Marketing Bloopers

[gigi]

@Lightnin'

Several years ago, there was a sports drink called “Texas Sweat”.

Because nothing’s more refreshing than a tall, cool glass of sweat.

Adidas colognenever seemed like a particularly good idea either. “Adidas Sport Field”??

[Gary_Robson]

I think the funniest of all time had to be Microsoft’s big Windows 95 rollout, for which they chose the Rolling Stones song “Start Me Up,” which features the repeated lyric “You make a grown man cry.”

@BobLibDem

I have a hard time believing that. Let’s say they had 1 million pennies. Each penny weighs 2.5 g , so a million weigh 2,500,000 grams or 2,500 kg, or about 5,512 lb. This amounts to about 36 people weighing 150 lb each. If loads of that order of magnitude brought down a building, I would be surprised.

It does have the ring of urban legend to it. But it is actually believable:

The average circulation of Reader’s Digest last time I checked was over 10 million copies. If a million pennies weighs 5,512 lbs, then we’re looking at over 27 tons if they bought a penny for each subscriber.

The question then isn’t “would that many pennies make a floor cave in,” for it certainly could. The question is “who would load them anywhere but a ground floor?”

I can see it now: “Hey, Bob, would you please carry these pennies upstairs?”

[KneadToKnow]

I think the funniest of all time had to be Microsoft’s big Windows 95 rollout, for which they chose the Rolling Stones song “Start Me Up,” which features the repeated lyric “You make a grown man cry.”

The week after 95 came out, a co-worker told me that Microsoft was being forced to change their marketing campaign because of all the problems people were having upgrading their machines. The new theme? “Losing My Religion.”

[gigi]

@InvisibleWombat

I think the funniest of all time had to be Microsoft’s big Windows 95 rollout, for which they chose the Rolling Stones song “Start Me Up,” which features the repeated lyric “You make a grown man cry.”

However, it’s also true that “you make a dead man come” so it can’t be all bad.

@FatBaldGuy

There’s one ad currently running that gives me a head scratching moment every time it comes on. It’s the one for Emerald Nuts featuring Robert Goulet, who comes around in the afternoon when you’re drowsy and messes up the stuff in your office.

I’ve never understood why Robert Goulet would even lend his name to such a promotion, let alone appear in it. I guess money talks, but who thinks up this stuff?

I love those commercials. Robert Goulet is a kitschy name at this point and it’s just funny to see him show up, of all the people they could ask. Like William Shatner.

[cbawlmer]

I also love the Robert Goulet commercials.

[Tuckerfan]

@gigi

Adidas colognenever seemed like a particularly good idea either. “Adidas Sport Field”??

Yeah, because who doesn’t love the smell of sweaty gym shoes?

[Cat_Whisperer]

Thirded on the Robert Goulet commercials. It’s so stupid it’s funny. To me, anyway.

[Freezair_SilverEye]

This is probably my lack of car knowledge talking, but:

There’s a car ad I’ve seen that advertises the car in question as being as “exciting as an SUV.” SUVs are supposed to be exiciting? I’ve always thought of them as “The soccer mom car.” :dubious: