# Worst advertising campaigns ever
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** commercials-ads
**Created:** [April 16, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932 "2022-04-16T22:12:53Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@CastletonSnob1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob1)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2022, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/1 "2022-04-16T22:12:53Z")
Companies spend millions, if not BILLIONS of money on advertising every year. Sometimes, they make a great campaign that’s still remembered decades after, like Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?”. But, sometimes, they make a terrible campaign that makes one wonder, “What were they thinking?”/
I’ll start with Cartoon Network’s 2007 campaign to promote the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie by putting LED placards all around Boston. These placards got mistaken for bombs and caused the city of Boston to shut down.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2022, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/2 "2022-04-16T22:22:21Z")
HeadOn! Apply directly to the forehead!
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_SwD7RveNE)
For sheer annoying repetition.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/3 "2022-04-17T00:02:12Z")
McDonald’s Arch Deluxe.
The idea was to make a hamburger for adults, so there would be a menu item for parents who wanted something that was something better than regular hamburger items.
So what was the ad campaign? It showed kids eating the burger to prove they were grown up. So it didn’t look like it was for the audience it was developed for.
It flopped big time.
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### Author:  [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/4 "2022-04-17T00:04:37Z")
Burger King’s Women belong in the kitchen attempted campaign for Women’s Day. They got shut down pretty quick.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/5 "2022-04-17T00:12:10Z")
Two words: _Where’s Herb_?
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### Author:  [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/6 "2022-04-17T00:13:02Z")
I humbly submit Pepsi’s 2006 “brown and bubbly” ad campaign from the Super Bowl. Whoever thought the combination of brown and bubbly sounded appetizing must have been on Coke.
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### Author:  [@bmoak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak1)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/7 "2022-04-17T00:14:04Z")
Anyone remember this one?
WE LOVE THE SUUUUUUUUUUUUBBBS!
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/8 "2022-04-17T00:24:33Z")
_The Legend Of The Lone Ranger_ had a number of other problems we could discuss, but let’s start with [this](https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/legendary-flop-legend-lone-ranger/amp/):
> [@](#):
>
> Jack Wrather saw it as a problem. He wanted to make a bold, new big-screen Lone Ranger. He couldn’t have the sixtysomething Moore out there, reminding people of the musty black-and-white TV show. So Wrather took Moore to court, obtaining an injunction that prevented the actor from wearing the mask in public, and forcing him to sign autographs only as “The Masked Man.”
>
> To those weaned on _The Lone Ranger_ TV show, this was an egregious—and unforgivable—overstep. Moore quickly went on the offensive. Donning a pair of black wraparound sunglasses that mimicked his now-forbidden mask, he went on talk shows and held press conferences to tell the world what some heartless Hollywood millionaires had done. Before shooting a single frame of _The Legend of the Lone Ranger_, the film had alienated most of its intended audience.
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### Author:  [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/9 "2022-04-17T00:36:08Z")
That was a shame, as the whole line (they made a grown up Filet O Fish and chicken sandwhiches, also) of the Arch Deluxe sandwiches was perhaps the last/only thing I really liked there.
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### Author:  [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/10 "2022-04-17T00:51:12Z")
The classic example of bad advertising is the ‘lonely man’ campaign for [Strand cigarettes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strand_(cigarette)).
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjBHUQEiTPw)
> [@](#):
>
> This [television advertisement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_advertisement) depicted a dark, wet, deserted [London](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London) street scene in which a raincoated character, played by Terence Brook, looking similar to [Frank Sinatra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra), lit a cigarette and puffed reflectively. This was accompanied by an [instrumental](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumental), “The Lonely Man Theme” by [Cliff Adams](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Adams_Singers), playing in the background and a [voice-over](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice-over) declared “You’re never alone with a Strand. The cigarette of the moment”.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strand_(cigarette)#cite_note-4)[[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strand_(cigarette)#cite_note-5)
> …
> However, sales of the brand were poor and it was soon taken off the market. The public associated smoking Strand cigarettes with being lonely and were put off from buying them.[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strand_(cigarette)#cite_note-9) It is regarded as one of the most disastrous [tobacco advertising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_advertising) campaigns of all time with only 0.3% of male smokers and 0.7% of female smokers ever buying a pack of Strand cigarettes.[[10]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strand_(cigarette)#cite_note-10)[[11]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strand_(cigarette)#cite_note-11)[[12]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strand_(cigarette)#cite_note-12)[[13]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strand_(cigarette)#cite_note-13)
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/11 "2022-04-17T01:13:07Z")
I forget the product they were flogging (foot cream?) ca. 1970, but I can’t forget the image of a hot blonde perched on a bar stool, flashing her bare feet and asking me “Don’t you just love beautiful feet?”
