<![CDATA[Consumerist: Advertisements]]> http://cache.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/consumerist.com.png <![CDATA[Consumerist: Advertisements]]> http://consumerist.com/tag/advertisements http://consumerist.com/tag/advertisements <![CDATA[ Top 5 Guerilla Marketing Mishaps ]]> In the never-ending quest for free publicity, guerilla marketers have gone through great lengths to try to make a big splash. Many guerilla marketers will often concoct stunts that are risky or illegal to grab the publics' attention. Some stunts go over better than others while a few completely backfire. As a tribute to these foolhardy souls, WebUrbanist has put together their top 5 mishaps in guerilla marketing. The list, inside...

5. Goldenpalace.com at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
A man donning a purple tutu with the words "Goldenpalace.com" painted on his torso, jumped off of a high dive board into the olympic swimming pool. Greek officials were not pleased, slapping the man with 3 months in Greek prison. Ultimately, he was released and given a fine of a few hundred dollars.

4. Microsoft Zune at South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas.
At the SXSW, a man was simply posting bright large Zune posters in different locations, but it would seem that the hatred of Zune spreads far and wide. He was detained and handcuffed by police as onlookers were heard yelling things such as, "We'll have none of your advertising for your DRM'd crippleware'd crappy MP3 player littering our town!"

3. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" movie poster campaign.
This campaign featured posters across the country that read, "You suck Sarah Marshall." However, the real Sarah Marshalls' of the country were none too pleased. In response, new posters went up that read, "You suck Judd Apatow," a hostile salute to the film's producer.

2. Nvidia manufactures hype with fake forum fanfare.
A few years ago, Nivdia was accused of making fake posts in forums to tout their new product. This is probably the most common guerilla-marketing tactic since it is so easy to do. Because Nvidia is such a big company with a ravenous fan base, their forum forgeries seem to be the most infamous. The Consumerist featured this story in early 2006.

1. Aqua Teen Hunger Force and the Boston bomb scare of 2007.
Approximately 20 glowing signs depicting a character from the cartoon series were mounted in strategic areas around Boston, including places around bridges and overpasses. The areas seemed a little too strategic for Boston officials who summoned the bomb squad to dismantle the innocuous signs. The stunt cost Turner Broadcasting Company $2 million which went to reimburse Boston PD and Homeland Security. Apparently, the city feared the dreaded "Lite Brite" bomb, so popular among terrorists.

5 Great Examples of Guerilla Marketing Gone Wrong: Olympic Belly-Flops To the Boston Bomb Scare [WebUrbanist]
(Photo: WebUrbanist)

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Thu, 08 May 2008 10:11:36 EDT Jay Slatkin http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5008226&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Darque Tan Prevents You From Dying Of Vitamin-D Deficiency ]]> According to an article in The Daily Texan, law student Emily Prewett, has filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General against the company Darque Tan because of their misleading and irresponsible ads. One of their television commercial begins with a man in white lab coat saying, "Science has discovered that UVB from tanning converts cholesterol into Vitamin D." Then the narrator says, "Mmm yeah. Vitamin D-licious. Come get yours with a free week of level 1 tanning." The TV ad and more details, inside...

In another advertisement a man in a lab coat says, "Getting the Vitamin D you need has never been easier. To get you 4000 IU, it takes 20 cans of sardines - Mmm good - or 40 glasses of milk, if you tolerate lactose. Better yet, get a full 4000 IU of Vitamin D in just five minutes in a tanning bed at Darque Tan." Darque Tan seems to want us to believe we would drop dead from a Vitamin D deficiency unless we nourish our bodies with their life giving tanning beds.

Prewett is concerned because the ads portray tanning as a health benefit with no risks. "I don't have an issue with the company, I just have in issue with that particular advertising campaign," said Prewett. "I think that's the wrong message to be sending potential customers. And it's prohibited for a reason, and it's because there are so many health studies that link cancer and other risks to UV exposure."

Prewett's is not the first complaint lodged against Darque Tan's advertising campaign. In fact, Darque Tan's health claims are in clear violation of Texas' health and safety code which states, "A tanning facility operator may not claim or distribute promotional materials that claim using a tanning device is safe or free from risk or that using a tanning device will result in medical or health benefits." Doug McBride of Texas Department of State Health Services said, "They cannot make that claim legally. They cannot make any health claim."

There is little doubt that prolonged UV exposure carries significant risks whether it be from the sun or tanning beds. We agree with Emily that these advertisements are composed of 1 part fact per one hundred parts fiction. With tanning or any product it is irresponsible and dangerous to circulate advertisements that exaggerate or invent health benefits and ignore all of the health risks. Obviously advertisements are going to be biased but there has to be a line that should not be crossed to help up us stay safe. We tip our sun visors to you, Emily.

Darque Tan ads elicit complaint from law student [The Daily Texan] (Thanks to Brad for sending this in!)

