Saw an ad on the side of a bus today for Myers University…just white type on a solid background, as follows:
“My Myers is flexible.”
(Like Richard Simmons, but without the funny shorts.)
So of course, all I can think about is Richard Simmons doing Dancing to the Oldies with no bottoms on, and I was really glad I hadn’t eaten already. Did they really think this one all the way through?
What other ads have you seen lately that could have used a second opinion from somone who WASN’T partying with the ad team way too late at night?
An ad for a trade school showing many grey fish and one brightly-coloured fish, with the copy “There’s [sic] many fish in the sea – get noticed!” What happens to the fish who get noticed? They get it in the gills, that’s what. Horrible metaphor.
Lately I’ve been irritated by an ad for LifeStyles condoms. I like the brand; they suck less than every other brand – but this ad makes me hesitate to continue buying them. Puts a hair up my ass for some reason.
It’s a mish-mash. The copy riffs on software: “Anti-virus! Latest upgrade!” This turns me off because I buy condoms for contraception, not prophylaxis. I don’t like the implication that I’m buying the goods because the person I’m sleeping with might be a poxy tart. This is minor, though. The main thing is the image. It shows a horribly tacky guy, dressed badly, with unfortunate facial hair and a disgusting leer, holding up a wrapped condom. It’s deliberately gross. I get that they’re going for hip irony, but it’s really off-putting. Then again, their marketing people settled on the name “LifeStyles,” so what do you expect? Bleh.
Well, there’s the Toppers Pizza ad that implies that college students “experiment” with farm animals. It’s the third one down on this page. The general consensus among most people I know was that it’s generally best not to alienate your customer base by implying they like fucking sheep.
The last one on that page gets a big rolleyes, too, because Toppers pizza is not especially cheap. The regular pizzas are pretty decent ($15 or so for a large), but the specialty pizzas are a little ridiculous ($20-$25) for what you get.
Whoops! Sorry, guys, I’ve got to correct myself on Toppers Pizza prices. A single topping, 14" pizza is $10.99, and a specialty, “house” pizza of the same size is $15-$17. The 18" house pizzas are around $22. Those prices aren’t unusually cheap and the pizzas aren’t unusally good – just classic drunk food, covered in cheese.
But now I have to figure out what pizza place in town is the one with $25 pizzas. The one with the artichoke hearts and alfredo sauce pizza that has indecent amounts of garlic and fresh mozarella.
Years ago there was a commercial for a car that showed it gracefully sliding around on an ice rink like a figure skater. To me, it just said that the car doesn’t handle well on ice.
I’m sure this has been mentioned a million times, but “This is Budweiser, this is beer”
Either they feel the need to explain what it’s supposed to be, or they’re comparing the two.
Dear Og, those ads are all over the Toronto subway. The guy is so skeevy that it makes me want to ease towards the exits, swear off sex for the rest of my life, and/or fumigate my crotchal region every night before turning in. I can only imagine what my potential women partners might be feeling.
But I may buy the product, if the packaging has just about anyone else on it.
There is a commercial for the Kia (killed in action?) Magentis that features the car immobilized by five surrounding cop cars who “notice” such an exciting and dynamic design. I guess it’s meant to be hip and ironic (or imply the car can even go faster than 100 clicks). I suppose the ad is targetting the histrionic demographic that can’t discern between good and bad attention.
There are a series of bus and billboard ads for Snickers candy bars. They show the Snickers logo, but instead of saying “Snickers”, they have some sort of made up word like “Nougatopolis” or something.
The one that made me scratch my head though, was “satisfectellent.” I suppose it’s supposed to be a combination of satisfaction and excellent, but whenever I see it, I think “satisfeculent.”
I really don’t think you want people to associate feces with your product. Especially when it’s brown and log-shaped.
This gets the prize for stupidest commercial line ever. What is that supposed to mean, anyway? Do they mean “to taste,” like you add seasonings to taste? I really don’t get it.
I’m watching TV right now–guess what commercial just came on! :rolleyes: