Consumerist
badvertising
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badvertising
Hardee's New Ad: Our Food Tastes Better Than Someone's Anus!
Not to be outdone by Burger King's "fellate our new burger" ad, Hardee's restaurant has launched a similarly juvenile campaign with its new "biscuit holes." You can probably guess where this is going. More » -
new yorker
Old New Yorker Ad: Our Readers Are So Rich, They STILL Have Slaves
While perusing old advertising trade journals, I came across this ad for the New Yorker. You win if you can correctly answer what the message is here: New Yorker readers are under-exercised fat cats? That blackface was more common in hotels than we ever thought? That retail stores once secretly conspired with the New Yorker's ad department to divulge customers' sales histories? More » -
badvertising
Fake News Invades Slate, Salon, HuffPo
Wired has found several examples of scams-disguised-as-news on Slate, Salon, and Huffington Post, among other websites. Most of the mock news stories, none of which are labeled as ads, tout lucrative Google jobs: "Can You Really Work Online at Home? We Investigate This Trend." More » -
followup
Sam's Club Apologizes For Candy-In-Prescription-Bottles Promo
Sam's Club has put an end to their recent pharmacy campaign and apologized for confusing pills with candy. After Joe at Salisbury News, who received the giant pill bottle filled with sweets, wrote to complain, they sent him a response in which they said it was an isolated incident and won't be repeated elsewhere:
We have also shared with all of our pharmacy departments that this is an unacceptable practice and should not be repeated. At Sam's Club we always have the health and welfare of our customers and members in mind with everything we do and we deeply regret that this incident occurred.
You can read the full response over at Salisbury News.
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funny
Facebook Encourages Open Marriages—Just Ask Dan's Wife
One thing I personally hate about Facebook is how the ads co-opt my friends' pictures and use them to try to sell me stupid stuff. Dan received one of those types of ads yesterday, only the combination of text and photo selection was a little... um, let's say "open minded."
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badvertising
Furniture Store Habitat Caught Exploiting Iran Via Twitter
BBC News reports that the furniture chain Habitat is very, very sorry for using keywords such as "Iran" and "Mousavi" to drive sales via Twitter. The tweets were posted last week and have since been removed, but in case you missed the poetry of this particular brand of badvertising, here's one sample: #MOUSAVI Join the database for free to win a £1,000 gift card! More » -
greenwashing
Nearly all "Eco" Product Claims Are Misleading
Mother Jones reports that a study of "4,000 'eco-friendly' consumer products... found that 98 percent make false or misleading claims." Hardly a surprise, huh? More » -
marketing
Sams Club Giving Kids Candy In Pill Bottles
The Sam's Club in Salisbury, Maryland, is promoting its pharmacy by handing out pill bottles filled with candy to kids. I guess that's better than filling Dots boxes with Vicodin. Or handing out gallon-sized jugs of Nerds. Update: Sam's Club has ended the promotion and apologized for it. More » -
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badvertising
Hate Loud Commercials? Well, They May Be Outlawed Soon
Good news for those of you who hate loud commercials — a bill currently bouncing around in Congress would force the FCC to "preclude commercials from being broadcast at louder volumes than the program material they accompany." More » -
blogging
FTC Wants Bloggers To Reveal When They're Being Compensated To Promote A Product
You know what's worse than not having a big bag of M&Ms on your desk to enjoy while you work? Having to read a blogvertisement disguised as editorial content! Hold on, I have to eat some more M&Ms. Good gravy these are delicious. Did you know M&M's cure malaria? It's true! Anyway, the FTC says bloggers should reveal when they're being compensated in some way to promote a product, and I agree. More » -
badvertising
DC Area Mall Pulls Ads That Turn Vietnam Memorial Into Store Directory
Tysons Corner, an upscale mall in the Washington, D.C. area, just pulled down over 400 ads that were recently posted in the city's metro system because they looked an awful lot like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, except instead of names of soldiers they had names of famous retail stores. We're sure they would have gone with soldier names if any of the soldiers offered great deals on today's hottest fashions. This is really on you, America's Finest. More » -
strange
Bear Grylls Loves Post Trail Mix, When He Can't Grab A Handful Of Goat Balls And Spiders
-Let's get a real rough and tumble adventure guy to push our trail mix!
-Yeah, trail mix is all about roughing it! And being green! And nature!
-How about Bear Grylls?
-...isn't he the guy who eats bugs and testicles and rotten zebras on TV?
-That's why you're a junior account manager, Chuck. You don't think outside the box. More » -
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bizarre
What Is Wrong With Quiznos?
Seriously, what's up with them? Their new ad features an oven that begs a Quiznos employee to "put it in me, Scott," as the camera pans over what it calls a Toasty Torpedo. There's also a subliminal flash of a periscope jutting up from the flames at one point, as our eagle-eyed reader Bbender pointed out. More » -
badvertising
FTC To Require Advertisers Using Testimonials To Show Typical Results
Subway spokesman and occasional thin guy Jared Fogle may soon be out of work thanks to a new FTC rule banning commercial testimonials that warn "results not typical" or "individual results may vary." Under the new rule, marketers using, say, body builders to advertise weight loss pills are also going to have to show an average lardass whose results might be more typical. You can guess how advertisers are reacting to the change... More » -
badvertising
This Verizon Discount Applies To All Plans... Except The One Advertised
Reader Ben says: "This reminds me of the days when Henry Ford used to tell Model T buyers that they could have their car in any color they wanted, as long as it was black. With Verizon, you can have a discount on any plan you want, as long as it's not the unlimited one."
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dirty tricks
Desperate Chrysler Dealership Resorts To Stupid Scare Tactics To Drum Up Business
Apparently the people at Integrity (!) Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Las Vegas don't read our blog, or they would have seen this post last year. Then they would have known what a bad idea it is to trick people into thinking you've hit their vehicle just to get them to call you about a trade-in offer. More » -
badvertising
Great Moments In Commercial History: Frank Myers Auto
Reader Kate nominates Frank Myers Auto for this week's award. More »
