If anything, the capitalized letters, bold font, and simple black and white design made people want the albums more and for most of my middle school comrades, this was true. They probably felt it was some kind of rebellious act against their parents to listen to profane language and mediocre beats. "EXPLICIT CONTENT" could mean a vast amount of things, such as violent and sexual content or even just a few curse words. Seeing this label puts a burning desire for the unknown that young adults and kids crave.
At one point, I've seen variations of the label on t-shirts and even posters at Hot Topic and Spencer's Gifts, mocking the status it once had among adults and recording industry. So, is this label just some kind of marketing act? I believe at one point it was concerned parents fighting to keep their children from hearing vulgar content, but the sticker has slowly grown into something someone one would look for to judge whether or not to buy it. Seeing males and sometimes even females wear a black shirt with the familiar, cautioned lettering was my final clue that the label became a joke, but I suppose it can be beneficial in some situations. Some people are actually concerned about whether the music that they are listening to is "clean" or "dirty," so they refer to this sticker, which now resides on the back of the plastic CD case.