"Taboo advertising" is often seen as an effective way to attract attention and enhance recall. Drawing on arousal theory and the "taboo-superiority effect," this study questions the nature of the relationship between the level of tabooness and the achievement of those aims. Purpose-designed print advertisements manipulated levels of taboo and humor. Analysis of data collected from 180 respondents in France finds a curvilinear relationship, in which an optimum level of taboo-arousal achieves maximum attention and recall. It also finds that humor decreases perceived tabooness of objectively high-taboo advertisements. Implications for marketing communications strategy are discussed, and future research directions are suggested.