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Detroit Pistons Reinforce Sporting Mentality Stereotypes

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In what has to be the worst sports team promotion ever created in the history of sports team promotions, the Detroit Pistons are out with a video promoting Guy's Night Out. Complete with horrible acting, cheesy music, ridiculous copy and infomercial-style visuals and supers, does nothing but cement outdated stereotypes of sports-crazy idiots and their bitchy, whining wives.

One can only hope the goal of the work was to create something so horrific, it would achieve "so-bad-it's-good" status. If that's the case, though well-intentioned, the creators have failed miserably.

by Steve Hall    Nov-25-08   Comments (5)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Video, Worst

Sean John Fragrance (Campaign) Induces Puking

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This new Sean Combs ad appeared in the recent issue of GQ. When the page was tuned and the ad appeared, the immediate reaction was to rewrite the headline to read, "I Am Played Out" or "I Am So Full of Myself I Want to Make You All Puke." Yea, it's a new campaign for Diddy/Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Sean John, Combs/Whatever's new fragrance.

After seeing the billboard for the campaign in New York, AgencySpy wrote, "Oh my god. Barf and barfier." Indeed. After the pages of GQ turned to reveal this ad, a little puke did, indeed, find its way up to the mouth.

Angela saw the same ad in December's Vanity Fair. Her reaction here. (Note how it also involves a barflike physical reflex.)

by Steve Hall    Nov-25-08   Comments (3)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Celebrity, Worst

For Dog Food So Tasty You Might Be, Uh, Compensated.

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Adrants reader Martha pointed us to this Nutrecan senior dog food ad by Gomez Chica/EURO RSCG out of Medellin, Colombia. Playing on the "senior" bit, caption reads "Adults only."

Gawker put it best:


Sex sells fruit. Sex sells condoms. Sex sells magazines. Sex sells charity. Sex sells cheap clothes and pseudocool clothes. Even child sex sells cosmetics. So people are pretty cool with sex, and its selling implications. But does dog sex sell? We can only hope.

Uncute. Come on, Gomez/EURO. Sex may sell coffins and cheese, but you gotta draw the line somewhere. Last I read, the job description for "man's best friend" didn't include a deep-throat clause.

by Angela Natividad    Nov-14-08   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Magazine, Poster, Racy, Worst

Ogilvy Athens Causes David to Roll Over in Grave

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On par with the embarrassingly horrid Bank of America internal ballad, Ogilvy Athens has unleashed its own horror show in the form of an ode to the agency's founder.

Thankfully, the beginning of the video comes with the warning, "CAUTION: The following video clip is an amateur effort. It was produced and edited by the staff of Bold Ogilvy Athens."

Heaven help Ogilvy Athens when the agency's clients see this and begin running for the door, screaming, "OMFG! Those people are producing and editing our work?"

by Steve Hall    Oct-23-08   Comments (2)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies, Video, Worst

Wow. It's Everything I've Ever Wanted in a Stimulant.

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A pill that increases libido and decreases cellulite?" Let Slim Seduction -- don't you love that name? -- show you! Hit the site for Extremely Persuasive surveys, before/after shots, video testimonials and BIG RED TYPEFACES.

The ad hit me while I was reading a political and religious tirade on Dooce.com, which goes to show diet companies don't discriminate much in terms of audience. All you need to do is be female and have skin.

by Angela Natividad    Oct-22-08   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Worst

Bulgarian Ad Objectifies Woman, Reduces Her to Pair of Melons

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Belgian born Peter Forret, who recently took a trip to Bulgaria, noticed an ad campaign for Mastika, an aphrodisiac used as an ingredient in mixed drinks or in the yogurt drink Ayran. He remarked the standard of advertising in Bulgaria appears to be far different than that of his home country, Belgium.

The print campaign employs visuals of scantily clad women foisting their curvaceous features towards the viewer. A commercial has two guys ogling a girl who passes them by on the beach and casts a shadow on the sand suggesting a figure of, shall we say, larger than normal proportions. Sadly, the commercial employs the tired, much over used male arousal tactic.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-14-08   Comments (5)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Racy, Strange, Worst

Friday Worst: McDonald's Stoops to New Low With Report Card Advertising

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December 6, 2007: Hey kids! Guess what? If you study hard and get good grades, guess what you'll get? No, not a college scholarship, sillys. That would be too boring. No, if you get good grades on your report card, you'll get a Happy Meal coupon on the card that you can use to get fat...uh...have a free lunch.

Yea, people, you read that right. In-school advertising's idiocy has spread to report cards. Yes, report cards. For covering the paltry $1,600 printing cost of Seminole County Florida's 2007-2008 report cards, McDonald's was able to place the coupon on the report cards of kids who received all A's and B's. Yes, you also read that right. Only smart kids are allowed to get fat.

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by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-08   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Brands, Opinion, Specialty, Worst

Play Wallet World! Oh Wait, Don't. You Don't Live in the Right State

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This is pretty stupid. No, it's idiotic. OK, not really. Every once in a while , an advertiser sends in a game that, in some way, is supposed to help it sell more shit. So, today, comes the game Wallet World, created by Doner for PNC bank. It's got all the usual goofy visuals and, like many games, always asks for some sort of information before you can play. Wallet World ask you to choose the state in which you live.

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by Steve Hall    Sep-29-08   Comments (2)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Games, Worst

Twitter for Christ, Facebook Narcissists, Vaseline for Men, McCains on the Grill

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- Recap of the McCain/Rachael Ray glee-fest.

- University of Georgia claims narcissists can be pegged by their Facebook photos.

- Save your soul -- and the rotting souls of others -- while microblogging. Way to multi-task!

- AIG yanks all corporate ad campaigns.

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by Angela Natividad    Sep-22-08   Comments ()    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Best, Brands, Campaigns, Online, Political, Social, Strange, Trends and Culture, Worst

Brin Blogs Heart Out, Lee Jumps Ship, CP+B Not Quite So 'PC'

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- Google's Sergey Brin started a blog. In the first entry, he discloses his risk for Parkinson's disease. The New York Times probes why he'd do that.

- British actor Paul Kaye plays Seamus Murphy, the shady proprietor of an airport car park, for another one of those not-yet-viral "viral" campaigns. This is for Holiday Extras, a travel website.

- Esther Lee departs EuroRSCG.

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by Angela Natividad    Sep-21-08   Comments (2)    Bookmark and Share     
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Cause, Good, Online, Worst

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