# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/21 "2009-08-18T19:41:04Z")
> [@Icerigger](#): > > The switch is on > Herb > It takes two hands to handle a whopper > Broiling Beats Frying > Buy a meal get, An Empire Strikes Back Glass And most, if not all of those, are at least 20 years old, which sort of proves Transistor Rhythm’s case. As weird as the “King” ads are, what BK has gotten out of them is some buzz value, which they hadn’t had for many, many years. (Now, the bigger issue is that a lot of their franchisees aren’t convinced that the weird advertising, and all the PR that they get from it, is actually doing anything for their sales.) IMO, one of the more ill-conceived ad campaigns of recent times was the stuff that SalesGenie did for the Super Bowl, full of bad racial stereotypes. They seemed to be following the “any PR is good PR” model, but I’m not sure it worked for them here…and it made them look insensitive in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Jettboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@Jettboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jettboy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/22 "2009-08-18T19:41:25Z")
Those toilet paper commercials with the cute animated bears who are constantly in need of an ass-wiping (even though they appear to not be blessed with an anus). I guess they prove once-and-for all that a bear does indeed shit in the woods. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/23 "2009-08-18T19:42:46Z")
> [@Jettboy](#): > > I guess they prove once-and-for all that a bear does indeed shit in the woods. I’m pretty sure that the ads are intentionally meant to play off of that term. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/24 "2009-08-18T19:43:32Z")
> [@Jettboy](#): > > Those toilet paper commercials with the cute animated bears who are constantly in need of an ass-wiping (even though they appear to not be blessed with an anus). I guess they prove once-and-for all that a bear does indeed shit in the woods. Yeah, those are fucking disgusting. And this might be TMI, but what kind of excrement/TP combination results in flecks of paper on the undercarriage? Those bears are so punch-able, too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/25 "2009-08-18T19:47:10Z")
> [@Transistor\_Rhythm](#): > > I defy you to name a single BK ad campaign before the King. > > I rest my case. Was “Whopper Freak-Out” before the King commercials? 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” so maybe that’s not the best example. There’s a host of commercials which make me sympathize with the supposed “antagonist” instead of the advertised product. The Swiffer commercials with the lovestruck and forlorn mop or broom is one. Another is some diet program which portrays “Hunger” as a fuzzy orange guy who wants to give me pizza and cake. I’d _love_ a magical fuzzy guy who brings me cake. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/26 "2009-08-18T19:52:24Z")
Who had the Fudgie thing a few years ago? Big fudge brownie that looked like excrement? Was it Pizza Hut or Dominoes maybe? (Man my memory is shot.) ---
**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 18, 2009, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/27 "2009-08-18T20:01:28Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Who had the Fudgie thing a few years ago? Big fudge brownie that looked like excrement? Was it Pizza Hut or Dominoes maybe? (Man my memory is shot.) I want to say Domino’s. Good GOD that thing was nasty! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/28 "2009-08-18T20:12:08Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I want to say Domino’s. Good GOD that thing was nasty! You are right. It was dominos. Fudgems was the name. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4Fhq08gtX-0/hqdefault.jpg "Domino's Fudgems commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fhq08gtX-0) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/29 "2009-08-18T20:16:56Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Was “Whopper Freak-Out” before the King commercials? Simultaneous. They’ve been running the King as part of their campaign for at least three or four years now (though he doesn’t appear in every ad). The Whopper Freak-Out ads were either last year, or earlier this year. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/30 "2009-08-18T20:23:00Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > You are right. It was dominos. Fudgems was the name. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fhq08gtX-0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fhq08gtX-0) [That’s not so bad.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IMaEGp-yv8) ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/31 "2009-08-18T20:27:25Z")
A few years ago McDonald’s very briefly ran ads for…oh, I want to say the Quarter Pounder, but it may not have been…where the tag line was “I’d hit that.” Someone must have clued them in pretty fast because I only remember seeing them a few times. They just made me giggle so much at someone “hitting” (ahem) a burger that it stuck with me. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/32 "2009-08-18T20:29:16Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > They just made me giggle so much at someone “hitting” (ahem) a burger that it stuck with me. Heh, me too. And now the image is back… ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/33 "2009-08-18T20:29:39Z")
> [@Transistor\_Rhythm](#): > > I defy you to name a single BK ad campaign before the King. > > I rest my case. \*Talking \*about a campaign does not make it a sucess unless it also makes you buy the product. This campaign is maybe neutral in that it is not actively causing people to stop going to BK, but I have yet to meet a person who was encouraged to go to BK because of the “King” character…and I would really prefer not to. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/34 "2009-08-18T20:32:38Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > A few years ago McDonald’s very briefly ran ads for…oh, I want to say the Quarter Pounder, but it may not have been…where the tag line was “I’d hit that.” Someone must have clued them in pretty fast because I only remember seeing them a few times. They just made me giggle so much at someone “hitting” (ahem) a burger that it stuck with me. It was the [double cheeseburger](http://www.andrewteman.org/blog/index.php?p=39). That was an amazing lack of awareness for a company known for testing everything else so thoroughly - so I suspect it was intentional! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/35 "2009-08-18T20:35:10Z")
> [@Transistor\_Rhythm](#): > > I defy you to name a single BK ad campaign before the King. > > I rest my case. You are joking right? Maybe you are too young to remember: _Hold the pickles hold the lettuce, special orders don’t upset us, all we ask is that you let us serve it your way. Have your way, at Burger King, have it your way…_ [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Rkg_XojVRcs/hqdefault.jpg "Burger King - Have It Your Way Commercial") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rkg_XojVRcs) ---
**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 18, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/36 "2009-08-18T20:36:34Z")
And what about that Burger King Kids Club? You know, the one with the kid in the wheelchair and the token black kid and a bunch of “normal kids” all hanging out, being cool? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/37 "2009-08-18T20:43:19Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > It was the [double cheeseburger](http://www.andrewteman.org/blog/index.php?p=39). That was an amazing lack of awareness for a company known for testing everything else so thoroughly - so I suspect it was intentional! Well, yeah, there’s two patties so when you shove your penis in it, the “hot beef” is sandwiched in hot beef. The Big Mac has that pesky extra layer of bun. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/38 "2009-08-18T20:45:12Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’m pretty sure that the ads are intentionally meant to play off of that term. :smack::smack::smack: I can’t believe I didn’t get this until now. Sounds like something I could contribute to the “Obvious things you realize about a creative work after the millionth time”. Except I didn’t notice it and it’s hardly a creative work. I feel as though I’ve seen it a million times though, so I guess one out of three isn’t bad. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/39 "2009-08-18T20:49:39Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > \*Talking \*about a campaign does not make it a sucess unless it also makes you buy the product. This campaign is maybe neutral in that it is not actively causing people to stop going to BK, but I have yet to meet a person who was encouraged to go to BK because of the “King” character…and I would really prefer not to. Based on anecdotal evidence I’d say the King ads keep people away. I was driving my nieces to the movies this summer and we were discussing what fast food place to go to beforehand; Burger King got shot down specifically on the strength of those ads as being too gross. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872/40 "2009-08-18T20:50:03Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > And what about that Burger King Kids Club? You know, the one with the kid in the wheelchair and the token black kid and a bunch of “normal kids” all hanging out, being cool? Don’t forget the ad with a very young Sarah Michelle Gellar. As well as the musical, magical Burger King who can take kids to the resturaunt with the twist of his magic ring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-ill-conceived-ad-campaigns/506872.md?page=3)