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Thu, 01 May 2008 12:08:39 EDT Jay Slatkin http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5007458&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ How About Those Super Bowl Ads! ]]> He%20Is%20Thinking%20The%20Ads%20Sucks.jpgLast night's commercials were a tame batch of disappointment. Everybody wanted cutesy animals—squirrels, horses, ponies, pigeons, crickets, dogs, lions, and lizards—to endorse their products. After the jump, the four spots that caught our eye.

We appreciated two spots for Doritos and Fed Ex that featured oversized animals overcoming expectations. Doritos' slapstick ad played off the old truth that mice love cheese with a scene that we would love to see played out at Disney.
Fed Ex did a commendable job using pigeons, but even though it was clever, it only reminded us of their own bird brained failures.
Coke's spot with former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and James Carville was the most honest ad of the night thanks to its crisp, refreshing message: members of the government are shameless whores who gladly sell out to the highest bidder. It's true. Everyone likes to rail against the incestuous ethics-free cesspool that is Washington politics, and here it is, proudly on display for the Super Bowl. This is the saddest political ad since Bob Dole endorsed Viagra.
Most disappointing spot of the night goes to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. These are the people who gave us our brain on drugs. Our tax dollars should churn out high-powered visuals, not low-budget documentary-knock-offs. We could barely hear the skeezy drug dealer mutter the key line: kids steal drugs from their parents.Do people ever get ideas from ONDCP commercials? We didn't realize kids could get high and save money just by raiding their parents' medicine cabinet. Thanks for the tip, federal government!

What did you think of the ads? Tell us in the comments.

Watch All the Super Bowl Spots [Ad Age]

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Mon, 04 Feb 2008 13:30:16 EST Carey http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=352344&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Super Bowl Ads Are Designed To Fuel Mindless Buying ]]> Companies are paying $90,000 per second tonight to get their products before our recession-fearing eyes, and they plan to get their money's worth. Tonight's advertisers will use an array of tactics designed with one purpose: motivating us to buy their products.

The Super Bowl is the advertiser's carpet-bombing run. 140 million Americans—almost half the country—tune into the game at some point. Advertisers expect a massive crowd, and we don't disappoint. Viewership has remained stable since the Reagan era:Average%20Viewers.jpgBut the cost of the average 30-second slot has skyrocketed to over $2.7 million, almost $90,000 per second.Commercial%20Costs.jpgLast year advertisers paid $2.5 million per slot, and we wouldn't be surprised to see prices rise to over $3 million next year, vastly outpacing inflation. Advertisers willingly drain their bank accounts because they are able to squeeze value from their investment, which is why Fox sold all but ten ad slots by October.

Advertisers are increasingly using their Super Bowl advertisements to drive integrated ad campaigns that send traffic to their websites or other venues. The goal isn't to micro-target existing demographics, but to use kitschy gimmicks focusing on brands or products to reel in a broader swath of people.

The prize is what Pete Blackshaw of Nielsen calls "monday morning chatterbacking," a phrase that makes us want to slit our wrists with a Hello Kitty butter knife. Still, traffic to advertiser's websites does rise by 50% the day after the game. This year, Fox is trying to drum up added synergy with fellow News Corp property MySpace. Advertisers who buy Super Bowl slots have the option of buying complementing ads—quizzes, trivia, junk like that—on MySpace, which Fox will promote during the game.

Super Bowl ads try to pass themselves off as entertainment. YouTube will highlight cutesy ads, and people will treat them as fresh content. Over a third of us watch the game just for the ads, and may even keep an eye open for one or two in particular. That's fine. Just remember that you are watching advertising. The goal is not to entertain, but to get you to spend.

Super Bowl 2008 [Ad Age]
(Photo: monstershaq2000)

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Sun, 03 Feb 2008 16:00:30 EST Carey http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=352039&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Disturbing Cheese Ads With Luis Guzmán And His Fellow "Cheddar Hunks" ]]>
Okay, we're just going to say it: calling men of a certain age "cheddar hunks" just sounds like they all smell like stinky feet. That's a table I want to stay far, far away from. Nevertheless, Cabot Cheese of Vermont has launched a new television campaign featuring Guzmán and his Stinky-Feet-Friends sitting around drinking beer and eating cheese. It's weird. And though we have always liked Cabot Cheese, now it's going to be hard not to think of middle-aged toes (and werewolves) whenever we go cheddar shopping. Urg.

Not that Cabot is too concerned about that, apparently, since they're going after wives with this spot:

Cabot's market research shows that while their cheese is eaten predominantly by men, it is purchased mostly by women. She wanted a series of ads that would convey to women that when guys get together to drink beer and eat cheese (which is not often enough, by the way), the cheese they want to find in the fridge is Cabot.

"Cheese Puff" [Slate]

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Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:52:44 EST Chris Walters http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=345026&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ UPDATE: Circuit City Apologizes For Not Honoring Call Of Duty Advertisement ]]> Adam writes us to say that Circuit City has apologized for not honoring their advertisement and have offered to compensate him with both games for free.

Dear Consumerist, I just wanted to follow up and let you know that Circuit City was quick to contact me and resolve the issue. The associate I spoke to was very apologetic about my experience and offered to send me both games free of charge. Although I shouldn't have had to go through so much in-store hassle to begin with, I was impressed to see how well Circuit City handled the situation.

