Chinese Wool Ad Feels Something Like Water Torture

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This ad for Heng Yuan Xiang, a wool company, pisses China off. We thought it was just the mob overreacting again, but -- having watched about half of it -- we're suddenly jam-packed with repressed rage. A great way to destroy someone's soul would be to pin their eyelids open and force them to sit through this for a little over six minutes.

The spot starts about :09 into the video, so don't be fooled by all that happy baby stuff at the beginning. Here's a positive: after one sitting, you'll feel uncomfortably familiar with all the animals in the Chinese zodiac. AND you'll have three new syllables burned forever into your brain.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 6-08    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Television, Worst



Questions Raised Over Whether Hillary Darkened Obama's Pigment

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For all her noxious crying and whatnot, Hillary Clinton is a well-honed jungle predator. "Winning. Winning, winning, that's my measure of success -- winning," she barked recently.

Having demonstrated yesterday that she's still a viable contender for the presidency, the question arises: what does it take to win, win, win like Hillary?

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by Angela Natividad    Mar- 5-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Political, Television, Worst



To Plea for Plight of Pigs, PETA Exploits ... Yo' Mama.

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Here's a picture from a recent PETA stunt at Covent Garden in London. (If you're wondering why it says "Moo," it's because it came from our favourite Hilton.) Campaign copy reads, "Unhappy Mother's Day for pigs! GO VEGETARIAN."

See Make the Logo Bigger exercise deductive logic: "Wouldn't momma pigs have a bad day every day?"

No need to be coherent when you've got a naked MILF on her knees in a cage. And BFD says the woman in the cage isn't just somebody's mom -- she's pregnant.

Ugh, PETA, uuuuuugh. You make us want to tear the shin off an antelope with our teeth.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 3-08    
Topic: Cause, Guerilla, Human, Worst



Wasn't This a Side Plot in 'Mean Girls'?

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The primaries for Ohio and Texas are fast approaching. Tensions are high between Hillary and Obama. Unless Hillary scores these last two states, she's pretty much ether.

So after Hillary went all Exorcist on Obama about some slanted flyers his campaign disseminated -- pretty normal fare in a political death match -- we were like, Okay, the girl has snapped. It's over.

Then this picture of Obama wearing Somali garb surfaces. And instead of going "Uh, yeah, Obama's dad was African -- is that a problem?", camp Obama goes apeshit and accuses camp Hillary of smearing their Fearless Leader in the last dregs of this doomed pissing contest.

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-25-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Magazine, Political, Worst



Denver Cooks Omelet, Absolut Succeeds, CMO Ambushes

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- StrawberryFrog, The Wexley School for Girls, The Barbarian Group. Now we can add Omelet to the list of oddly named advertising companies.

- Hmm. It seems dumping its iconic bottle campaign was the right thing to do for Absolut which, last year, saw sales hit five millions cases, its highest ever.

- Rather than "Get some NYC Condom," Copyranter thinks New York's Department of Health condom campaign should, perhaps, read, "Get some wet, tight waxed pussy."

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by Steve Hall    Feb-19-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Worst



Giant Fake Boobs? Hmm, Must be A Viral

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"Please find the attached viral." Seriously? Seriously? Could that be any more 2006? Or was it 2005? Wake up people! For those still asleep, let us offer a bit of help. Repeat 300 times, slap yourself on the forehead, repeat. "A viral is not a viral until it has become a viral. Viral is a result, not an intent. Just because I call something viral does not mean it will become a viral."

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by Steve Hall    Feb-11-08    
Topic: Opinion, Video, Viral, Worst



Gatorade Dog Ad Most Baffling Super Bowl Ad Ever Created

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Gatorade really isn't cutting it with its Super Bowl efforts this year. In a spot for its G2 sport drink, Derek Jeter walks through the streets of New York as a baseball landscape digitally follows him. Like we said here, nice effects but that's about it. We said it wasn't lame but close.

After viewing this Arnell-created commercial for the company's flagship line of drinks, we can, without doubt, say this one is truly lame. For almost the entire length of the commercial, we see a dog drinking from its water bowl. We watch. We wait. We watch. We wait. There simply has to be some amazing punchline this thing's working up to. Will the dog break out in some sort of digitally-enabled, cartoonish, Gatorade-fueled dance? Will we see a loving scene between dog and man with a closing shot of man and dog expressing their love for one another while the man drinks from a bottle of Gatorade and the tagline, "Gatorade. Life is Good" is supered?

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-08    
Topic: Commercials, Strange, Super Bowl 2008, Worst



Fancy a Spanking? Don't Forget Your Pink RAZR!

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Just more contextual ad placement awkwardness, except this one gives us an unpleasant P.C.-triggered "ick" feeling.

The Adrants reader, who found the image on the Spanking Art Wikia, observed the Verizon pink RAZR ad was "Probably triggered by the 'pink' cheeks of the physically abused cartoon child."

by Angela Natividad    Jan-30-08    
Topic: Brands, Online, Worst



Alec Baldwin (Yes, the Actor) Unearths Small-Town Obama Haterade

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In the style of The Onion (except totally lacking in tact), writer Rick Murphy of the Independent's "Low Tidings" column wrote an article called "Why I Should Be Our Next President," credited to Yo Mama Bin Barack. (Can you say collective P.C. wince?)

A tidbit:

Ultimately, if [Hillary Clinton] gets too close, one of my New York advisors has advised me to, 'Bitch slap that ho.' White women, I am told, like that. (Black women, on the other hand, do not. I tried that once on AliBama and she beat the living shit out of me.

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by Angela Natividad    Jan-29-08    
Topic: Newspaper, Political, Worst



Face Cream Makes Your Grandma As Hot As Your Girlfriend

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Now here's an ad that, shall we say, stretches the truth...oh just a wee bit. Not much else to say about it other than it appears on Digg which has had quite a few ads of questionable validity over the past few weeks or so. Bigger image here.

by Steve Hall    Jan-29-08    
Topic: Online, Strange, Worst