From using a DVR to installing ad-blocking software, many consumers go to great lengths just to block advertising on their TVs, phones, and computers. One might look at this trend and infer that people distrust advertising. But a new survey claims that a growing majority of North American consumers trust most advertising formats (except online and mobile ads, because everyone knows those are crap). [More]
badvertising
The Many Ways Of Hiding An Ad As A “Sponsored Post”
By 9.19.13
Advertisers have always sought seamless integration of their brands into consumer-targeted content, driven by the notion that the audience is less irritated by a commercial if it doesn’t scream “I’m a commercial.” But at what point does that line get so fuzzy that it’s hard to tell the difference between the two? [More]
Ad Watchdog Voices Concerns About Claims Made In Comcast, T-Mobile Commercials
By 9.17.13
It’s not just consumers that watch TV commercials and exclaim, “I question the factual basis of the claims made by the company featured in this advertisement!” Sometimes, it’s competing businesses — especially those who feel they’ve been smeared in the ad — that take exception to what’s being said. In just the last two days, CenturyLink and AT&T each won minor, non-binding victories in disputes against Comcast and T-Mobile, respectively. [More]
Feds To Investigate The Fuzzy Line Between Advertising & Editorial Content
By 9.16.13
Call them “advertorials,” “sponsored stories,” “brand journalism,” or — the latest nonsense term — “native advertising,” but it’s all the same: An ad that looks an awful lot like — and is often not distinguishable from — a website’s editorial content. Since consumers have long stopped even noticing banners, click away from pages with auto-play video ads, and increasingly use mobile devices to go online, advertisers have turned to these ad-wolves in editorial sheep’s clothing. [More]
Oh Lovely, It Seems We Need To Do A Round-Up Of 9/11 Promotions
By 9.11.13
We’ve barely seen any tacky 9/11 promotions over the years but this year… [head shake] there’s something about this year’s anniversary of the attacks that has companies and businesses climbing all over themselves to prove they, too, can push out a tone deaf promo in the name of patriotism and respect. We’ve seen a golf course do it, AT&T did it, and now we’ve got enough additional examples today that we have to do a round-up of the awful things. [More]
Kmart Forgets It’s Still Summer, Begins Airing Holiday Ad
By 9.10.13
Perhaps Kmart panicked after having a nightmare that it was November and had forgotten to put together a holiday ad campaign, or maybe some prankster at Sears changed a Kmart marketing exec’s desk calendar. Why else would the beleaguered retailer start airing a holiday shopping ad while it’s still summer? [More]
New LG TVs Will Be Telling Marketers What You’re Watching
By 9.5.13
Your co-workers, friends, and maybe even your loved ones might not know you obsessively watch marathons of House Hunters International, but your TV soon will, with LG and others looking to launch Internet-connected sets that tell third-party marketers about all the horrible TV shows you watch. [More]
It’s Against The Law For Car Dealers To Not Give Consumers All Relevant Info About Deals
By 9.3.13
Take a look at the ad to the left promising $12,000 off MSRP for a 2013 Ford F-150. That’s a heck of an offer for a truck that starts at around $24,000. But what you don’t see — and what you don’t find out until you try to buy the vehicle — is that the discount only applies to the $47,000 F-150 Lariat version, so instead of getting a 50% discount on a reasonably priced new truck, you learn that it’s around a 25% savings on a high-end vehicle. [More]
Pearl Izumi Sorry They Said Shoes Will Run Your Dog To Death
By 8.29.13
Dogs make great running, hiking, and walking companions: they (usually) go wherever you want, keep up a good pace, alert you to nearby squirrels, and don’t try to engage in any pesky conversations. So it’s understandable that people who run with their dogs found an ad for Pearl Izumi shoes that ran in Canada offensive. It shows a man performing cardio-pulmonary resuscitation on his dog, and implies that this is a good thing. [More]
Burger King Russia Positions Whopper As Substitute For Opium And/Or McDonald’s
By 8.16.13
People are often quipping that fast food has a drug-like quality that keeps customers coming back for more, but the folks at Burger King’s Russian operation are making the connection quite literal, while at the same time apparently poking fun at McDonald’s. [More]
Breaking Bad’s Bob Odenkirk Picks Apart Ads For Real-Life Ambulance Chasers
By 8.9.13 — Updated: 8.12.13
Rave all you want about Bryan Cranston’s portrayal of Walt White or how Aaron Paul’s Jesse Pinkman is the show’s true but flawed moral compass, but I say the real star of Breaking Bad is Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman, the bus bench attorney whose got-dressed-in-the-dark outward appearance belies the sly legal fox lurking underneath. So what better way to end the week than with this Vulture video of Odenkirk dissecting crappy ads for real-life ambulance chasers? [More]
Dear Facebook: Please Do Not Start Running Video Ads
By 8.5.13
Ever since Facebook went public in 2012, the pressure has been on for the social networking site (if one considers posting baby photos and Buzzfeed links to be “social networking”) to start leveraging its massive audience for ad revenue. And back when its stock price was around the cost of lunch at a diner, auto-play video ads seemed inevitable. And even after recent upticks in Facebook’s value, it looks like the company wants to drive y’all away with these ads that consumers avoid like the plague. [More]
Learn How To Build An Evil Internet Empire With This 1 Weird Trick!
By 7.31.13
If you’re like most people, you work hard to avoid clicking on the creepy “one weird trick” ads that advertise simple but amazing solutions to weight loss, car insurance, diabetes, small penises, and other modern woes. They wouldn’t be everywhere if they weren’t effective, but who is clicking? What happens when they do click? [More]
New Monopoly Teaches Kids The Importance Of Xbox, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and EA!
By 7.26.13
The folks at Hasbro have never had a problem letting everything from towns to universities to movies to big-name commercial brands slap their names on licensed versions of Monopoly, but a new version of the classic board game is unabashedly all about learning the value of today’s biggest fast food, retail, tech, and entertainment companies — everything a growing child needs to get ahead! [More]
Some Poor Guy Has To Stand Outside Pizza Hut HQ “Protecting” This Royal Baby Tie-In Offer
By 7.22.13
Sign-twirlers and flyer-distributors in sandwich boards are often viewed as occupying the lowest rung of the advertising ladder. But those guys have nothing on the poor sucker who has to stand outside Pizza Hut HQ in 97 degree weather dressed in faux royal guard garb — all to “protect” some royal baby cash-in promo. [More]
UK Bans Coca-Cola Ad Showing You How To Burn Off Calories From Soda
By 7.22.13
Earlier this year, Coca-Cola began running TV ads here and in the UK showing you all the fun activities you could do to burn off the extra calories you consumed while chugging down a Coke. But regulators overseas have since banned one version of the ad saying it misled viewers into thinking they could work off a can of soda with a lot less exertion than is actually required. [More]
Casino’s “You Can’t Lose” Refund Promotion Is Really Just Meant To Keep You Gambling
By 7.22.13
The casino always wins in the end. If it didn’t, we’d all be rich and casino-owners would be smashing open piggy banks to pay the bills. So when a house of gambling tells customers that it really wants to do something nice and will refund their slot-machine losses, you should expect that there is more to the offer than meets the eye. [More]
JetBlue Gets Burned By Hot Weather Promotion
By 7.19.13
As the Mid-Atlantic settles in for what must be the 623rd straight day of searing-hot temperatures, the folks at JetBlue are learning that maybe they shouldn’t rely on Mother Nature to cooperate when planning a promotional discount. The airline has had to pull the plug on an ill-conceived weather-related offering after too many people signed up. [More]
