Why so many brands want to piss you off

If you ask New Yorkers on the street what they think about the giant, controversial print ad campaign in the NYC subway system, their initial response might be, “Which one?” In the past two months alone, not one, but two advertising campaigns fitting that description have appeared there.  The first debuted in late September, when Friend, an AI company that sells portable “companions,” ran a $1 million print campaign featuring a variety of servile messages like, “I’ll never leave dirty...