# Worst advertising campaigns ever **URL:** \ **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:** 5
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/81 "2022-04-18T19:11:38Z")
Actually, I was referring to buying pudding cups for airline mies ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/82 "2022-04-18T19:23:50Z")
Sorry that I don’t remember the specific car, but there was a car company that had a TV ad where the mother was picking up her daughter at school. Said daughter had sore muscles from sports team, gym class, cheerleading practice or whatever. She sat in the **heated** passenger seat, wriggled around like she was doing a - ahem - lap dance, and practically PURRED. The ad was quickly pulled. There was another car ad I saw only once. No sound whatsoever. The camera panned around the car while captions popped up to describe the features. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/83 "2022-04-18T20:11:19Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I get their catalog, but have never ordered anything from it. I ordered from Uline once (couldn’t find what I needed anywhere else). And they kept sending me their catalog. Dang thing must weigh at least 10 lbs. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/84 "2022-04-18T21:28:21Z")
Those are great for certain crafts. Nice and heavy and flat. I’m using two of them currently as I glue up some cardboard pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/85 "2022-04-18T22:02:16Z")
Dr Pepper Ten’s campaign of “It’s not for women” flashed across my mind for a second. There was a whole thread on that disgraceful mess. However, I’m remembering a soft drink promotion (Pepsi? Not sure.) that had prizes popping up through the pop top, in a can filled with undrinkable fluid, just so you couldn’t tell a winning can by weight. That seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2022, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/86 "2022-04-18T22:18:25Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > However, I’m remembering a soft drink promotion (Pepsi? Not sure.) that had prizes popping up through the pop top, in a can filled with undrinkable fluid, just so you couldn’t tell a winning can by weight. That seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen. That was Coca-Cola’s “MagiCan”: > **[MagiCan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagiCan)** > > MagiCans were special, mechanical cans used by The Coca-Cola Company in the United States of America as a part of their $100-million "Magic Summer '90" promotion. The MagiCan promotion began on May 7, 1990, and ended on May 31. > In this promotion, some Coca-Cola cans had cash prizes or gift certificates inside instead of Coca-Cola. The prizes were spring-loaded to pop out of the opening once the can was opened. The prize would either be money, from $1 to $500, or coupons redeemable for trips or ... ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/87 "2022-04-19T03:38:31Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Not sure if you intended to write “employees” as opposed to “dedicated customers." He probably did mean employees. Several products are stocked by the manufacturer’s employees rather than the stores. I know bread products and chips are, I wouldn’t be surprised if the major beer producers do the same. I’m in the US, in Texas. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/88 "2022-04-19T14:08:38Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > I remember Eagle Snacks. Anheuser-Busch’s idea was that their employees were already in supermarkets weekly to stock beer, so why not have them stock snacks at the same time? … > > Not sure if you intended to write “employees” as opposed to “dedicated customers.” _Of course_ I meant employees when I used that word. What, are you imagining some people are such dedicated customers of Anheuser-Busch that they’re willing to drive a beer truck around to restock stores? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/89 "2022-04-19T14:10:25Z")
I know people who would be more than willing to drive the truck, but I doubt if they would make it to the stores. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/90 "2022-04-19T21:08:30Z")
I don’t know about worst but just plain baffling to me… the current tagline for Haagen-Dazs ice cream is “That’s Dazs.” … What does it even mean!? They paid someone to come up with that! (or maybe they didn’t, and that’s what they ended up with as a result!) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/91 "2022-04-19T21:44:36Z")