Cheers,

Adam

The offer is not a misprint as Adam was told by (apparently) rogue Circuit City employees. Something fishy is going on at store # 3111, ya'll.

PREVIOUSLY: Circuit City Refusing To Honor Advertised Offer For Free Call Of Duty 3?

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Thu, 08 Nov 2007 16:47:41 EST Meg Marco http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=320638&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ CheapAssGamer.com Subpoenaed By Circuit City ]]> cag.jpgAccording to Consumerist's sister-site Kotaku, CheapAssGamer.com has been sued subpoenaed by Circuit City over some leaked advertisements posted to their forum.

Circuity City wants CheapAssGamer to turn over all personal information they have on user "Speedy1961," a forum member who has been happily leaking CC's weekly ads before their official release. Kotaku says:

"The subpoena mentions one CheapAssGamer thread in particular, which prior to E3, revealed that the PS3 would get a price drop. That same thread also included pricing for games at Circuit City as well as game prices at Target and Best Buy."

Good news for CheapAssGamer's users, they're not just handing the information over:
"The CAG community's trust and respect is very important to me, so I've hired legal representation to deal with the situation," Abrams [CAG Productions CEO] tells Kotaku.


Circuit City Subpoenas CheapAssGamer
[Kotaku]

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Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:39:27 EDT Meg Marco http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=288297&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Chili's Awesome Blossom Menu Picture Vs Reality ]]> The Chili's in Tuscaloosa, AL served Mike an "Awesome Blossom" that looks like it was run over by a truck. Mike didn't complain to his waiter or the manager, but he did write to us:

We ordered our food and I ordered the "awesome blossom". I've been a professional cook for 14 years and when I saw what I got I was personally offended. It looked to me like the cook had just scraped out the bottom of the deep fryer and threw it on the plate. I took a picture of the menu and our plate to show what they were advertising it as and what you actually get. They weren't very busy, most of the tables were empty. It seemed to me the cook was just lazy.

Did I send it back? No. I don't do that. Having worked in restaurants I know what often happens when food is sent back. Did I complain to the waiter? No. I didn't see the point in that either. He was a nice guy, (we even gave him a pretty good tip) it was something beyond his control. So instead I silently fumed about it and vowed to never return to the restaurant. The sort of passive aggressive thing that probably happens thousands of times every night at restaurants all over the world that don't deliver what they visually promise in their menus.

Mike, you are a paying customer; you should not have to stomach unacceptable food. A polite and quiet conversation with a manager wouldn't have placed the blame undeservingly on the waiter, nor would it have subjected you to the possibly retributive wrath of a clearly reckless cook. If you haven't already, send a letter to the corporate office. ]]>
Sun, 05 Aug 2007 15:32:38 EDT Carey http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=286097&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ US Air Tray Ads Annoy ]]> US Air has boasted ads on seatback tray tables for many months now, but they still have the power to irk some customers, as reader Cameron writes:

I took these photos on my return flight from New Orleans this past Sunday. It appears that, in order to bolster revenues, US Air has turned to placing advertisements on the top surfaces of your seat back tray. Not only that, but they are "self-aware", sporting beverage spill graphics and touting the safety of Ford SUVs. I was settling into my seat and was going to lower my tray to hold my book and iPod when I was confronted by this - I must say this should be stopped and I've already contacted US Air complaint line.

usairseatbackad.jpg

On an aircraft, getting off at the next stop is not an option. Changing seats is not an option. Even putting on your headphones is verboten for large parts of the trip. When you're strapped in to your breadbox-sized seat your only real guarantee is that nothing will invade your tiny fiefdom - except maybe an elbow or errant drink cart. The tray top ads violate this principle and manage to make your tiny, $300 fiefdom feel even more cheap, tawdry and impersonal than the airlines can already accomplish.

The best part of all? They made a credit card sell over the intercom right after announcing the discontinued use of "all portable electronic devices."

Every morning I ride D.C. Metro rail to work and pay $1.35 to stand inside what is basically a huge moving walkway across the city. Advertising in here - on great big swaths of plastic paneling - doesn't bother me at all. It subsidizes the cost of my trip and helps make the Metro affordable for everyone. It's public transportation and so there is no illusion of personal space - yet still there is usually as much room and freedom to move as you could want.

- Cameron

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Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:56:49 EDT Ben Popken http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=281459&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Visa Tap-N-Go Ads Piss Us Off ]]> We loathe these Visa commercials. They show commerce going along like clockwork. People paying with their tap-and-go Visa card. Getting their donuts. Until one guy pay with cash. Everything screeches to a halt. He gets looks from the cashier and other customers. He leaves with his goods and his quaint "change," chagrined. Man, you don't wanna be that guy. No, you wanna be like the efficient credit card bots. They're cool. Being in debt is cool. Who cares if they have 20% APRs.
Hey, TBWA/Chiat/Day/Schlockmeisters, for your next iteration, why not link paying with cash to terrorism?

