# Most ill-conceived ad campaigns? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 18, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872 "2009-08-18T19:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/181 "2009-08-22T02:11:13Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > I hate to do this but …cite? Some of the “facts” you presented are inconsistent with Wiki and other sites. > > FTR I don’t really like the “creepy” King commercials but I like eating at Burger King…unfortunately they have all closed around here! > So…one could maintain that that particular ad campaign failed to increase their market share and attract a significant amount of new customers. A call for a cite in a Cafe Society post? OK… 😕 The post was culled from memory (I wrote a paper about it back in the college days, pre-internet), but the Wiki cite that I dug up for review upon reading your post pretty much agreed with what I said: $40 million spent? Yup. Nobody knew what Herb looked like until the middle of the campaign? Yup. People being harassed? Not cited on Wiki, but it did happen. \* Herb being a geeky white guy? Yup. Teenager seeing him and being refused the prize money? Yep. Actually, they gave the money to his older friend. … This happened the first time that Herb walked into a restaurant? Apparently not - faulty memory and all that. Lawsuits? Yup. … by Bessemer, Alabama? No. Actually the teenager was in Bessemer when he saw Herb. What actually happened was that the State legislature censured BK by passing a resolution calling the campaign a “consumer fraud”. Advertising Age mag ranking it as the worst major advertising campaign of the 80s? Yup. > **[Where's Herb?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where's_Herb%3F)** > > Where's Herb? was an advertising campaign for the fast food chain Burger King that ran in 1985 and 1986. The television commercials featured a fictional character named Herb, who was described as never having eaten a Whopper in his life. Advertisements called on fans to visit their local Burger King in the hope of finding Herb and winning a prize. The campaign also included an "I'm not Herb" promotion, in which customers could get a discounted Whopper by including the phrase in their order. This ... - [Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos](http://www.geocities.com/conspiracyprime/e2_wheresherb.htm) [http://whoworemyclothes.blogspot.com/2007/04/im-not-herb.html](http://whoworemyclothes.blogspot.com/2007/04/im-not-herb.html) [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960538,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960538,00.html) [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961331,00.html](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,961331,00.html) [BAD MARKETING – “Where’s Herb” Campaign | The Blog of Bad](http://blogofbad.wordpress.com/2009/02/16/bad-marketing-wheres-herb-campaign/) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/182 "2009-08-22T03:26:29Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > Why? Is she your aunt or something? Okay, that was pretty clever. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/183 "2009-08-22T03:55:26Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Of course, I stopped eating at BK for about six months since the “Freak-Out” commercials seemed to say “Completely unhinged retards eat at Burger King” Hey buddy, completely unhinged retards have to eat _somewhere_. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/184 "2009-08-22T04:20:10Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Okay, that was pretty clever. Thanks. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/185 "2009-08-22T04:47:20Z")
> [@I'm Not Dennis Bergkamp](#): > > The BK creepy King campaign won me over a little bit when BK signed on to sponsor Spanish soccer team Getafe. Getafe’s shirt has the BK logo on the front, but the inside has a special treat for those post-goal celebrations: > > [Link](http://www.theoffside.com/world-football/this-getafe-goal-celebration-was-brought-to-you-by-burger-king.html) Holy shit, I want one of those shirts. Yeah, the King might be freaking some of you out, but like **shy guy** said, he _works._ It might be an ad campaign you don’t like, but it certainly doesn’t qualify as one that’s ill-conceived. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/186 "2009-08-22T05:02:37Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Don’t you dare diss my Flo! :mad::mad::mad: Dude, we abused the shit out of her in other threads. It’s long past when you should provide support and counselling. If she were to dump you as an uncaring asshole who only became interested when your buddies weighed in I wouldn’t be surprised, Anyway, your indifference gave her to me. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/187 "2009-08-22T06:27:14Z")
The AT&T ads with the two roommates–the level-headed Oriental and the dimwitted Occidental–and their television adventures. Eating tomatoes while watching TV in the bathroom. Good God! I’m surprised the level-headed guy hasn’t said, “I’ve had a bellyful of your stupidity! I’m moving out!” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/188 "2009-08-22T07:20:29Z")
