Hill-led Hollywood Commission for Eliminating Harassment and Advancing Equality in the Workplace identified “swearing” as a specific act of bullying that with other undesirable actions can serve as “a gateway to sexual harassment and other abusive conduct.” 

To summarize:

Cursing --> Bullying --> Low Self-Concept --> Poor Mental Health
 
These relationships are a big miss of the ad campaign, but there’s one more notable fail:  Tourette syndrome, “a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics.”  Though rare, some individuals with the disorder experience coprolalia, which includes “uttering socially inappropriate words such as swearing.”

Although Tourette’s is a disorder of the nervous system, not a mental illness, one can imagine that people who suffer from the syndrome are easy targets for bullies, and that those social interactions could be especially strained if the individual’s specific symptoms include swearing.  
 
At the risk of getting waylaid on memory lane, many of us can remember a time, not that many years ago, when it was unusual to hear people swear outside of an R-rated movie or a locker room, both of which carried ‘language warnings,’ express or implied.
 
Now it’s not unusual to be shopping in a grocery store or watching ESPN and hear conversations punctuated with profanity.  It’s also puzzling that, unlike those in the Mental Health Coalition ad, the people cursing often don’t appear to be angry or upset; rather, swearing has simply become part of their routine communication.  Do ads like the one in question normalize such indecency?
 
The Mental Health Coalition serves a very important societal mission in aiming to “to end the stigma surrounding mental health and to change the way people talk about, and care for, mental illness.”  Unfortunately, however, its ‘swearing ad’ curses that very purpose, making the campaign an unfortunate example of “Mindless Marketing.”


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10 Comments
Ken Burkholder
1/11/2021 08:47:40 am

Great blog and article. Hard to believe swearing is advocated by a mental health organization.

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Richard Collins
2/16/2021 05:54:03 pm

Great and balanced article. I appreciated the inclusion of established research - seeming to support swearing - and how that contrasts with the opinions and questions you provided in response.

Personally, I have no problems with others swearing - I don't swear often, but I do try to mitigate them in my conversations, as they can very quickly overwhelm and replace one's vocabulary; I value diversity in speech. Additionally, I agree that curse words can carry a great emotional impact to some, so I think they should be refrained from in general - very surprising to hear that an entire advertisement campaign was based entirely on such a naturally tasteless concept!

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Emilie G Rush
2/17/2021 11:28:01 am

While I agree that this ad is mindless, I think that the Mental Health Coalition had good intentions, but didn't think it through enough. The number one reason people swear according to the Neel Burton study, is to relieve pain, which I think the MHC was honing in on in their ad, but it's hard to separate that aspect of cursing from the way those words are used to gain power, control, and retribution. One way that the MHC could make this commercial more mindful, while playing with the same concept, is letting people curse in solo situations, such as when you stub your toe, or alone in your car, etc. This would uphold societal values because it takes away the public social setting, perhaps the biggest "ick" of the original commercial, and really places swearing in a personal setting as a form of private self expression.

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Lindsey Bernd
2/20/2021 12:36:52 pm

I appreciate the research provided on swearing, both its benefits and its harm, that was provided throughout the article. It was helpful in understanding what the Mental Health Coalition may have been targeting when releasing this ad campaign. While I agree with the conclusion that the advertisement should be placed in the "Mindless" category, the research provided was a good insight into the reason behind the campaign: swearing is a helpful method used to release pain.
Personally, I do not believe that swearing should be normalized as a public tendency nor be released as a central focus in a campaign. I was surprised to such an advertisement and was appreciative to be able to sit with and wonder what might the potential implications be on ourselves and others. I enjoyed reflecting over the controversy the article brings and taking time, as a Christian, to consider the implications of the advertisement.

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Jess Davis
2/20/2021 05:34:53 pm

It was interesting to learn that the Mental Health Coalition encouraged swearing. I've never viewed swearing in a positive way before so I appreciated learning about both sides. I can see what the ad was attempting to do - encourage people to let our their anger about the year in order to improve their mental health and move on. However, I agree that swearing should not become an everyday tendency, and that this advertisement is "mindless". I liked how there was an emphasis placed on others. I do think that the effect is harmful for those on the receiving end of swearing. As a Christian, I do not want others to see me as someone who swears, and I would never want to put someone in the position of receiving such words.

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Makayla Eller
2/21/2021 01:15:51 pm

It was an informational article regarding the health aspect of swearing. Never before would I think a health organization advocating swearing to be beneficial to my mental health. It brought a new perspective, but you described about yourself that you don't even swear. I don't swear either due to the fact would Jesus talk with those words to his people. I can reveal in the past I've sworn, but I didn't feel that rush of satisfaction some people might feel. I felt regret. Some people might find it odd, but I want to express my anger, happiness, or sadness through other means being cooking, cleaning, dancing, or talking to God.

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Brenna Gilman
2/21/2021 01:37:52 pm

It's definitely interesting to hear of a mental health organization encouraging swearing. When I watched the ad, it left a bad taste in my mouth. Personally, I don't swear. Like you said, the few times that I have sworn never left me feeling better than I would have if I had used some other less profane word. It is ironic that the organization's website said "The language we use is powerful, so let’s talk about it.” Using a swear word in anger towards others repeatedly in an ad does not seem like talking about whatever is angering them. Exploding explicitly towards others has never helped me fix issues I might be having with them. It's surprising to see how much profanity has infiltrated language on social media and now public advertisements. It's so common that I honestly do not think twice about it when I am reading something that is filled with explicit language.

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Ethan Miller
2/21/2021 03:35:18 pm

It is ridiculous that the Mental Health Coalition would encourage such behavior. While it appears that swearing is becoming more and more normalized and accepted, it definitely does not mean it is appropriate. While swearing may be a temporary solution to a problem or to blow off steam, it is undeniable that it can negatively affect other people and lead to deteriorating mental health in the long-term. It is understandable that 2020 was a rough year for many, but I do not feel as if encouraging people to spew off a slew of swear words is beneficial or a positive contribution to society. Rather, I feel as if there was a better message the Mental Health Coalition could have promoted in their advertisement, instead of encouraging swearing which could lead to a degradation of mental health.

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Amber Miller
2/22/2021 04:40:59 pm

This was a very interesting article and I was surprised to find out that the Mental Health Coalition was the one running that ad. I would have never thought that there were positive sides to swearing and benefits from doing so. Biblically, I do not think swearing is appropriate and it should not be encouraged. I understand that some people slip here and there but like stated in the article, there are so many other long term affects that swearing has on you. I agree that this is mindless marketing because even though swearing may be becoming more normalized that does not mean we should value it. Furthermore, I would be surprised if it raised any stakeholder value after showing a video that adults had to try and cover their children's ears for.

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Custom T Shirt link
6/7/2022 11:11:16 pm

I do not think cursing is good in anyway.

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