Cash is nice. You don't have to borrow money from anyone, even temporarily, to use it. There's no terms of service or contract to sign. That's because it's money. Cold hard American cash. People shouldn't be made to feel bad for using it.

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Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:36:41 EDT Ben Popken http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=277426&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Top 10 Worst Marketing Gaffes, Flops, and Disasters ]]> The Consumerist's guide to the top 10 worst gaffes, flops, and disasters in the history of American marketing and advertising.

10) McDonald's: "I'd Hit It"

In January 2005, McDonald's launched an ill-conceived banner campaign featuring a young man slavering over a double cheeseburger. "Double cheeseburger? I'd hit it. I'm a dollar menu guy," went the animated ad. Amidst controversy, McDonald's pulled the banners and said their marketing department misunderstood the term. For our part, The Consumerist only copulates with food that's certified organic fair-trade.


9) New Coke

1985's "New Coke" was a failed attempt to compete with Pepsi's larger market share. However, customers found the new formula flat-tasting and overly sugary. After the campaign fizzled, Coca-Cola switched back to the original formula... or did they? Rumors persisted that "New Coke" was a well-designed conspiracy to switch ingredients from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in their bottling plants. Both Snopes and Wikipedia claim the switch to HFCS was made prior to "New Coke's" introduction, but who can resist a good conspiracy?

8) Honda's Asimo Falls Down Stairs

Any third-grader with a circuitry board can make a dancing robot, but only Honda can make one that walks up stairs and falls on its space skull. Things haven't improved much since ED-209, it seems.

7) Calvin Klein's Amateur Porno Jean Commercial

Calvin Klein has drawn frequent ire for its provocative advertising and use of teenage models. The series of commercials above, however, pushed the envelope right of the cliff. They feature what appear to be "barely (if even) legal" amateur models in a wood-paneled room being interviewed by a creepy older man. For all intents and purposes, they look like prequels to amateur pedophile pornos. Conceptually brilliant but deeply unnerving, the work perhaps deserves a place in the Whitney rather than Kansas TV screens. In August 1995 the commercials were yanked from the airways and Calvin Klein himself issued a public apology.

6) Microsoft Blue Screen Of Death At Press Conference

A classic Microsoft moment. During a press event audience members watch as a pre-release of Windows 98 crashes before their very eyes. Bill Gates was a good sport, chuckling and saying, "That must be why we're not shipping Windows 98 yet."

5) Beatles Yesterday and Today Butcher Cover

beatlesyesterday.jpgOn June 14th, 1966, The Fab Four shocked their American record-label with the the infamous "Butcher Cover" of their album Yesterday and Today. After slipping through the cracks during pre-production, 750,000 copies were distributed across America. At first Capitol Records ordered the albums recalled and destroyed, but then it sent out replacement covers to be glued onto the remaining copies.Though Lennon and McCartney were in on the joke, George Harrison later expressed his disapproval, "I thought it was gross, and I also thought it was stupid. Sometimes we all did stupid things thinking it was cool and hip when it was naive and dumb; and that was one of them."

Yesterday and Today went on to become one of the only Beatle's albums to actually lose money, thought this probably had less to do with its cover art than that it was a compilation album with no new material.

Bonus: The lame cover it was replaced with.

4) The Tylenol Cyanide Scare of 1982

tylenol.jpgSome product disasters illustrate how a swift company response can mitigate the damaging effects of bad publicity. When Chicago residents suddenly started to die from unknown causes, inspectors drew a link to the Tylenol Extra Strength capsules the citizens took. After ruling out sabotage from the manufacturing facilities, investigators determined someone tampered with the bottles and placed them back on store shelves.

Although many predicted the doom of the Tylenol brand, the pain reliever bounced back within a number of years. Thanks to a swift PR response which included media outreach, discontinued advertising, and putting the safety of the consumer before profit, headache-sufferers eventually forgave Tylenol.

Bonus: Thanks in part to the Tylenol scare, urban legends of cyanide poisoners linger in the public consciousness, casting a looming specter over Halloween

3) Ford Edsel

Named after Henry Ford's so, the Edsel automobile launched on "E Day", September 4th, 1957 with much fanfare and hype. Featuring "Teletouch" steering wheel electric gear-shifting, self-adjusting brakes, and a nifty speedometer redesign, the Edsel failed to resonate with consumers. People still debate the exact reasons for the failing but the general consensus is that Ford didn't have its finger on the pulse of what Americans wanted. Maybe consumers were put off by statements like, "There's even the luxury of Edsel air suspension. It's just like riding on air, because you are." Whatever the cause, $400,000,000 worth of development was blown in two years when the Edsel was discontinued on November 19th, 1959.

2) AC vs DC: Thomas Edison Electrocutes Topsy The Elephant

Starting in the 1880's, George Westinghouse and Thomas Edison became fierce rivals over what the best way to deliver energy into American houses. Edison favored the Direct Current (DC) approach, touting its safety. Westinghouse favored Nikola Tesla's Alternating Current (AC) method as it solved a number of prohibitive cost factors and allowed for more efficient delivery.

