You know those ads that you ignore on your Xbox dashboard? President Obama used them as part of his re-election campaign in 2012, and with midterm elections on the horizon, Microsoft is doing its best to try to convince more politicians that these spots are ideal places to run targeted campaign and other political ads. [More]
badvertising
Feds: ADT Paid “Independent” Experts To Shill For Pulse Security System
By 3.6.14
When you see a so-called expert on the Today Show talking up a product, you might reasonably assume that this expert is giving you an honest opinion that hasn’t been tainted by cash or gifts. Alas, not every company is up front about the fact that they paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their product mentioned on TV by not-exactly-independent experts. [More]
This Outfield Wall Ad Inadvertently Reveals Hidden Potential
By 2.28.14
Advertisers have been slapping their logos on outfield walls at baseball parks for longer than any of us have been alive, but have any of those advertisers taken advantage of the opportunities available for visual trickery? [More]
UPDATE: DHL Did NOT Use Color-Changing Packages To Trick UPS Into Delivering Giant DHL Ads
By 2.21.14
UPDATE: We were correct to doubt the authenticity of this “prank.” A rep for DHL tells Consumerist that while the shipping company is aware of the video, DHL did not actually pull the prank or have anything to do with the actual production of the clip that has already been viewed more than 200,000 times on YouTube. [More]
Restaurant Defends Chloroform/Rape Sign As “Harmless”
By 2.20.14
Because nothing lures in potential diners to your restaurant than a rape joke, an eatery in Montreal has defended its decision to display such a joke in public on a sandwich board outside its front door. [More]
FDA May Trim Some Of Those Lengthy Warnings In Prescription Drug Ads
By 2.18.14
We’re all familiar with prescription drug commercials that are basically 5 seconds about how there’s some awesome drug for your “moderate-to-severe” fill-in-the-blank condition, followed by 25 seconds of happy families playing in parks accompanied by the sound of speed-red disclosures about a vast array of warnings and possible side effects. The FDA is now looking for you opinion about whether it should look into trimming down all that fine print. [More]
These Smug Citizens Bank Ads Show Exactly What’s Screwed Up About Banking
By 2.14.14
If a bank wants to offer a checking account that isn’t as terrible as most of what’s out there, that’s fine. But that bank shouldn’t pat itself on the back and act like it’s doing consumers a favor just because it gives them a slightly easier way to avoid being nickel-and-dimed. [More]
Study: Putting Celebs In Ads Is Ineffective, But Everyone Loves Ellen DeGeneres
By 1.29.14
Turn on your TV during prime time and you’ll inevitably see a cavalcade of celebrity faces, ranging from Oscar winners to “Wasn’t that the guy in that show we watched that one time?” Attaching a star to your brand is something that advertisers have done since the first rock retailer made a cave drawing of Thutronk the Hunter carrying one of his store’s special stones. And yet, science says that people just don’t care, and that it may have a negative impact on your brand. [More]
Another Marlboro Man Passes Away From Smoking-Related Causes
By 1.27.14
The wife of an actor who appeared in “Marlboro man” cigarette ads and billboards has confirmed that her husband recently died at the age of 72 from respiratory failure due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), meaning he is at least the third Marlboro man to pass away from a smoking-related cause. [More]
McDonald’s Olympics Social Media Campaign Backfires, Transforms Into Pro-LGBT Protest
By 1.24.14
McDonald’s attempt at using Twitter to promote its role in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, has not gone exactly as the fast food chain planned — that is, unless it planned for the LGBT community to use this campaign as a way to publicly shame the company for its sponsorship of the games. [More]
E-Mail Shows Big Corn Exec Wary Of Using “Natural” To Describe High-Fructose Corn Syrup
By 1.23.14
Though the FDA rejected the bid to relabel high-fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar” in 2012, the legal battle over ads about the sweetener is still ongoing. Newly uncovered e-mails from executives at huge agri-business firms reveal that not everyone was on board with all the messaging in the pro-HFCS ads. [More]
No, That Sansabelt “Action Pants” Ad You Saw On Facebook Is Not Real
By 1.23.14
Everyone loves vintage ads, especially the ones that haven’t aged particularly well. You know, the sexist and racist ads that look horrible to modern eyes, and the ones that sixty years of unrelenting irony have rendered unintentionally hilarious. However, before you hit “share” on Facebook, stop and think: is this vintage ad simply too hilarious? [More]
Nissan Scolded For Ad Showing Truck Doing The Impossible
By 1.23.14
You may remember the car ad from a couple years back in which a Nissan Frontier comes to the rescue of a stranded dune buggy, muscling up the mountain of sand and pushing the buggy over the top. The Federal Trade Commission believes that this sort of thing — showing off a feature of a vehicle that does not exist — is deceptive, and has slapped both the car company and the ad agency on the wrists over it. [More]
Is MLK Day Just Another Holiday To Sell Stuff?
By 1.21.14
Yesterday, the United States observed our newest federal holiday, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Rev. Dr. King was assassinated in 1968, and we’ve been observing a Monday close to his birthday as a nationwide holiday since 1986, so it must be about time to use his life and legacy as an excuse to hawk sleep meds, sweaters, and interracial porn. [More]
Microsoft Pays YouTube Users A Pittance To Promote Xbox One & Not Say Anything Bad About It
By 1.21.14
Dear Microsoft: If you’re going to ask YouTube video bloggers to sell out and shill for your Xbox One console, at least open up your wallet and spend some real money. Is all the negative publicity — and potential regulatory hassle — that’s destined to come of it worth a mere $3,750? [More]
Badvertising History Lessons: Women Can’t Drive, Men Can’t Bake, Fancy Cheese Is A Requirement
By 1.17.14
Let’s face it: The past was terrible. Sure, wax on about the “golden era” and pine nostalgically for the “good old days,” but if we can learn anything from advertising in days gone by, it’s that sexism sells. In an effort to show how far we’ve come and take a bit of shine off the past, we present Consumerist’s Badvertising History Lessons. This week, sexism is an equal opportunity -ism. [More]
Consumerist Presents The 19 Worst Ads Of 2013, Brought To You By Consumerist
By 12.31.13
While we all have that one friend who is constantly littering our Facebook timelines with YouTube links to “Hilarius!” [sic] commercials, most of us hate advertisements. Even the ones that are funny or interesting the first time you see them will inevitably begin to grate after you see it for the 10th time in an hour. But some ads never even earn that initial chuckle, and instead go right to pushing that nerve that makes you want to body-slam your beloved 55″ TV. [More]
Send Us Your Nominations For The Worst Ads Of 2013
By 12.23.13
With 2014 in sight, it’s time to look back on the worst TV ads of the last year. We watch enough crap here in the Consumerist batcave to come up with our own suggestions, but we want to give our readers a chance to vent about the commercials that drove them crazy in 2013. [More]
