This one appears right here on the boards quite often:
http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL1473/5747827/15966180/383256033.jpg
The poor guy looks positively terrified about the prospect of going back to school as a nonagenarian. Did the ad makers really think this was their target audience? The scary thing is they must be getting clicked on, otherwise I assume the ad would eventually go away.
Yea I wondered about that one myself, there is another one with an equally old man too. I keep seeing those and trying to figure out what they are trying to do with those ads. They don’t even make sense! But I do admit I like the expression on his face.
They aren’t trying to relate the picture to the ad at all. The idea is they are putting in pics that get peoples’ attention. (usually with a person’s face or moving object) It has nothing to do with the “product” advertised.
Heck, picking people that don’t fit the ad gets your attention even more. And I bet there are some people who would think clicking on the ad might help them understand.
I don’t buy the “getting attention” thing. The ad is a bit scary and off-putting. How can a click-through ad be effective if it repels me? Are people clicking on them out of morbid curiosity?
I would assume it’s appealing to people over 40 who can’t get a job in this lousy job market and want money for free to go back to school (yeah like they’ll get that FREE money or a new degree will help) 
I really enjoy the way, thanks to social networking sites like Facebook, ads can be extremely tailored to your audience. Not only can they target you based on things you have in your profile, but they can change their creative on the fly to match your profile too.
So there are all these ads on my facebook page that were (I hope) originally designed for older single people but they’re customized for my age. “Dating after 25? Still possible?”
Personally I think a “Still single at 30?” or “Still single at 40?” ad are obnoxious too, but at least there I get the logic. Some people at that age will have really wished they’d gotten married and are feeling inadequate or insecure over it. But an ad trying to target my feelings of inadequacy for being single at 25? Go sell pity someplace else, fucking my way through my 20s was the plan all along.
I know that one! I think they would get their point across better if the old boy was mooning us.
So why was I getting deluged with hideous ads for teeth restoration? Look, I know I have not-great teeth, but seeing the ‘before’ pictures is not making me want to buy your service. At least put up ads with ‘after’ pictures!
My favorite was one of those single moms ads that featured a creepy, long-haired, bearded dude. Ugliest. Mom. Ever.
Look up. That’s exactly what I think. Apparently confusing people and making them curious works better than actually showing something that makes sense.
I’m pretty sure all they actually do is get the pictures from somewhere online, put them up, and see which one gets the most clicks.