Edison launched a a bitter publicity campaign, designed to frighten the public into using Direct Current. Under his command, Edison filmed and publicized a number of Alternating Current executions of animals including that of Topsy the Elephant (shown). The executions were designed to show how unsafe Alternating Current could be, as it "Westinghoused" his victims. Despite Edison's fervent desire to bring Direct Current into every home in America, he ultimately lost the War of Currents due to the impracticality of wide scale deployment.

Bonus: Harold Brown, an Edison employee, developed the first electric chair to further underscore AC's danger. After the first botched use of the chair in 1890, Westinghouse commented, "They would have done better using an axe."

1) The LZ 129 Hindenburg

One might consider the 1937 Hindenburg disaster clips one of the world's first "viral videos". The footage and pictures of the event were so damaging that they decimated the public trust in the possibility of a "Zeppelin Era" - a world where travel was dominated by flying air balloons.

If the Nazis had their druthers, the Hindenburg would have carried a swastika as prominently as we might have seen a Goodyear logo, but zeppelin designer Hugo Eckener was uneasy with the use of his airships for propaganda. He was much more comfortable with envisioning a future of mass passenger transport across the Atlantic carried upon the decks of his flying ships.

Due to a US embargo on helium, Eckener was forced to use flammable hydrogen in order to keep his beloved dirigible aloft for its transatlantic journey to Lakehurst, NJ. Amid an audience of thousands of spectators and radio personality Herbert Morrison's eyewitness report, the Hindenburg suddenly burst into a fiery ball of flames. The images would find themselves ingrained on the collective consciousness of popular art and Morrison's words, "Oh, the humanity!", would outlive the disaster for years to come. Many note that other political factors played a role in the long-term demise of the zeppelin, but nothing captured the moment more perfectly than the image of the Hindenburg's flaming metal skeleton as silhouetted people scattered in terror.

Hot on the tailfins of the disaster was an-up-and coming airline named Pan America. Their stable of flying "Clippers" filled the Hidenburg's void.

— THOMAS MOORE and BEN POPKEN

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Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:55:54 EST Ben Popken http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=241095&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ David LaChapelle's Boots Commercial ]]> Yes, Virginia, there is a true meaning to Christma: looking ab-fab. — BEN POPKEN ]]> Wed, 15 Nov 2006 23:55:19 EST Ben Popken http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=215179&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[ Red Cross Wants You To Open Your Veins In The Supermarket ]]>

Taking a cue from the Australian Sperm Bank Association's successful 2003 ad campaign, we proudly present this Red Cross advertisement from the Land Down Under. They want to suck your blood!

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Thu, 12 Oct 2006 07:19:45 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=207043&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Sinus Blaster Pepper Spray Makes You Say Fuck ]]> The first ad featuring rank, unbleeped obscenity has aired on the Sirius network. The product? Appropriately enough, a nasal inhalant featuring capsaicin called Sinus Blaster.

"It's no different than what you'd hear from a group of adults having a conversation," insists Wayne Perry, president of SiCap industries. He's right there: if you've ever accidentally mistaken your pepper spray for your nasal spray, you'll know that loudly screaming "FUCK!" is probably the more restrained reaction.

The spot aired on the Howard Stern channels, where "listeners already expected some tasteful profanity." Also, descriptions of how Howard would like to yank out Kim Basinger's vocal chords so she'll shut up long enough to fellate him.

Sirius: 1st ad with 4-letter word [New York Daily News]

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Wed, 11 Oct 2006 06:36:23 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=206710&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Don 't Lick This Poster ]]> saw_3.jpgConsumer affairs is a subject with enough maniacs and skeletons-in-closets that this site really celebrates Halloween all year round. But we're going to make at least a token effort to get ghastlier as it gets closer to Halloween.

So, boys and ghouls, for your horrification: Tobin Bell (also known as Jigsaw the Serial Killer from the Saw series of films) has spilled his blood into the ink that is used to print the Saw III poster, in order to get "the deepest color red possible."

The posters go for about $20, except for the first poster printed, which will be auctioned off to support the Red Cross, who used a similar cost-saving method to print pamphlets after the blood surplus following September 11th.

SAW III Poster made with real blood [Cinescape]

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Wed, 11 Oct 2006 06:23:46 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=206708&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Great Moments in Advertising: Sure Men Deodorant ]]>

A huge silver phallus. A sadomasochist's cock ring. Ad copy that hints at an erection. A product name starting with 's' and ending with 'men.' All put together by a company with the word 'blow' in their name. Good job, guys. Our interest in Sure Men deodorant has been aroused. Via adfreak.

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Tue, 10 Oct 2006 06:42:36 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=206407&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Portapotties Get Branded ]]>

And just when you thought advertisers couldn't squirt another medium out of their sphincter... portapotties become the next great advertising medium, ending an ad-free tradition of smelly closets filled with other people's feces that goes back to the crescent-moon outhouse of the early American frontier.