“Ask your doctor if _you_ can need \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/92 "2022-04-19T22:24:03Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Joe Isuzu, the corporate spokesperson who lied his way through every commercial I liked those ads. The Honda Asimo ad campaign has been classed as a major fail. I admit I didn’t hate it, but I had no idea of what the idea was. Then there was the sleazy Calvin Klein pedo campaign, starting 1995. Kids liked it, however. No, I won’t link to it. It had very young kids lounging around in underwear etc in a basement or something. The other pedo ad campaign was Loves Baby Soft, which is often featured in meme compilations of _"ads from the past they wouldn’t dare show today_" or something. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/93 "2022-04-19T23:29:47Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > she lived in the dorm with one of the heirs of the Schlitz fortune who presumably couldn’t get into Harvard or Yale. Ahhh, the Uihlein family. Now, in the 70s, before the internet, the average person had never heard the name (just assuming there was a “Schlitz family”, I guess). But I had a friend Brian who’d call upscale downtown Milwaukee restaurants and get a great table, and phenomenal service, when he’d book a table under the name “Brian Uihlein”. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/94 "2022-04-19T23:31:00Z")
She did say the girl’s surname was Schlitz, which was how she knew about the connection. ---
**Author:** ![CastletonSnob1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@CastletonSnob1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CastletonSnob1)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/95 "2022-04-20T01:40:17Z")
This incident was the beginning of Michael Jackson’s downward spiral. Things might have been VERY different if this never happened. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/96 "2022-04-20T01:44:03Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > She lived in the dorm with one of the heirs of the Schlitz fortune… > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > She did say the girl’s surname was Schlitz, Are you sure your college classmate had it right? If the girl was “one of the heirs of the Schlitz fortune”, my Milwaukee history friend says they’d assume she was an Uihlein: > Schlitz was the company accountant who bought the brewery, renamed it but died in in a shipwreck, only a couple of years after the brewery was incorporated. The Uihleins then owned the brewery for three generations. But what do I know? Hey, it was your friend and her entitled roommate. I guess a spoiled Schlitz brat would have less “Old Money” than a spoiled Uihlein brat. But the verdict stands either way: bratty brat BRAT. . Here’s a UWM article: > **[Schlitz Brewing Company - Encyclopedia of Milwaukee](https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/schlitz-brewing-company/)** > > The Schlitz Brewing Company (1849-1982) was one of Milwaukee’s industrial brewing giants. Marketed as “the beer that made Milwaukee famous,” Schlitz was ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/97 "2022-04-20T01:46:17Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Then there was the sleazy Calvin Klein pedo campaign, starting 1995. Kids liked it, however. No, I won’t link to it. It had very young kids lounging around in underwear etc in a basement or something. And before that sleazy Calvin Klein campaign, there was the other sleazy [Calvin Klein campaign with a 15-year old Brooke Shields.](https://www.aaaa.org/timeline-event/brooke-shields-sparks-controversy-calvin-klein-jeans/?cn-reloaded=1) Not an advertising campaign, and possibly an apocryphal story. but when a new toy chain started up in the 1990s,.they thought it would be a great idea to have an online chat room for kids. It didn’t take long to discover the only people in the chat room were pedophiles, and the room was quickly shut down. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/98 "2022-04-20T02:18:27Z")
These dorm incidents would have been about 40 years ago, so a lot can happen regarding names and inheritance. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/99 "2022-04-21T14:51:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The ad campaign with a guy screaming “[His prices are insane!](https://youtu.be/Ml6S2yiuSWE)” was extremely successful though. The commercials made him well known enough to rate [a parody character on Futurama](https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/Malfunctioning_Eddie). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2022, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932/100 "2022-04-21T14:59:03Z")
I posted this in another thread about the length of commercials. These are short commercials that peppered the Philadelphia market in the 70s and 80s. Similar to Crazy Eddie in a way, and very effective. [From this thread:](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/length-of-tv-commercials/963145/10) So watch this [selection of Krass Bros. short commercials from the 70s and 80s](https://youtu.be/t5R4rNxSWFw), it won’t take long. Do you remember where they are located? Fill in the blanks “Krass Bros., 901 \_\_\_\_\_\_ St., store of the \_\_\_\_\_\_\_!”. And this is probably the first time you’ve seen these commercials too. I haven’t seen one in 40 years and I still remember. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-advertising-campaigns-ever/962932.md?page=6)