15-Year-Old Mentality + Naked Cheerleaders = Beer Ad

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Let's be clear right up front. This is a terrible ad. Not because it pokes fun at the wandering attention span of men when faced with the choice of listening to one's spouse prattle on about paint colors or ogling hot women in bikinis teasingly caressing each other. No. But because it looks like it was produced inside the mind of a 15 year old boy in heat peeping through a hole into the girls locker room where the cheerleading squad is in various stages of undress suiting up for their football game appearance.

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by Steve Hall    Aug- 1-11    
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Racy



ING Direct's Fables Probably Won't Survive a Retelling

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Beattie McGuinness Bungay's fables campaign for ING Direct UK are inviting at first glance, bearing a vague resemblance to The Wind in the Willows, but are most readily compared to Aesop's Fables -- except with "morals" only loosely tied to unmotivated plotlines.

The ads try compensating for this with an occasional stab at tongue-in-cheek humour, but that fails to compel. (Maybe it's the British/American divide?)

Otherwise, the work is beautiful -- typical Psyop. There's a lesson for you: without actual substance to the idea, even the best production firm can't save you.

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by Angela Natividad    Jun- 7-11    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Campaigns, Television



Festis Unbores with News-Vomiting CGI Alarm Cat

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Here's one of those wack ideas masquerading as something novel. "Unbore Anything!" is an ongoing campaign for Carlsberg's still beverage Festis, whose name is already quirky enough to invite ideas of the same ilk.

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by Angela Natividad    Jun- 6-11    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Campaigns, Mobile/Wireless, Strange



Social Media Fail: Homesense Facebook Fans Referred to 800 Number

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When Canadian home apparel retailer HomeSense decided to sell posters depicting images of old Gold Dust ads in which two black children are seen cleaning, a fan posted pictures of them on the Homesense Facebook page. Along with the image, the fan wrote, "I realize that recreating old advertising and media is an art form but this goes far beyond that, in my opinion."

Quite humorously...and idiotically, HomeSense responded with the comment, "Please contact Customer Service at 1-800-646-9466 for more information."

Quite predictably, commenters lambasted the brand for its complete mis-understanding of social media communication. Commenter Elizabeth Laurin Kells wrote, "If you are going to use this site to represent your company you need to do something about issues and not just pass out a standard customer service number."

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by Steve Hall    Feb-21-11    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Social



Victoria Justice Joins Photoshop Disasters For Got Milk Campaign

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If you've never heard of Photoshop Disasters its a blog dedicated to hunting down and shaming poorly Photoshopped photography in ad campaigns. In creating a recent Got Milk ad which features actor and singer Victoria Justice it seems the creative behind this campaign couldn't decided which version of Justice's boot laces to use.

In the ad, Justice stands in front of a three-sided mirror. In the three views, one can clearly see three different styles of boot laces. But, hey, people are bound to make mistakes when what you see in ads aren't really what was standing in front of the camera during the photoshoot. Thankfully, there's enough errors in this business to support an entire website.

by Steve Hall    Nov-15-10    
Topic: Bad, Celebrity



Mitsubishi Live Drive A Stupid Marketing Stunt

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Well this is pretty stupid. 180LA and B-Reel created a "technological first." Dubbed the Mitsubishi Live Drive, the companies created a way for people to test drive an Outlander Sport online. Or, "Live over the internet" as they like to say.

So let's just ponder this for a second. While it might be nice to play with a vehicle online like it was a motorized toy, what idiot would buy a car without physically touching the car and giving it a real world test drive?

This is the sort of work that makes headlines but does nothing for the car buying experience. Apparently the real reason they did it was to get into the Guinness Book of World records. Nice. But again, will this sell any cars?

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by Steve Hall    Nov-10-10    
Topic: Bad, Online



Rescue Team Opts For Snack During Mission

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Well this ad is just stupid. It's yet another take on how products that are supposedly so indescribably desirous, they turn people into morons. In this particular case, it's Wheat Thins Wheat Stix that turn a helicopter rescue team member into a blithering idiot more concerned with nabbing a great snack than doing his fucking job.

Yea, we get that it's supposed to be funny. But it's also tired, overdone and so far from reality it removes any connection that would at humor. Seriously? A rescue pilot that would opt for a snack instead of rescuing a person in distress?

We have TBWA\NY to thank for this mess.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-25-10    
Topic: Bad



Really? Really? Windows Phone to Eradicate Phone Obsession?

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Hmm. How exactly does a commercial showing how obsessed we've all become with our phones supposed to convince us that yet another phone is going to change that obsession? It's not but that's the road Microsoft took with its new campaign for the Windows Phone.

For some strange reason, Microsoft thinks its phone is going to somehow dramatically change ho people use their phones. They are wrong. Here's why:

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by Steve Hall    Oct-11-10    
Topic: Bad



Exploding Kids Not the Best Approach For Climate Change Campaign

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While we're all for attention-getting advertising, blowing up children in a classroom really isn't a tactic we'd whole-heartedly recommend. Firstly, it's a lightning rod for generating instantaneous disdain. And that's exactly what happened after 10:10 Global ran this PSA. Sony, which is a supporter of the campaign, quickly distanced itself from the work and condemned it in a statement, saying the ad was "ill-conceived and tasteless."

Secondly, the ad is just bad and makes no sense. Why blow people up if they decide not to get on board with the whole carbon footprint thing? The strategy is just so far out of left field it's difficult to comprehend the mind set that came up with it.

That said, it is kinda fun to see Gillian Anderson, who narrates the ads, blow up at the end.

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by Steve Hall    Oct- 7-10    
Topic: Bad, Cause



Kindle Bests iPad in Sun, Costs Less Than Sunglasses. Ad Still Stupid

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The YouTube comments are the best thing about this new commercial touting the Kindle's ability to supposedly read more easily in direct sunlight. As a man struggles to read through the glare on his iPad, a woman (hot, naturally) reads her Kindle with ease. And, much like a detergent commercial where people speak in unnatural ad-isms, the woman says, "It's a Kindle. $139. I actually paid more for these sunglasses."

The commenters see right through the sham, though. One writes, "'Excuse me, why can't I read this, in this light?' 'Sir, it's your iPad, it's full brightness is turned down for this commercial.' 'Kindle also won't tell you that in an opposite situation, the iPad will read books in the dark, the Kindle won't. How's that for equal?'"

Another writes, "Girl says 'I spent $150 dollars on sunglasses.' Guy hears 'I am high maintenance and will bleed your wallet dry and cheat on you.' The all new Kindle, the rich bitch sensation."

And a third sums up the idiocy of it all writing, "I just bought a Kindle, and I have an iPhone 4 and iPad (and several Apple computers). I've been reading on the iPad, but the Kindle is a lot better for it. I wouldn't try to surf the web on the Kindle though. They're different devices. If you have a chance to use them both you'll laugh that they even get compared."

Enough said. Stupid commercial.

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by Steve Hall    Sep-14-10    
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Creative Commentary