Next Big Ad Medium: Port-A-Potties

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Thu, 05 Oct 2006 14:22:16 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=205534&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Everyones Likes Spinach In Their Omelettes! ]]>

.. or people evacuating blood out of their anus. Thanks to Mark Copyranter, who notes that Embassy Hotels had plenty of time to pull this ad from this week's New Yorker.

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Wed, 20 Sep 2006 07:05:26 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=201845&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Watching Stupid People on TV Really Does Make You Stupid ]]> simpsonbaywatch.jpgThere's a guy on my street who has the phrase "Kill Your Television" painted on his car. Someone please tell him that televisions are not living, breathing things, and that they can't be killed. And that painting your car with that message is a bit over the top, and rather pretentious.

But the guy has a point: TV rots your brain. And now we have the proof.

    One study showed that women who watched commercials with stereotypical ditzy females before taking a math test scored 38 percent lower than women who didn't see the ads.

What's the male equivalent? Watching Pauly Shore videos?

Regardless: The lesson is clear. Be selective. Watch only advertisements that feature the late, great George Plimpton.

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Tue, 19 Sep 2006 08:30:17 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=201504&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ David Lynch's Parisienne Cigarettes Ad ]]>

A cigarette ad for Parisienne by David Lynch. "Parisienne People," the ad campaign claims. In this case, Parisienne People are apparently nightmarish, slow-motion ghouls who drink muddy water from the ground and can make thousands of sausages fly into the air. Now that makes me want a nice, mild smoke.

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Wed, 06 Sep 2006 06:16:35 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=198712&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ The Adventures of Pepsiman ]]>

It's Labor Day weekend. That means today's a half-day for me and Ben. It also means that, depending how drunk we get, there may very well not be any posts on Monday. It also means that the posts we do put up today are going to be slacker heaven.

Like this one! But it's worth it. After Terminator 2 came out in the mid-90's, Pepsi Japan wanted to incorporate the liquid metal CGI technology into their commercials. The amazing, surrealist Pepsiman character is the result. Watch his greatest adventures, which always follow this formula:

1) A lone person wants a Pepsi.
2) Pepsiman comes speeding in at insane velocity, accompanied by a bitching guitar riff and an offscreen choir screaming "Pepsimannnnnnn!"
3) A yawning vortex opens in his face while he begins insanely waving his hand back and forth and Whooooosh-ing.
4) A horrific incident of crippling physical violence befalls Pepsiman.

This corporate mascot is one that definitely ought to have come Stateside.

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Fri, 01 Sep 2006 06:09:44 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=198110&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ MySpace's Racist Ring Tone Ads ]]> myracist_1.jpgOn one hand, it's hard to believe that MySpace endorsed or even saw this advertisement for cell phone ringtones that it's been displaying on their web page. On the other hand, this sort of big-lipped, bone-through-the-fro depiction of an African hasn't been acceptable since some of Louis Armstrong's more colorful Max Fleischer appearances.

As Stay Free Daily puts the problem with MySpace's ugly, ugly templates:

    One of the reasons that the templates are so horrible is that they have to accommodate stupid animation games for a ringtone company. Take a look at the latest contest. You play the "savage" - I leave it up to you to decide whether this is more or less racist than playing a gorilla trying to hit a savage with a coconut.

I'd say less, except that, by dint of the ring tone company's astonishing racial insensitivity, I'm pretty sure they intended both the monkey and the African to be the same species. So equal.

Racist MySpace [Stay Free!]

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Wed, 23 Aug 2006 04:10:05 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=196007&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Sierra Mist Ad Develops New Meaning Post 8/10 ]]> Jonathan Cowperthwait points us to a Sierra Mist commercial set in an airport security line. Our wild guesstimate is that it won't be seen on TV anymore, strange prescience aside.

Some suggest the ad isn't funny anymore.

We disagree. It's funnier!

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Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:03:34 EDT Ben Popken http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=193780&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Prusakolep: Kill Cockroaches on LSD ]]>

After that sleazy Joe Francis story, I think we all could use a burst of sunshine to break through the clouds of our thoughts. So I'm pleased to call your attention to this commercial for Prusakolep... the best commercial ever made. It views like a lost scene from Skidoo, featuring kitchens and schooners overrun by cockroaches... not to mention the most captivating and apropos synthesizer rendition of La Cucaracha ever recorded.

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Mon, 07 Aug 2006 06:23:41 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=192423&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Sundek Beachwear's Scary Hooks ]]> Hooked flesh is kinda cool. It definitely worked for the meatpacking district and the Hellraiser series. When you're spinning fairly standard (or at least, certainly not deadly in its level of attractiveness) beachwear? Not so much.

Boy version inside.

The swimming vestments just don't live up to the ad's promise.

http://consumerist.com/assets/resources/2006/07/Sundekman-thumb.jpg

Though, the way the body is joined at the hip, just like a lure, is pretty neat.

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Mon, 31 Jul 2006 19:12:37 EDT Ben Popken http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=191062&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ A Change of Pace from All This Thinking: Bad Ads Photoshop Contest ]]>

It's Friday: we're all a little drunk. Best to stop thinking before we throw up. Worth1000.com is throwing another Bad Ads Photoshoppalooza, where corporate ads are taken and given a cynical, consumerist-style twist. As usual, the entries fluctuate unpredictably between unfunny incompetence and wry satire.

