Main Highlights of Communication on Sensitive and Taboo Topics

The communication is influenced by the cultural context, which imposes certain limitations on the communication process itself. The presence of tabooed and sensitive topics in society, such as sex, age, human sexuality, illnesses, etc., creates a certain framework within which the process of communication should fit. This requires some special tools in the process of creating a communication product when communication deals with these themes. The main goal of this study is to find the patterns and special features of communication on topics that are thought to be tabooed or sensitive in society. The study is based on expert interviews with representatives of the communication industry as a main resource of insider information. Besides that, the case study of the current examples of communication on tabooed and sensitive topics, such as the Durex advertising campaigns, is meant to be the resource of illustrative examples of using specific strategies of communicating on tabooed and sensitive topics. Two hypotheses were confirmed during the study: 1) Communication on taboo and sensitive topics is most often based on a tabooisation strategy. 2) In today's society, the use of a strategy of detabooisation on sensitive and taboo topics is more relevant than a tabooisation strategy. Keywords: taboo, sensitive topics, detabooisation strategy.