Another such juxtaposition I saw watching PBS over Christmas break:
"Closed captioning provided by:…
“The rhinovirus…” (start of an ad for Zyrtec medicine)
Actually, I always thought Bob’s wife looked amazingly like Bob in drag. Which added a whole 'nother layer of creep to the whole spectacle.
And as for being “classy”, they didn’t have much choice. If they’d gotten any more forthright than hands pointing emphatically at blocks of wood, and Bob’s neighbor’s hose wilting in his hand, the ads couldn’t have aired on basic cable.
That should have been caught by the traffic department of the History Channel. It was unfortunate, to say the least. I’m hoping someone makes a note of it for next time.
Carl’s Junior but sicne I like to pretend that doesn’t exist…
I love this one from Folgers:
So he makes a veiled threat to leave his wife for one of the girls at the office over her coffee making abilities… she switches to Folgers and he agrees to have sex with her or… something.
And then there’s this Jolly Green Giant commercial…
I suppose it’s not the ad so much as the JGG is freaking TERRIFYING looking in that commercial.
And of course, the old M&M commercials:
Instead of giving me images of delicious candy it brings to mind:
The pied piper
“Strangers with Candy” lectures
and Willy Wonka
All in one, and two of those are rather counterintuitive to selling your product.
And:
Seriously… no, just… no.
Damnit, I came in here to post that one. The idiots who came up with that were so proud of the double meaning that it never occurred to them that both meanings were completely unflattering.
There’s the infamous “You’re never alone with a Strand” campaign in the late 1950’s, for the British cigarette brand of that name, which was taken off the market shortly afterwards. Moodily shot ads featuring a mysterious loner puffing away in various urban locales. It seems that the negative connotations of lonely, isolated weirdos were not good for sales. Who would have thought it?
I happened to like them, tho I agree, they seemed a remarkably bizarre choice with a high probability of backlash. On the other hand, I had never heard of Quiznos subs before and now not a month goes by where I don’t hear “We luv deez subs!” singing in my head at some point.
And Spider Sabich .
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/claudine_longet/index.html
I thing Sat Night Live did one with shooting skiers as they skied down hill with awarding points.
Oh man, no one’s mentioned one that gets me every time I see it: Pepto Bismol came out with a new children’s version, and the tagline they chose was “Children’s Pink: It does more than you think.”
Seriously? Did no one at the advertising firm raise their hand and go, “Um… guys? That might come across badly.”
White Castle has a new one featuring Death being called away from his next victim by a Slider. When he stands at line he puts his bony hand on the shoulder of a fellow who has just ordered ten and says, “Good choice.”
Of course, those of us who enjoy the products of White Castle already KNOW AND ACCEPT they are Death on a Bun, but this might not help attract new commerce.
Well, they did segue pretty quickly from “Bob” wanting to keep his wife happy to “Bob” chasing strange at swinger parties…
If they’re so good, why did someone throw it away?
What’s a Lady doing going through the thrash for food?
“chasing strange”? Is that a new kind of idiom, like “meeting cute”? Or did you a word out somewhere?
I laughed so hard that I can’t possibly avoid going to hell now. The shot of the M&Ms guy skipping along arm in arm with a cop is absolutely priceless.
:eek:
I need a new brain now.
As a side bar, did anybody notice how different the McDonalds food looks in that early 60’s ad than it does in the ads today? For one thing, the hamburger shown is small and has its bun is sqashed flat. Apparently McDonalds wasn’t aware of the tricks commercial directors and photographers use to make food look more attractive under bright lights back then. It certainly doesn’t look anything like the lovingly-prepared-for-the-camera double cheeseburger depicted in this recent “unintentional” bit of food porn promoting McDonalds Dollar Menu.
Also, I saw that the french fries were thicker cut and looked like they had bits of potato peel on them.
How about those annoying anti-smoking ads? “The Truth” I don’t smoke, had a parent die from smoking-relelated cancer, yet those commercials made me want to light up a cigarette in spite. I’m apparently not the only one; teens, the target group, had higher rates of smoking.
I’m going to nominate “Apply directly to forehead.” I only saw it once or twice on YouTube, but that was more than plenty. Besides, someone else already got my recent peeve: Carl’s Junior with the guy eating a chili burger who instead looks like he’s been bobbing for apples in a Diaper Genie. Yuck!
Ok… I’m sitting here with a copy of ‘‘UFO & Outer Space’’ comic book, 1979.
Inside cover: We have Thor. The lightning is taking over the sky, or something. Thor booms, ‘‘Will the lightning turn on its master? I say nay! The mystic hammer Mjolnir shall deflect they power!’’ Thor jumps in the air waving his mighty hammer, lightning streams down from the sky, illuminating his rippling muscles.
Some guy in an ugly tie: ‘‘They laughed at my plans to control the weather. I shall get my revenge!’’
Thor: ‘‘No… thou shall get thy just desserts…’’
Ugly tie villian: ‘‘HOSTESS ™ Twinkie cakes! Delicious!’’
Mighty Thor: ‘‘No mere mortal can resist these golden sponge cakes nor tempting creamed filling!’’
My favorite bad bit of amateur advertising was a handwritten sign in my neighborhood reading
‘‘YARD SALE–CHEAP!
FRIEND DIED.’’