A Target billboard depicting a woman spreadeagled over a Target logo with her vagina centered squarely on the bullseye has some parents and feminists all riled up. One of them, Amy from ShapingYouth.org, contacted Target to see if they realized, you know, that their ad had a woman’s crotch centered on a bullseye.
advertising
Class Actions: Bed Bath & Beyond May Owe You A Small Amount Of Money
By 1.15.08
If you bought sheets at Bed Bath & Beyond you may have some money coming to you from a class action settlement. BB&B has begun notifying customers that they’ve settled a class action lawsuit brought over the thread count in their sheets. Apparently, said sheets had been labeled in a non-standard manner.
Taco Bell "Fresco" Bowl: 13g Of Fat or 8g? 350 Calories or 430?
By 1.14.08
I ordered the Zesty Chicken Border Bowl Fresco style without dressing. On the menu at the store, it reads under 9 grams of fat but on online, it reads 13 grams of fat. Please compare your special nutrition page for Fresco menu items to the Nutrition Calculator on the Taco Bell site. I made sure that I chose “Fresco Style” on the calculator and to be advertising something as under 9 grams of fat, but really having 13 is very misleading and wrong.
How To Get Rid Of Sprint's Text Message Ads
By 1.12.08
Here’s where you can go to opt-out from annoying text message ads sent to you by Sprint. Yes, it’s legit, you get to that page from the opt-out link on this Sprint page. However, they may have trouble saying goodbye. Scott, our tipster, writes, “After I sent my phone number through this page, I received 5 text messages from Sprint, telling me that I won’t receive any more text messages from Sprint…”
"Finger Lights" Actually "Miniature Glow Sticks"
By 1.10.08
This vending machine at Fry’s advertises “Finger Lights” and shows a hand with rings on them showing colored lights shooting out of the fingers like the Green Lantern just got a bunch of technicolor friends. It seems, however, they don’t quite work as advertised as employees affixed a sign informing shoppers they are, in fact, tiny glow sticks. So they would create a localized glow around the finger rather than the beams of light shown in the picture. For that, you would want to get yourself an LED light, which you’re unlikely to find in a vending machine by the checkout, unless as a prize in The Claw game. Tipster Jacob writes, “I can just imagine the frustrated manager refunding yet another 50 cents to little Jimmy who whose ‘finger light’ was found lacking.”
Congress Asks Pfizer: Why Is Dr. Jarvik Qualified To Pitch Lipitor?
By 1.9.08
Dr. Robert Jarvik is the inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, right? You know that because he’s the pitch-man for Lipitor, a heavily advertised cholesterol drug. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why inventing an artificial heart qualifies the man to pitch a drug?
Great Moments In Commercial History: Hai Karate Aftershave
By 1.9.08
The ads for Axe body sprays have a cultural debt to be paid to the makers of Hai Karate aftershave, sold from the 60’s to the 80’s. Their whole marketing strategy hinged on the notion that the budget aftershave would turn women into wild maniacs who couldn’t wait to put their hands on you.
If The Critic Doesn't Say Exactly What You Want, Change It
By 1.9.08
Speaking of blurbs and quote-whores, Gelf Magazine has compiled a list of the most egregiously misrepresented blurbs cherry-picked from various reviews last year.
H&R Block Lures College Students With $10 In "Pizza Cash"
By 1.8.08
Kevin sent in this ad for H&R Block trying to market to college kids by giving them $10 in “pizza cash” if you file through H&R Block. This sounds tasty, except that due to their low income, most college kids won’t have to pay any taxes and it’s pretty easy to do with FreeFile through the IRS.gov website, for free, natch. But file through H&R Block and you’ll probably be paying at least $60. So, you could buy yourself $10 of pizza, or pay $50+ for H&R Block pizza. They still teach math in college, right?
New Downloadable Movie Book Tests Yahoo/Adobe Ad System
By 1.7.08
Remember the announcement in November that Yahoo and Adobe were testing out a new ad system inside pdf documents? (No? It only got 1,200 hits.) Well, they are, and the big question then was how Yahoo and Adobe would determine what sorts of ads were placed in the documents, and how they’d appear. Now there’s a free (or rather, ad-supported) downloadable book—“200 documentaries you must see before you die”—that lets you test the new ad system out for yourself.
Ads For Gays Focus On Exactly What You'd Expect
By 1.7.08
Ad Guy #1: Okay, these gays have money. How do we get it?Ad Guy #2: They like wangs! And cross-dressing!Ad Guy #1: Done! [They high five.] Radar takes a look at eleven gayish ads that range from over-the-top crass to “Well, if you want to see it that way” coy.
These Applebee's Dessert Shooters Advertisements Are Confusing
By 1.6.08
We always wondered what wild and wacky things happened in the Applebee’s in Times Square. Now we know.
Amish Build Miracle Fireplace Using Steam-Powered Adobe Photoshop
By 1.4.08
This ad for Amish “HOME SURGE” fireplaces that appeared in USA Today, designed to look like a typical USA Today article, begs the question: are the Amish allowed to use Photoshop?
Firebrand, The TV Show That's Just Commercials
By 12.21.07
Firebrand is a new TV show is just 60 minutes of commercials. “CJs” will introduce the ads, interview the stars, and provide banal banter. The show was started by an MTV co-founder, who said, ” “We’re changing the model again… We took promotion videos no one wanted and ran them.” The show runs late-nights on the ION network in LA, the place where all things devoid of substance are born.
AT&T Doesn't Work In Area It Advertises
By 12.19.07
AT&T has a new campaign advertises how it “works in more places like,” and then lists a fictional place that’s a mashup of three cities. The ads are appearing in the tunnels and trains of Washington DC Metro, a real place, where AT&T really doesn’t work. Only Verizon works down there. Commenter XianZomby writes, “I think before ATT works on getting their wireless network in places that don’t exist, they should focus on getting their cell phones to work in places where they advertise cell phone service.”
Some Of The Year's Worst Ad Concepts
By 12.18.07
Suicide—even if it’s performed by a robot, and then only in a robot’s nightmare—just doesn’t move products. People don’t respond to suicide. Or football players acting all grossed out by seeing two straight dudes accidentally touch lips. Or a digitally reanimated zombie Redenbacher with skin so lifeless you’d swear he just climbed out of a casket at the funeral home. These were among the big losers picked by Stuart Elliot at the New York Times this year as he reviewed the advertising world’s more unconventional spots of 2007.
By 12.14.07
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AdFreak is running a bracket style vote-off to determine the freakiest commercial of 2007. We have a big soft spot for Montgomery Flea Market (featured as an entrant in our “Great Moments In Commercial History” series, but it seems “Orville Deadenbacher” could be slated to sweep the race. [AdFreak]
7 Of The Most Controversial Ads In Fashion History
By 12.14.07
It’s Friday—let’s look at pictures. Debonair Magazine has a rundown of some of the most controversial fashion ads in history. Well, “in history” is a bit overstated, since the oldest is a Jordache spread from 1979, and by today’s standards it looks like something from a brochure for Build-A-Bear. However, a few of the more recent ads are borderline NSFW, especially the pornoriffic Tom Ford For Men. Then again, they all appeared in a fashion mag at one point or another, so if your boss is not so good at debating, you can argue that point and maybe get away with it.
