My goal is to provoke people into thinking thoughts they normally might not have.
That's what probably provokes people, that I've treated the material seriously.
The book focuses on the children having to learn not to provoke the anger of government officials and other people in power.
He likes very much to shock, provoke people with his art.
In his early days Numminen often tried to provoke people.
Would/should their march have been banned if they were not provoking people in such a profound way?
"What could have been the reason to provoke people?"
He added that the security guards were trying to provoke people on the picket lines.
So they tried to do it in order to provoke people to violence.
In your example, you'd be doing it purely to provoke and offend people.