AOL, the company that gave millions of people their first taste of the internet, will today launch a risky television advertising campaign that is intended to project a more mature and sophisticated image.

During this evening’s episode of Heartbeat on ITV, AOL will run a commercial that highlights many of the bad things about the internet — the threat of identity theft, the prevalence of political extremism, the availability of pornography and the devaluing of human life through the trafficking of children.

A portentous voiceover concludes: “Some people think the internet is a bad thing. What do you think?” Tobin Ireland, AOL’s chief marketing officer, said the “Discuss” campaign was intended to demonstrate a more sophisticated understanding of the internet, including the potential disadvantages. He said: “We really needed to take our brand to a different place. Our communication has become a bit patronising and irrelevant as the maturity of the internet population has moved on. We are still talking to our customers as we were four years ago when they did not really know what the internet was.”

For five years AOL promoted itself with “Connie”, the friendly woman who would help customers get online for the first time. The nannyish Connie, who some found irritating, was dropped in mid-2003.

Ireland originally planned to show the “bad” ad for a week before introducing the accompanying “good” commercial, which highlights the educational benefits of the internet, the freedom of speech and the lack of government regulation.

But because of internal concerns the “good” and “bad” ads will now run side by side.

AOL plans to spend up to £15m on its Discuss campaign over the next three months.

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