At a loss to know what to buy for that friend who has everything? Well how about a nice venereal disease? Not the real thing of course, but a giant sized soft toy representation. I’m indebted to one of my mentoring programme students who sent me details of these cuddly diseases. For £8.99, you have the choice of Chlamydia, Crabs, Herpes, Syphilis or The Clap.

At first glance this seems in poor taste, and I’m sure you wouldn’t buy one for your maiden aunt. But if you were a teenager looking for an amusing cheap gift for a friend with a sense of humour, I can see you buying one of these.

From the companies perspective this is the sort of product which will generate its own publicity. People who hear about it will share through social media – some because they think it funny and others because they think it disgusting. But the end result in either case is the same – lots of exposure and zero cost.

If you have the ‘stomach’ for it, it’s worth giving some thought to creating products and services which will generate a bit of controversy. Our most controversial book sold over 250,000 copies, and much of it was down to the fuss it created.

So whose feathers will you ruffle?

http://www.firebox.com/product/6473/Giant-STDs