# Astonishingly poorly conceived and executed ad(s). **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2010, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643 "2010-01-20T01:32:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/81 "2011-06-01T11:18:03Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Heinz eventually conceded defeat, and dropped out of the retail market for canned soup. (They are still a big supplier of soup for restaurant & institutional buyers, but not retail.) Or did they…!!! > **[Heinz Official Site - Heinz® Great Britain | Heinz](https://www.heinz.com/en-gb)** > > Go all in on your love of Heinz, the makers of iconic Ketchup. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/3431/3726589535_97893ebd18_b.jpg "England: Hexham - Heinz Soups") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/45501032@N00/3726589535/) The UK market was obviously more susceptible - and we have Campbells too! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/82 "2011-06-01T11:45:19Z")
Back in 1997 or so, Corn Nuts had [a radio ad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS18jHMmhAI&feature=related) that played with some regularity on the stations I listened to. It’s _far_ too blatant to be anything but intentional double entendre, so I guess it’s less “What were they thinking?” than “How did this make it on the air?” ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/83 "2011-06-01T16:49:28Z")
Seventh Generation, a “green products” company, advertises that their [toilet paper](http://www.seventhgeneration.com/Recycled-Toilet-Paper) is “100% Recycled Bathroom Tissue.” Think about that for a minute. Because clearly, they never did. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/84 "2011-06-01T17:55:27Z")
> [@sqweels](#): > > It wasn’t put out in all markets, so it wasn’t as infamous as it should have been, but [OK Soda](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ok_Soda) was an unappealing product promoted with an unappealing yet heavily saturated marketing campaign designed to appeal cynical gen-Xers. > > What could possibly go right? > > mmmm… glycerol esther of wood rosin… Sorry, but I loved every moment of that ad campaign. The radio commercials, the hotline, the print ads, it all went together really well. It was a beautifully executed campaign. The soda just tasted like crap. I kept buying it to encourage the advertising, even though it was nigh undrinkable. “Things are going to be OK” ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/85 "2011-06-01T18:03:03Z")
[Racism fail](http://failblog.org/2011/05/29/epic-fail-photos-racism-fail-2/) - this one made my jaw drop. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/86 "2011-06-01T18:21:25Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > Sorry, but I loved every moment of that ad campaign. The radio commercials, the hotline, the print ads, it all went together really well. It was a beautifully executed campaign. > > The soda just tasted like crap. I kept buying it to encourage the advertising, even though it was nigh undrinkable. > > “Things are going to be OK” [This guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z7Vm3BAvFY) has an interesting take on the OK Soda campaign and suggests that the campaign was a precursor to later, more successful campaigns like the GEICO caveman commercials. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/87 "2011-06-01T18:31:45Z")
Oh yes, and these racist McDonald’s commercials didn’t work at all (totally NSFW - language and, um, racist): http:/ /www.youtube.com/watch?v=G79t752Vy9o (Space inserted between the slashes) ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2011, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/88 "2011-06-01T19:25:50Z")
> [@Martiju](#): > > Or did they…!!! They came back, but not under the brand label “Everybody’s All American”. Really, the biggest fail of their campaign was choosing a long complicated name that nobody could understand was the brand, so confusion = remember what you already know = Campbell’s. If their brand name had actually been “Heinz Soup” at the time, that campaign might have worked. ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/89 "2011-06-02T01:58:35Z")
There is a billboard for a local gym here that reads: Have you ever been to the gun show? Then this gym isn’t for you. Setting aside the fact that I can’t figure out whether or not the gym endorses “gun show” style braggadocio, the ad writer apparently failed to realize that it tells every reader, in spite of their answer, that the gym is not for them. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/90 "2011-06-02T02:26:32Z")
The MS ads a few years ago that had people trying Vista OS and exclaiming (effectively)“Wow, it’s not as terrible as everyone says!” and then there’s this [internal ad](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPv8PPl7ANU&feature=player_embedded#at=36) Which rocks … so hard! ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/91 "2011-06-02T21:51:20Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > They came back, but not under the brand label “Everybody’s All American”. Really, the biggest fail of their campaign was choosing a long complicated name that nobody could understand was the brand, so confusion = remember what you already know = Campbell’s. If their brand name had actually been “Heinz Soup” at the time, that campaign might have worked. Another problem is that the soup can itself is not visible most of the time, and even when it is, it’s not really the center of attention. Aside from the soup can, the predominant color scheme is red and white. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/92 "2011-06-03T00:03:35Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > [Racism fail](http://failblog.org/2011/05/29/epic-fail-photos-racism-fail-2/) - this one made my jaw drop. Calling that racist seems a huge stretch. The juxtaposition CAN be interpreted in an awkward way, but you have to work for it. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/93 "2011-06-03T00:26:20Z")
I don’t think it’s intentionally racist, but I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to see it as a “before” heavy blak lady gradually transforming into a skinny white “after” lady, either. It’s the girl in the middle that really does it for me. She just so… between. Lighter and skinnier than one, darker and heavier than the other. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643/94 "2011-06-03T03:44:12Z")
I agree, I don’t think it was intentional. But I think it was a poor execution that somebody should have caught. The Before and After tags stand out, but it’s only on second review I see that the two beige backdrops are skin samples that those tags apply to. Swapping the black one to the middle would have negated the issue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astonishingly-poorly-conceived-and-executed-ad-s/525643.md?page=4)