Consumerist
Creepy Ads
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lawsuits
AT&T Sues Verizon Over "There's A Map For That" Ads
AT&T has had it with Verizon's "there's a map for that ads" and have filed a lawsuit. The big blue death star says that the ad is misleading because while the blank spaces in Verizon's map actually show places where there is no Verizon service at all — the blank spaces in the AT&T map may still have voice and data coverage — just not "3G" coverage. More » -
spyware
Gawker Duped By Malware Gang, Serves Up Infected Suzuki Ads
Scammers pretending to buy ads for Suzuki tricked Gawker's ad sales team last week into running malware-laced ads that installed spyware and crashed the browsers of some readers before they were caught and pulled. More » -
retro
Are You Ready For The UHF TV Transition?
Before DTV, before cable even, another transmission standard transistion rocked boob tubes across America - the groundbreaking introduction of UHF signals! More » -
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super bowl
Super Bowl Ads From Cash4Gold And GE: Where Are They Now?
Sure, Super Bowl ads are a great way to generate a lot of buzz for your company or product. But how do you fare in the long term? Consumer Reports Home took a look at two stars of Super Ad Bowl 2009: Cash4Gold and General Electric. More » -
text messaging
Customer Gets Payless To Compensate Him For Text Message Spam
Peter was pretty frustrated when Payless Shoesource ignored his two opt-out texts and continued to pester him with SMS spam. His complained via email and got taken off their list, but then he decided to see if he could get back the money those texts cost him. More » -
fast food
Burger King Welcomes Windows 7 With Seven-Patty Whopper
What could be more American than celebrating the launch of a new product with an almost comically unhealthy fast-food product? Unfortunately, the seven-patty Windows 7 Whopper is only available in Japan. More » -
can you catch a disease from viral marketing?
Guy Catches Laptop With His Butt. Yawn.
Somehow we missed this gem two months ago, but here's a viral video sensation involving a trio of athletes who can catch slim laptops in their butts. More » -
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badvertising
Ralph Lauren Is As Weirded Out By This Ad As We Are
Fashion advertising has a long tradition of lying, but this comically stupid Ralph Lauren ad seems to have confused the human anatomy with a box of Pocky. Unfortunately, Ralph Lauren doesn't want to be mocked for its own advertising, so it started sending out DMCA takedown notices to blogs who have posted the ad—both Boingboing and Photoshop Disasters have been ratted out to their ISPs. Blogspot took down the pic from Photoshop Disasters while it investigates, but Boingboing has posted it a second time. More » -
advertising
Gee, Jay Leno Sure Does Like Talking About Products
Edrants.com recently edited together all the moments of Leno & guests dropping product names. Yes, this is just one episode's worth of product references. More » -
truth in advertising
Internet Speeds Are Lower Than Advertised 50-80% Of The Time
Anyone who reads the fine print when signing up for Internet access knows that the speeds advertised are "best case" scenarios, or more cynically that they're total fabrications meant to lure in customers. Now the FCC, as part of its larger study of how to expand broadband access, has reported that "actual broadband speeds lag advertised speeds by as much as 50% to 80%." More » -
advertising
50 Cool Billboards
Most billboards are either ugly jumbles of giant text, or unfortunately memorable things like this. Here's a list of 50 mostly cool ones (we think the Texas one is 'shopped, and the anti-American one can suck it). Hey, if you're gonna advertise on a billboard, you may as well make it entertaining. More » -
amish heater
Reminder: Amish Heater Is Still No Miracle
The supposedly classy New York Times Magazine had a 2-page ad for the Amish Heater this weekend, so with that and the cold times a-coming, now is a good time to remind everyone that the Amish Heater is just a standard space heater plus overpriced particleboard faux-wood mantle on wheels. More » -
ups
UPS Now Delivers Bonus Junk Mail Packages
What does the United States Postal Service do for you that UPS doesn't? Deliver junk mail, you say? Not anymore! Next week, UPS will test market delivering solicitations along with your packages in a few lucky, lucky markets. More » -
nigerian 419
Nigeria Demands Apology For Sony Ad Implying They're A Source Of Scams
Nigeria is mad at Sony for its latest ads that suggesting a lot of scams come from the country. Heaven forfend! More » -
branding
Top 25 Best Global Brands — Samsung, Microsoft Beat Apple
Branding consultants Interbrand have released their 2009 "Best Global Brands" report. Once again, Coke is the planet's most valuable brand. IBM and Microsoft took second and third respectively. Check out he top 25 inside. More » -
funny
Comic Duo Offers To Make Free Commercials For Local Businesses
Love local commercials? So do Rhett & Link, a couple of comics who film ads for local businesses everywhere. The spot below, for example, makes a delightfully inappropriate plea for racial unity while plugging North Carolina-based Red House Furniture ("We make furniture for black people and white people!"). More » -
weird
Play Doh Ads Make Crying Out For Help Fun
These Play Doh ads from Singapore don't seem to be aimed at kids. Then again, the message "safe no matter what you make" seems to be aimed directly at parents of kids who play with Play Doh, which leads us back to our initial thought, which is wtf kind of kid requiring parental supervision is shaping eerily realistic looking bottles of pills and razor blades for fun? Play Doh, the fun sad toy that tastes like tears!
"A Campaign With an Edge" [UglyDoggy via AgencySpy]
