Absurd and insulting Internet ads

[Sherrerd]

@digs

And here was the one I’d call “good and out-loud”:

Yeah, that was good, as were several leading up to it.

Others, too. The more they insult us with their stupid ads, the more we fight back with snarky remarks about them!

@guizot

Ok, that’s what I’d expect, but . . . what exactly is this “brilliant” company doing? And why do they think I care?

I have a strong tendency not to look in sidebars and other locales on pages where these ads lurk, but since reading this thread have made the effort, and have seen the “brilliant company” one four or five times (and the local references were suitably ridiculous).

Turns out there’s a fair amount of writing on the internet about these ads; Reddit has pages full. An article on Linked in focuses on the psychological appeal of “disrupting”:

… An advertorial news-style headline doesn’t focus on the prospect. Instead it poses as a news story where a new up-and-coming entrepreneur or startup company is taking on the “establishment”.
To be specific, a creaky, nefarious, customer-abusing establishment that’s somehow still raking in billions.
Hence the disruptive knight in shining armor riding to the prospect’s rescue with better prices, technology, and/or services.
That means these types of promotions are always classic “good vs. evil” tales. …

Why's everyone disrupting a billion dollar industry these days?

Makes sense to me.

[Jennshark]

I trust GEICO a million times more to effectively insure my home and four cars more than I do four sulky-looking 20 somethings who are “disrupting” the insurance agency. Go Big Insurance!

Ditto on the stoopid stock photo usages. A few weeks ago, on vacay in a teeny, tiny Southern Utah town, I got the same ad for Disrupting the Insurance Industry that pops up when I’m home in Trenton. No, the AfAm, East Indian, and hipster white guy sulk-posing against a graffiti-covered abandoned warehouse are not headquarted and disrupting the industry in New Mormonsville, Utah (pop. 356, 100% transparent whiteys).

[carnivorousplant]

@Ludovic

I no longer see the ads asking me to punch the monkey. Perhaps because I punched the monkey too much.

Ouch.

[CelticKnot]

I’ve been seeing “above-ground pools installed” with photos of very luxurious in-ground pools.
I wonder who’s dumber, the people who think Internet users would fall for that, or the few people who probably did. Would it last this long if it didn’t work?

[Lemur866]

The thing is, the people who are buying above-ground pools don’t want an above ground pool. They want an in-ground pool. But they can’t afford one, so they settle for an above ground pool.

So when you’re selling your cheap above ground pools, you get more clicks showing people what they want instead of what they’re going to get.

[Rick_Kitchen]

The only time I ever clicked on one of those ads, my virus protection warned me not to go there.

[Mr.Bill]

I’m still waiting for the government to pay off my mortgage.

[Sherrerd]

@Mr.Bill

I’m still waiting for the government to pay off my mortgage.

Those ads used to claim that Obama was in charge of making that happen.

I suppose that nowadays, even those advertisers don’t have the nerve to claim that Trump would be interested in helping you pay off your mortgage.

[CelticKnot]

Mr. CK reminded me of another absurd ad.

When you use a search engine and type in what you are looking for, there will be more than one listing that tells you where to buy it.

Fine if you are looking for a product. Not great if you are doing historical research. One item on the list:

Buy Navajo Slaves

That was a 10 years ago. I think search engine technology has found a way to weed those results out, but I have seen that on the list for a second before it disappears.

[CelticKnot]

@Sherrerd

Those ads used to claim that Obama was in charge of making that happen.

I suppose that nowadays, even those advertisers don’t have the nerve to claim that Trump would be interested in helping you pay off your mortgage.

If you were born before ____, the government will help you pay off your mortgage" ads still exist.

[Nava]

@asterion

Anything that tries to target by IP location is hilarious. It’s like they just had a cross-reference of the names of metropolitan or primary statistical areas, so I used to get ads (when they got past the HOSTS list and adblock) along the lines of “Mom in Albany/Schenectady/Troy did [blah blah blah]”.

And it’s always a mom. Because - why? Is it because giving birth does now confer not only sainthood but neverending wisdom? The ability to come up with solutions nobody else would think of? Or are we supposed to be surprised that someone whose professional qualifications are apparently limited to “gave birth at least once” happened to come up with whatever when all the degreed folks in the world could not?

And when you move around Europe as much as I do, well… watching the same woman advertise the local version of the same laundry soap in multiple languages was kind of funny the first time, specially because some times the soap turns out to be sold under different brand names in different countries. Being told that a woman and her Nplets who live in wherever multiple IP addresses place me are miracle-discoverer moms was old by the first time I saw it.