Remember when you could buy barbiturates for the baby? Cover your house with asbestos? Or get heroin from the doctor? Okay, probably not, but thanks to the immortal beauty of advertising, you can take a trip back in time. Here’s our pick of some of the most ironic ads in American history.
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Top 10 Ironic Ads From History
By 7.2.09
Hardee's New Ad: Our Food Tastes Better Than Someone's Anus!
By 7.1.09
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.
Billy Mays Dead At 50
By 6.28.09
You have to wonder if before going to sleep last night, pitchman Billy Mays thought of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon, and said to himself one last time, “but wait, there’s more!”
Ten Stupid Infomercials Will Shake Your Faith In Capitalism
By 6.26.09
The best thing about YouTube is that it lets us see wacky commercials and insipid infomercials without the inconvenience of watching TV. Where would the Comfort Wipe be without it?
Ten Suggestive Automotive Ads from the Past
By 6.25.09
The fine petrolheads at Jalopnik have compiled this list of ten very suggestive automotive print ads, from the 1960s onward. It reminds me of a study where men were shown two ads of the same car, one ad with a sexy woman, the other without. The men rated the car with the living hood ornament as more appealing, expensive, and faster than the car without. At the same time, the men vigorously denied that the model’s presence had any affect on their opinion whatsoever.
Befuddled Customers Find Netbooks Are Nyetbooks, Notebooks Are Notbooks
By 6.24.09
The majority of people in the market for a laptop can’t tell the difference between notebooks and netbooks, and are disappointed to end up with one when they thought they bought the other, an NPD survey finds.
Should GM Cut Back On Advertising During Bankruptcy? They Don't Think So
By 6.23.09
Up until its recent plunge into bankruptcy, GM had been our nation’s second-largest advertiser — behind only Procter & Gamble. The company spent $2 billion dollars annually for the past few years — and though they’ve recently cut back and fallen into third place behind Verizon, the company apparently plans to continue to spend their pre-bankruptcy budget of $40-50 million a month on ads.
Sausage Package Illustrates What Happens When You're A Jerk To The Copywriter
By 6.18.09
We did try to investigate the truthfulness of the statement on the package, but Wikipedia offered no evidence that Mr. Harriott was at all unpleasant.
Rumble In The Strip Mall: Best Buy Calls Out Walmart
By 6.17.09
Sure, Best Buy emerged victorious over Circuit City in the Battle of the Big-Box Electronics Stores, but they still have to compete with general discounters like Walmart. Which is why in a new ad campaign, Best Buy calls out Walmart specifically, attacking their employees’ presumed lack of product knowledge compared to Best Buy employees.
Microsoft Goes After Internet Ad Fraudsters In Court
By 6.16.09
Microsoft feels it was tricked out of $750,000 in online ad dollars by three Vancouver residents, so it’s suing their pants off and trying to set a new precedent for throwing legal heft around in the digital advertising world.
FTC Wants Bloggers To Reveal When They're Being Compensated To Promote A Product
By 6.11.09
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.
Is Pottery Barn Stalking Me Through Facebook?
By 6.8.09
Jacob got engaged last weekend. Yay! Mysteriously, before the wedding plans could even begin, his fiancÈe received an e-mail from Pottery Barn inviting her to start a wedding registry. Except she never signed up with them, or told any other retailer that she was engaged. What she did do was…change her Facebook status.
Looking To Interview Truth-In-Advertising Lawyer
By 6.3.09
Are you a lawyer with experience and knowledge of truth-in-advertising litigation? Or know someone who is? I’m looking to interview such a person for an article with a deceptive marketing hook. Email me at ben@consumerist.com, subject line, “lawyer.”
Coalition Says Movies Try To Sell You Tasty, Cool Cigarettes
By 5.28.09
Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke reports the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the California Youth Advocacy Network and the American Medical Association Alliance have teamed to launch an ad campaign to warn against Hollywood’s tendency to shill for the tobacco industry.
Food Advertising Reality Check: Pizza And Burger Edition
By 5.27.09
This doesn’t quite qualify as “unacceptable food.” More like “food that doesn’t look quite like depicted in the ads.” We bring disappointing photographs of a frozen pizza from fancy-pants grocer Whole Foods, and a humble cheeseburger from Jack in the Box.
CARD Act Includes Limits On Not-So-Free Credit Report Ads
By 5.26.09
A less-reported provision of the CARD Act, the credit card reform bill signed by President Obama on Friday, puts limits on ads promoting that old Consumerist nemesis, “free” credit reports.
Hot Dog War: Ball Park Franks Sues Oscar Mayer Over Taste Test Claims
By 5.21.09
Sara Lee, maker of Ball Park Franks, has sued Kraft, manufacturer of Oscar Mayer hot dogs over advertising that claimed that the Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks beat Ball Park and ConAgra Foods’ Hebrew National hot dogs in a national taste test. Turns out, it wasn’t that simple.
Twitter Says No To Ads For Now
By 5.19.09
Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and his partners are some cool cats. Facebook tried to buy the company for half a billion and they turned it down. The fledgling social networking service also staved off Google from gobbling it up.
