Embarrassment trumps media efficiency

A while back I asked the readers of this blog if they would recommend placing ads on OTV to their customers. Not necessarily overwhelmingly, but with a clear majority, they said "no".
OTV, as a mentioned previously, is Romania's trashy crazy/alien TV station which broadcasts mainly from one studio and focuses on "uncovering" dramas, like murders and rapes. However uncanny for a mainstream mind, OTV attracts a huge following, ranking at number five, if a recall correctly, in the GENERAL RANKING of TV stations in Romania.

Now, this made me wonder why my readers, and brands alike, would choose to ignore a station with such obvious reach. The reasons, I believe, are several ranging from rational ones:
- practically, OTV appeals to an audicence believed to have very small incomes
- it is very hard to get ad space because they sell it themselves and nobody wants to bother with direct negotiations
- the ad breaks are random and unmarked
- the shows themselves are random and rating is unclearly and unevenly spread
to irrational ones like "those people are crazy".

Truth of the matter is, however, that there is one reason only that is correct: embarrassment. Marketers and ad people alike feel ashamed to be associated with something they believe deviant. This is very much like Romania (as a friend was remarking to me a while back) to become fixated on what's mainstream and ignore whatever subcultures may appear [everyone will have been appalled by now by the Cosmote commercial featuring a caricature of the EMO movement].
What we are missing is touching a lot of people because we are too priss to be smart enough. Smart enought to find a way to make OTV work for the brands [needless to remind everyone the positive buzz Cap got with these]