Love them or hate them, American Apparel’s ads get noticed. From mannequins with pubic hair to print ads showing topless employees, there's always plenty of shock value. The new CEO is putting an end to ‘crotch shot campaigns’. But will this less offensive strategy also prove less effective?

Sex sells – and so does controversy. But with a new focus on audience involvement, musicians and film-makers alike are handing their incendiary wares over to a participatory online culture for dissection and regurgitation.

A video shot surreptitiously on a smartphone documents an altercation between a bus driver and an irate young woman. Another offers a window into a high school cafeteria, where dozens of girls rip at each other’s hair, screaming like banshees. What is it that makes violence go viral?

Amidst the sexualised wallpaper of contemporary culture, are teens, parents and teachers alike losing sight of real sex in favour of pornified and potentially damaging ideals?