**Mogle** said: > [@](#): > > That’s pretty much what I see too, the song is essentially a love song containing a lot of weather references, but apparently some people think that it(the ad, not the song itself) belongs in a horror movie or something. One newspaper claims that 100’000 people have joined a facebook group called ‘I’m afraid of the woman in the Apoliva ad’. **smiling bandit** said: > [@](#): > > That woman looks like a zombie! Or maybe Marilyn Manson. Either way, not good. Here skin is very pale, and her eyes have dark circles around them that make them look sunken in. It’s not lighting, you can see it in the final shot up close with stark overhead lighting. She is very close to some depictions of vampires, so I can definitely see how some people could associate to horror films. Reading the Herb campaign, you’ve got to love the logic of describing Herb as the only person in America who has never eaten a BK burger, then telling people to look for him at BK stores. WTF is he doing at BK stores if he doesn’t eat there? **KneadToKnow** said: > [@](#): > > Even so, the one where the little bear bends over and shows all the bits of paper stuck to his rectum-free backside went, IMHO, overboard. At least they didn’t show clingons, which is a real possibility when your ass is covered with hair. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/189 "2009-08-22T15:05:46Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Don’t you dare diss my Flo! :mad::mad::mad: I love Flo, but the first ad they did with her I swear they overdid the makeup to make her like something Tom Waits would sing about and told her she couldn’t her eyes any less open than as wide open as she possibly could! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/190 "2009-08-22T15:14:11Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > I love Flo, but the first ad they did with her I swear they overdid the makeup to make her like something Tom Waits would sing about and told her she couldn’t her eyes any less open than as wide open as she possibly could! She has grown on me to the point where I will say I no longer hate her and no longer hurry to turn the channel when she is on. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/191 "2009-08-22T15:44:41Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > At least they didn’t show clingons, which is a real possibility when your ass is covered with hair. And here I was calling them dingleberries. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/192 "2009-08-23T00:02:50Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > The latest one is really retrograde: a woman at poolside with a friend declines to go swimming because she was irregular this morning. WTF? This is like those old tampon commercials where women “discovered” that they could ride horses, go swimming, etc when on their periods. I think the idea is that she’s bloated and her belly hurts, as constipation can lead to. Who wants to swim with a belly full of poo that they can’t eliminate? In regard to that Dolce & Gabbana ad: > [@enalzi](#): > > Plus, if the genders were reversed no one would think anything of it. Because rape isn’t an ongoing concern of men, outside of prison. 1 in 4 men won’t be the victims of sexual assault or an attempt at sexual assault in their lifetimes. One man in a roomful of women isn’t ever likely to look around and wonder if they’re safe, or the best way to get out if things get hinky. You can’t just turn that particular aspect of sexual dynamics upside down and see equivalence. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/193 "2009-08-23T19:46:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > For those criticizing the Charmin adds, really, how do you think you _should_ advertise toilet paper? You pretty much either have to go for the completely irrelevant, what the heck does this have to do with the product, ads, or you have to go scatological (since this is, after all, toilet paper we’re talking about). Given that, I think that going scatological with anatomically-incorrect animated animals is about the best you can do. I dunno. The Angel Soft one with the cute puppy was neither irrelevant nor scatological. Nor was the one with the cat who grabbed the end of the toilet paper and ran through the house with it to show how long the roll was. Even “don’t squeeze the Charmin” wasn’t bad. And as I said earlier, “Marcalculate and save!” Hey, and there’s the quilting bee ladies for Quilted Northern. Wow. That’s a lot of TP ads I remember. So you’ve got 2 showing how soft the TP is. Two showing that the brand offers a good value. And one showing that it has a nice texture. None of those points are irrelevant or obviously scatalogical. There was one recently that said something about “no lint.” That’s a better way of saying “reduced dingleberry potential” than showing a baby bear with actual dingleberries hanging off his butt. I’m sure there are better ways still. > [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > And here I was calling them dingleberries. What’s the difference between the Starship Enterprise and toilet paper? They both circle Uranus looking for Klingons [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872.md?page=9)