Bad Ads 3 [Worth1000.com]

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Fri, 28 Jul 2006 06:43:45 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=190457&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Who Knew Whitey Ford and Salvador Dali Were Homeys? ]]>

Continuing our recent trend of posting surreal airline advertisements from the 70's, who would have thunk that Whitey Ford would be asking advice from a completely out-of-his-gourd Salvador Dali on the best way to throw a knuckleball? But all that happens on Braniff Air... and more!

Ladies with beautiful breasts and perfect, apple-shaped bottoms, take note of Braniff Airlines' sage advice: "If you've got it, flaunt it!" Totally.

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Tue, 25 Jul 2006 06:25:08 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=189591&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Andy Warhol Teaches You Japanese Colors ]]>

Andy Warhol certainly has a cool command of Japanese in the 80's ad for TDK, doesn't he? "Aka... Midori... Ao... Gunzyouiro...Kirei!" Red, green, blue, ultramarine, beautiful, for the record. Not that you'll care after Warhol's eyes horrifically snap open and appear to be black pools of staring blood.

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Thu, 20 Jul 2006 05:42:36 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=188592&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Viral Billboard Debunked By Mothership ]]>

This billboard (displayed in both New York and Los Angeles) is getting a lot of attention. It's a viral, although we pity the token Steven at the office across the way. Not only forced to endure the cruel jibes of his colleagues, we can imagine a frantic phone call in the middle of the day from Steven's wife. "Who's Emily, you bastard?" A few minutes later, the phone rings again. "You fucker! You have a wife?"

Anyway, everyone agrees it's a viral. Our mothership seems to have gotten to the bottom of things: it's for a CourtTV show called Parco P.I., whose first episode features a plot very similar to the billboard's synopsis.

We really hate these things, but then we end up talking about them anyway. Anyone remember when advertisers hadn't ejaculated in our face so much that we hadn't developed a phallus-shaped blind spot in the middle of our vision? Now they've got to make it look like something else to even get our attention.

Viral Billboard Mystery Solved? We Take The Bait [Gawker]

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Wed, 19 Jul 2006 06:56:23 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=188289&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Plastic Cockroaches Advertise For Own Xenocide ]]>

Don't squish that cockroach! It might be a thousand dollar ad campaign!

Master Communicacao, a Brazilian ad agency, is painting slogans on the backs of plastic cockroaches and slipping the vermin under peoples' doors. The message tattooed on their abdomens? "See how easy it is to get into your house? D.D. Drin. Insect Elimination."

Clever, but why not just go whole hog, break into people's houses and dump a basket of fake cockroaches on people while they sleep?

Roachvertising [Museum of Hoaxes]

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Tue, 11 Jul 2006 06:45:17 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=186397&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ IKEA Sale Is On Sale ]]>

This ad rules. So simple and effective. Copy at bottom reads: We're giving further reductions at our annual sale.

This is the first time we've said this in print, but this ad is stupid fresh. It was designed by the Lowe agency operating out of Kuala Lumpur whose inhabitant must either have a greater, or lesser, command of the English language than we, depending on how you look at it. No offense intended to any Lumpurians in the audience.

[via Ads of the World]

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Tue, 11 Jul 2006 02:28:47 EDT Ben Popken http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=186373&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Google on Click Fraud: *Shrugs Shoulders*, "Meh." ]]> pay-per-click-fraud.gifGoogle CEO Eric Schmidt: "there is a perfect economic solution [to click fraud] which is to let it happen."

His theory, essentially, is that if Google just stopped policing the flood of fake clicks originating from shady companies looking to hike up the cost of their competitor's Google placed ads, the advertisers will eventually clue in and the value of the ads will go down.

Which is great in threory and all, except that Google has a duty not to erroneously bill their clients now. More over, is the fact that Google is overbilling their clients because of a problem in their Adsense model any less major if the amount they are overbilling goes down over time? Whether they are overcharging by $10,000 or just a buck, they are still charging clients for ads that were not clicked by customers.

Looking at the problem in aggregate and declaring it "no big deal" is crappy. Not that Google is necessarily talking about stopping their police efforts: apparently, their engineers think trying to find news ways to stop click fraud as "great fun." How nice for all their advertisers to hear they are treating the problem so casually.

Google CEO on click fraud: 'let it happen' is perfect economic solution [Digital Micro-Markets]

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Mon, 10 Jul 2006 07:32:31 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=186082&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Sledgehammer to Heel, ABC Tries To Hobble Tivo ]]> tivo.jpgOne of the best things about Tivo is the ad-skipping feature. ABC now wants to kill that and is holding meetings with DVR manufacturers to add a 'feature' to eliminate it all together. A feature to eliminate a feature? How zen.

