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UPS Wants to Deliver Body Parts In Continuing Contextual Corrigenda

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Oh how we love contextual advertising. Surely, it's a very effective form of online advertising and does it's thing quite well about 98 percent of the time. That's certainly worth celebrating but it's that other two percent we love so much.

You know it. It's that two percent that give us turpentine ads next to stories about a girl who committed suicide by drinking turpentine. "Card Shark" credit card copy next to an article about a woman killed by a shark. A free dinner for two offer from Olive Garden next to a story about how 250 people fot sick after eating at one of their restaurants.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 9-08   Comments (1)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Bad, Online, Strange

Red Roof Redesigns, Rededicates Itself with Digital Firm

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To promote its fancy new renovated destinations, the Red Roof Inn's gone digital with 360i, its Digital Agency of Record.

360i will be working on Red Roof's online media and creative. We have yet to see either.

In the meantime, we can ooh and ahh at Red Roof's new logo, which comes complete with a casual roofy slant, and a typeface probably modeled after the handwriting of a fresh-faced yachter.

Tell us if we've gone mad, but the logo rubs us wrong. Because isn't it magenta?

Big difference between red (as in Red Roof) and magenta (as in Magenta). Way to make a fresh splash in the pool, Red Roof -- total incongruity between your logo and brand name.

Anywho, the logo has been published on the redesigned and "rededicated" Red Roof website. It will also appear on inns that have recently been renovated. 360i washes its hands of it; the logo, it says, was in place before the agency was contracted.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 5-08   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies, Bad, Brands, Online

Condescending White Guy Gets Ass Kicked by Asian Girls

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Here's a creepy twist on the American Psycho premise.

You're in the Chinese laundry. Some hotshot white executive walks in and starts heckling the pitiable Asian owner in front of his family. He makes the nasty requisite Pokemon and Hello Kitty jokes, does the grating "oriental" accent. Things are clearly spiraling out of control.

Suddenly, a black dude in the background takes a call on his Jawbone Bluetooth headset. And in a noise-canceling orchestration Bose would be proud of, the world beyond his convo is efficiently muted.

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by Angela Natividad    Feb- 4-08   Comments (7)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Bad, Brands, Online, Racy, Video

Increasingly Disconnected Bob Garfield Weighs In On Super Bowl

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If you want a seriously retarded re-cap of this year's Super Bowl commercials, be sure to check out Bob Garfield's video in which he thinks one of the Bridgestone commercials was homophobic, an extremely tame Victoria's Secret commercial somehow compels guys to go home and masturbate, the cartoonish heart in that Careerbuilder commercial as well as the "blood curdling scream" in Audi's Godfather spot will "scare the wits" out of children, Diet Pepsi Max is somehow marketed as a drug, McDonald's somehow shouldn't make people aware it's behind the Ronald McDonald House and that it's impossible for two people of opposing political parties to put aside their arguing for a day and relate to each other like human beings.

Seriously, Bob. Life really isn't as bad as you paint it. Didn't you see Coke's beautiful balloon ballet? OK, so this year's Super Bowl wasn't a stellar one ad-wise but it was not the debacle you paint it.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-08   Comments (35)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Bad, Strange, Super Bowl 2008

Vicky's Secret Super Bowl Ad Looks Suspiciously Like Its Preview

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Really, we don't know what we were expecting. But we sure hoped it would be more than what Victoria's Secret gave us.

What a waste of Adriana Lima's come-hither talents. Check out the preview, which is about as unimaginative as the ad itself, which just wastes more time.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 3-08   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Bad, Brands, Commercials, Super Bowl 2008, Television

Hey, a Car Ad. For Who? Beats Us. (We Wish.)

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We can't believe Hyundai waffled over the inclusion of its ads in the Super Bowl this year, a decision (or lack of it) that build unmerited hype for what we thought to be a really boring brand.

Well, that hasn't changed. This Genesis ad was a waste of time and a waste of $2.7 mill or whatever they ended up paying for it. If they were hoping to be confused for the average Lexus, or the average anything-else, good job, Hyundai.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 3-08   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Bad, Brands, Commercials, Super Bowl 2008, Television

Baby Pukes, We Forget What Etrade Advertises

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We all know sticking a baby in a commercial usually guarantees it to be a success so we figure this Etrade ad with a talking baby would follow that trend...until, of course, the baby puked. Ew. Gross. And how much can you digitally manipulate a baby before it's really anything but a baby. And, what was it again Etrade was trying to advertise? We still can't get over that baby puke! See the commercial here along with another.

OK, so they are kind of funny but still.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-08   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Super Bowl 2008

Carmen Says 'Whoa,' We Say 'Huh?'

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We suppose there's a legion of Carmen Elektra lovers out there but wasn't she popular like ten years ago? And what's up with that secret "whoa" word in this commercial? Yea we get that the security guards are reacting when she says the word but where's the set up? Where's the reason for them reacting the way they do? We don't get it. But, hey, she's still nice to look at so it can't be all bad.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-08   Comments (1)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Super Bowl 2008

BudLight Cavemen Disappoints

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OK, so we finally get to see those cavemen do their thing as they struggle to deliver Bud Light to the party which becomes easier when another cave dude invents the wheel. We hate subtitles. We didn't like the ad. We did, however, very much like the Bud Light Fire ad. Now that was funny.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-08   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Super Bowl 2008

OMG! See Danica Patrick Expose Her Beaver!

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OK, we can totally understand why FOX didn't accept the "beaver" version of Danica Patrick's GoDaddy commercial. Paparazzi drooling over "beaver." "Celebrities" holding beavers in their laps. Danica cooing into the camera, "A domain name and a website from GoDaddy.com give me all the exposure I need so I can keep my beaver safe and out of site." Right. Like there's no double meaning there, Bob. Yawn.

Oh, and let's not forget the Candice Michelle version in which a doofus is too busy registering domain names to watch the game and his friend can't help but inject his sexual fantasies into the scenario. Hey Bob, we've got the perfect tagline for GoDaddy. Ready? Here it is. "GoDaddy Gets You Laid." Simple enough. After all, that is what you're trying to say, right?

by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-08   Comments (1)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Bad, Celebrity, Commercials, Super Bowl 2008

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