Uh, no. Not particularly.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/12 "2022-04-17T01:16:45Z")
Crystal Pepsi. C’mon people, it’s just Pepsi that looks like 7-Up
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPvyq_KmXhc)
Dominos Avoid the Noid
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5oo3i38K2g)
Where’s Herb was mentioned upthread, but it’s bad enough to repeat. This is just one little commercial. BK built a massive promotional campaign about “The only person in America who had never had a burger from Burger King”
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oE5dkTanms)
Joe Isuzu, the corporate spokesperson who lied his way through every commercial
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNOvNrZ6S_E)
And last but not least, the legendary Nissan 300ZX “GI Joe vs. Ken” ad. This commercial cost a buttload of money to produce, won a buttload of creative awards, and actually caused sales of the 300 ZX to drop. Why? Many theories abound, but here’s mine. You never get a good look at the actual car. In fact, if you didn’t see the Nissan logo for the last three seconds (that’s 5 percent of the length of the ad!) you wouldn’t even know it was a car commercial.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8QKK5IDSXE)
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/13 "2022-04-17T01:33:45Z")
I don’t remember the exact item, but sometime in the early ‘80s there was an ad campaign for some feminine hygiene product (tampons? napkins?) that didn’t last an entire week. The tagline? “Look for the box with the dots.”
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### Author:  [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/14 "2022-04-17T01:34:01Z")
No music teacher, band director, or orchestra director will ever buy an Infinity based on this commercial. Setting up kids for ridicule is just not the way to go.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvV6ufWJqN0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvV6ufWJqN0)
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### Author:  [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/15 "2022-04-17T01:40:39Z")
I saw this detergent commercial once ca. 1975, and it was apparently pulled off the air immediately afterward:
**MOTHER:** (_Looking at teenaged daughter’s soiled party dress_) _What_ are all these _stains_?
**DAUGHTER:** That’s ice cream … that’s chocolate syrup … and that’s where Tommy’s hot dog dripped on me. Great party! (_Twirls_)
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/16 "2022-04-17T01:46:16Z")
There was a [2017 commercial for Pepsi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_for_Now) that tried to co-opt the Black Lives Matter movement to sell soda. They pulled the ad after only one day so its damage was limited.
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### Author:  [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/17 "2022-04-17T01:47:28Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#):
>
> And last but not least, the legendary Nissan 300ZX “GI Joe vs. Ken” ad. This commercial cost a buttload of money to produce, won a buttload of creative awards, and actually caused sales of the 300 ZX to drop.
And it got Nissan sued by Mattel! But did it actually _cause_ sales of the 300ZX to drop, or did it simply fail to turn around already declining sales, because in Nissan’s typical fashion they hadn’t updated the car since like 1990 and it was starting to look outdated compared to its competition?
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### Author:  [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/18 "2022-04-17T01:49:45Z")
> [@bmoak1](#):
>
> Anyone remember this one?
>
> WE LOVE THE SUUUUUUUUUUUUBBBS!
I loved the Spongmonkeys! But then again, I was a fan of Rathergood before the commercial aired.
What about “Puppymonkeybaby”?
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/19 "2022-04-17T02:24:20Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#):
>
> And it got Nissan sued by Mattel! But did it actually _cause_ sales of the 300ZX to drop, or did it simply fail to turn around already declining sales
ISTR a long story in _The Wall Street Journal_ that claimed sales dropped during the campaign, Nissan dealers protested, and the result was the ad campaign being replaced by a traditional Big Sale ad. The closest thing I can find to corroborate it is this cite where [“dealers grumbled that the spot was not selling cars.”](https://books.google.com/books?id=QpLtCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT2228&lpg=PT2228&dq=1996+nissan+300zx+chiat+day&source=bl&ots=oPFw82LXwc&sig=ACfU3U2IzHGtLpuMn7NUnwuu3vls29AbbQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwix5K-QhJr3AhWJWM0KHa_RBJ84ChDoAXoECBMQAw#v=onepage&q=1996%20nissan%20300zx%20chiat%20day&f=false) Everything else I found that mentioned 1996 ZX sales points out that by then Z car prices had increased dramatically because of the Yen/Dollar exchange rate, so your take on it may be more accurate than my memory.
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### Author:  [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)
#### Post date: [April 17, 2022, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/20 "2022-04-17T02:30:53Z")
Not so much a campaign, but more a specific commercial. This one aired when I was living in Quebec for university (there were French-language versions with much of the same cast as well). The broad, garish mugging always made my skin crawl. On a whim, looked it up on YouTube for this thread and it popped up right away, so I can’t be the ony person who remembers it.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cvqsUccXaY)
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