Advocacy Advertising refers to advertising that expresses (advocates) the sponsors' views and opinions on some issue, which is often of a controversial nature. Commercial organizations use such advertising techniques to indirectly promote the sale of their products, and/or to present their company in favorable light. Non-profit organizations adopt the same to promote the causes that they stand for. The effectiveness of Advocacy Advertising is enhanced by the fact that it also generates word-of-mouth publicity among the target audience, thus, leading to customer advocacy for the company/product.

Advertising, the best promo- tion mechanism and one of the key components among the four Ps in the marketing mix, is gaining ground through innovative methodologies. Advertising has changed its look, feel and perception among the community. Of late, ads have started influencing the growth, business operations and effectiveness of marketing strategies. Companies are vying for creating a `wow' effect in their advertisements. They are trying to create a surprising outcome that will drive business growth and sales, by amazing customers with the nature of content and information provided through the ads.

Any company trying to reach prospective customers with its products (and services) has to ignite interest in its offerings through advertisements. The advertisements have to convince customers about the value provided by its products and motivate them to buy the same. A recent phenomenon that is gaining ground in this regard is `Advocacy Advertising' or `Ad Advocacy'. Ad advocacy is the mechanism used by major corporations for articulating their experiences and views on various contemporary and controversial issues through advertisements.

The term `advocacy advertising' is generally defined as that form of advertising which communicates the view point of the sponsor on a subject of public interest, which may often be controversial. Very often, it includes the advertising company's outlook on issues like consumer rights, education, environment, health and taxation. It tries to influence a target audience, which may be very specific and limited, or even the entire society at large. For example, an organization may take a stand on a political issue which it feels could impact its business in a negative way. It can, thus, use advocacy advertising to educate and influence consumers about a particular issue.

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