When major corporations suddenly find that their business model is slaloming down the technological curve into obsolescence, they almost always do one thing: bully, strong-arm, lobby and sue anyone they can get their hands on to artificially preserve themselves. You saw it with the RIAA; you saw it with the MPAA. And now network television is getting in on the act, because Tivos kill ad revenue.

It's a tough pickle for the networks, alright. They require people to view ads to pay for their shows, but technology means people don't have to watch them anymore. We're a little unclear how DVRs are any different than VCRs in their capability to skip ads, but whatever: one thing's for sure, we can probably expect a lot of obnoxious moves to try to trick us into watching ads before the battle's inevitably lost by ABC.

Oh, hey! Here's the first one!

ABC wants to kill DVR ad-skipping [Ad Jab]

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Fri, 07 Jul 2006 06:55:20 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=185699&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Sony PSP: Racist? ]]> The internets are burning, aflame with outrage over this allegedly racially charged campaign Sony launched in Amsterdam to intro the new white PSP. The argument seems to hinge around that showing a black person and white person together, in combat, is racist. Previously, the PSP was only available in black. We don't particularly find the ad racist, or even that interesting, just another shiny TBWA drop of gloss.

But what do you think? Offensive or inane? More pix after the jump...

black-psp-europe.png

Detail from a third version:

sony_whiteiscoming_web_1.jpg

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Wed, 05 Jul 2006 13:01:05 EDT Ben Popken http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=185202&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Folger's Ghouls Tell You To Sleep When You're Dead ]]>

Hallucinogenic Aryan hippies nightmarishly prance about the bleary-eyed and fatigued, screaming "YOU CAN SLEEP WHEN YOU ARE DEAD!" Which will be just as soon as one of these electric kool-aid acid ghouls manages to touch you.

What are they advertising? Folger's Instant Coffee, of course. Drinking tea in the morning is looking more and more palatable. Also, ironically enough, a lot less gay.

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Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:12:05 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=180784&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Unfortunately Placed Hotel.com Ad, Isn't ]]> There's a clip going around showing a hotels.com ad right before ABC Tech Watch goes into a report about hotel.com users being at risk for credit card fraud. Ostensibly, hilarity ensues. However, the gaffe isn't as egregious as one might think; the Tech Watch report actually ran the ad within the show, as shown by the tell-tale ABC logo superimposed on the bottom right. During commercial breaks, that logo disappears.

Sorry, would-be neo-dadaists, it just ain't so.

UPDATE: Or is it? From the comments: "Explanation from another site: "this clip is from the jimmy kimmel show. he played it a few nights ago and thta's why you see the abc logo. you can hear jimmy laughing just as the clip ends."

Also, if it was a clip shown during the newscast they usually wouldn't show the "Tech Watch" splash before cutting to the anchor.

Also during the "Tech Watch" splash you can clearly see the MSNBC logo."

Houdini, we're not.

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Tue, 13 Jun 2006 17:06:55 EDT Ben Popken http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=180461&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Video of iPod Nike Shoe in Action ]]> Here's an ad explaining how the crazy hooking up an iPod nano to your Nike running shoe works. Pretty f'n cool. It seems like your nano will speak to you and tell you how far you've run, how far you have to go, how long you ran, etc. You can then redock your nano and track all your progress on the computer.

Beats pencil n' paper, we suppose.

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Fri, 02 Jun 2006 16:59:31 EDT popkin http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=178106&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ I Am Man, Hear Me Roar... When My Heart Explodes ]]>

Misogynist reinterpretations of female empowerment songs always bring a smile to our faces, especially when it involves what appears to be a concerted campaign to give every man in American a quadruple simultaneous heart attack.

"Turn our inny into an outy"? Doesn't that just happen to pregnant women? The fat people I have known have been able to pour a forty into their navels and then cavalierly sip from their own cavernous omphaloi* with a circus crazy straw.

* - Ben asked me to link omphaloi with a definition, which I wouldn't normally do, but dictionary.com appears not to even know how to pluralize "omphalos"... OED makes it clear the plural is -loi. Call me a snooty snob, but I tend to trust Oxford over Webster.

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Wed, 31 May 2006 12:13:45 EDT consumerist.com http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=177354&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Panexa: The Best and Worst Drug Ever ]]> Stay Free magazine ran an amusing back page goof ad for "Panexa" and also made a website. Now there's a promotional video.

Panexa is an analogue drug for Placeberol. It's not to be taken in conjunction with Soma or if you're also on Chairman Mao Inhibitors. May cause headaches. May remove headaches. It's pharmaceuticals and they're good for you.



via Screenhead.

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Tue, 30 May 2006 13:50:44 EDT popkin http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=177052&view=rss&microfeed=true
<![CDATA[ Carbon Dioxide is Our Friend ]]> Would you believe that some heartless politicians are trying to take our greenhouse effect carbon dioxide away from us? This film by the "Competitive Enterprise Institute" shows us the Washington fatcats diabolical plans to deprive us of nature's invisible little helper.

(Thanks to KarlHungus!)

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Tue, 30 May 2006 12:04:26 EDT popkin http://consumerist.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=177006&view=rss&microfeed=true