Jesus. Where do we start. OK, the easy stuff first. At 2:32, this "viral video," created by Hamburg-based Kinematograph 27/7, is two minutes longer than it needs to be. Second, these are supposed to be cops in NYC? With those accents? Third, why would a cop be such an asshole to a couple of onlookers? Fourth, who the hell would stick their arm into a dark hole without knowing what's in it? And fifth, who the hell takes a cow for a walk in New York city? Watch at your own risk.
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It was quite hilarious (though completely expected if you are a customer and have ever dealt with them through any communications medium) when Bank of America's Twitter bot (or idiot who runs the account) had multiple brain farts when assuming non-customers where customers.
It's entirely another thing when a brand is so stupid that it actually apologizes to a customer who just heaped praise on the brand. On Wednesday, a Domino's customer posted a picture of a Domino's pizza on the brand's Facebook page along with the statement, "Best Pizza Ever! Keep up the good work guys!"
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Hauling out one of the most over-used stereotypes, Saatchi & Saatchi Bogota has barfed up this lame excuse for a commercial touting the power of a pearly white smile. The commercial, for Trident Total Gum, plays off the old stereotype that all a woman has to do to get out of a ticket is flash a smile and bat her eyelashes. And that's all this woman, who is extremely parking-challenged, has to do to fend off a ticket-wielding police officer.
And that's all there is to say about that.
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Cheesy is really the only word that can be used to describe this Mercedes-Benz Service song sung by Patricia Meeden. Cheesy still photography. Cheesy lyrics that proclaim double entendres like a 40-year-old woman trying to pick up an 18-year-old dude. And cheesy strategic thinking from a brand one normally associates with upstanding elegance, not veiled bathroom humor from a 14-year-old boy telling "smell my finger" jokes to his best friend between classes.
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This is, perhaps the worst and most annoying "stunt commercial" ever created. TBWA/G1, rather than create your typical virtual test drive video for the Nissan Note, came up with a scenario in which either a bride or a groom bails on their wedding and gets picked up by a person taking the Note for a test drive. What ensues is some of the most grating, insipid, and utterly silly acting we have ever seen in a commercial of any type.
As you watch each of two video (one for the bailing groom and one for the bailing bride) you come to realize it's not these two who are saving themselves from a life of misery; it's their betrothed who are escaping unscathed.
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You would think that after all these years of highly publicized social media screw ups and popular SXSW panels that highlight such screw ups, brands would finally get the message; Don't be a jackass and alienate your biggest fans.
Sadly, it seems there will always be an idiot in the mix. This time it's Italy-based Ferrero SpA, parent company to Nutella, a hazelnut spread loved by many The brand sent a cease and desist to Sara Rosso, founder of World Nutella Day, a 7-year-old event and organization that is all about the love of Nutella.
Rosso launched World Nutella Day in 2007 to "celebrate Italy's edible treasure with online and offline tributes." The event's Facebook page has 40,000 likes.
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Back in September we shared a story about health provider Health Net which used fake tweets to promote its services. We called the work "a juvenile marketing move and yet another example of testimonials gone wrong."
Now, the brand is doing a bit of back peddling presenting us with what they claim to be the real people behind the Twitter accounts they used in the campaign. The move is laughable as the accounts - NonStopMom2, HealthNut_2 and Biz_Guy1 - have just one or two tweets, all of which read "Thank you for your interest, learn more here" with a link that points to three "testimonials" from the "owners" of these Twitter accounts.
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Here is, perhaps, the dumbest Halloween-themed ad you will ever see in your life. It's cheesy, illogical and, well, just stupid. Yes, it follows the tried and true approach of people helping others when they really shouldn't but this effort is so lame you can't even get to the notion it's supposed to be funny.
Created by aftermarket additive brand Gold Eagle in partnership with crowdsource video company, Poptent, the spot, Chainsaw Psycho, aims to spoof the 1974 cult classic, Chainsaw Massacre. But all we get is further proof crowdsourcing always results in lame-ass, unprofessional work that should never see the light of day.
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It seems that no amount of publicized social media faux pauxs let alone general marketing faux pauxs over the past hundred years are able to prevent other brands from becoming bumbling idiots ripe for ridicule. Today's marketing dunce cap goes to Health provider HealthNet which saw fit to use a fake tweet on a billboard (spotted in Portland, Oregon) to promote its site.
The tweet, "Affordable, fits my biz needs - smart health plan #healthnetcares," reads as if it were written some social media buffoon with just enough pompous "guruism" to convince his clueless superiors "this will be a really cool billboard!"
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It's one thing to have a sexy bikini model or, in this case, a Lingerie Football League player in your commercial. It's entirely another thing to combine the use of that model with what can only be described as the kind of production crew that creates cheesy local cable commercials.
But when you do make that combination, you end up with this horror show from IT company International Enterprise Services which shot a commercial with Alisha Lucik in Las Vegas. And they couldn't even come up with their own concept opting, instead, to rip off another.
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