If you thought the demon who goes by many names — native advertising, advertorials, sponsored stories, promoted content, utter bullsh*t — was something that was relegated to the Internet, then go check out the new issue of Forbes, which not only comes complete with some of this bought-and-paid-for crap, but which actually lists it on the front cover of the magazine like it’s just another story. [More]
badvertising
Feds Warn That Claims Of Biodegradable Dog Poop Bags May Be Full Of… You Know
By 2.3.15
While some dog owners stick to tried-and-true methods of picking up their canine pals’ waste with the aid of plastic shopping bags, that’s a lot of plastic going into landfills. This is why there are several companies selling poo-collection bags labeled “biodegradable” or “compostable.” But the Federal Trade Commission is warning a number of the companies that make and market these products that they may be running afoul of laws against deceptive advertising. [More]
Ad Watchdog Group To Comcast: Stop Saying Stuff That Isn’t True In Your Ads
By 1.28.15
Comcast, like every other company on earth, likes to advertise about how great they are. They run commercials all over about how their internet is better, faster, stronger than the next guy’s. Except, a business group that checks in on badvertising says, Comcast isn’t really as great as Comcast claims it is, and needs to tone it down a bit. [More]
Wait — What Did The Guy In This FarmersOnly.com Ad Just Say?
By 1.27.15
If you’re a fan of basic cable, you’ve most likely seen any number of the many ads for FarmersOnly.com, the online dating site targeting rural Americans. The ad’s recent slate of commercials are more professional-looking than some of the bottom-dollar spots that first got that darn jingle stuck in our heads, but there’s one new-ish ad that we had to rewind a few times just to make sure we heard it correctly. [More]
Conde Nast Proudly Using Editors To Write Sponsored Content For Advertisers
By 1.26.15
For quite some time, we’ve been telling you about a particularly pernicious evil that goes by various names — advertorial content, native advertising, brand reporting, branded content, sponsored stories, pure crap — that a growing number of websites have tried to slip past their readers as actual editorial content. The most ethical sites take measures to call these stories out as being bought and paid for, and many sites refuse to taint their editorial process by allowing their staffers to work on this nonsense. But Conde Nast has decided that the best way to use its highly qualified and talented staff is to have them writing shill content for advertisers. [More]
McDonald’s “Signs” Commercial: Heartwarming Message Or Crass Cash-In?
By 1.12.15
Over the weekend, McDonald’s extended its latest “lovin'” campaign with a new ad featuring a series of McDonald’s restaurant signs bearing messages about everything from natural disasters to the Boston Marathon killings to birthday greetings. Some viewers had their hearts warmed by the reminders that local fast food franchises can spread messages of more than just Happy Meals, while other viewers were less won-over, viewing the ad as a crass way for McDonald’s to attach itself to national tragedies. [More]
Brewery: Sorry We Put A Gandhi Robot On A Beer Label
By 1.5.15
In yet another example of companies seemingly unaware that using a culture/religion’s symbols to peddle a product is likely to cause controversy whether the intentions were ill or not, a United States brewery is busy apologizing to anyone offended by a Gandhi robot on its beer labels. [More]
Sprint’s “Framily,” NFL’s Family Of Disloyal Fans Lead List Of 2014’s Worst Ads
December 31, 2014
There has been a lot of discussion in recent years about what exactly constitutes a “family” in a time when people can have deeply felt connections with those they’ve never met while simultaneously having no meaningful relationships with their kin in the next room. But regardless of how they define familial relations, Consumerist readers have resoundingly let it be known that there were two advertising families that they wanted nothing to do with in 2014. [More]
Expect A Lot More “Promoted Pin” Ads On Pinterest In 2015
By 12.29.14
Pinterest isn’t just about sharing wedding decoration ideas and food photos. It’s also a way for advertisers to push their “Promoted Pin” ads on users, and apparently it’s been successful at doing that, as Pinterest is promising to roll out this advertising option to everyone in the coming year. [More]
Feds Tell Nissan Dealer To Stop Saying Buyers Can Get Out Of Current Lease For Only $1
By 12.23.14
Have you been looking to get a new car but you’re stuck in the lease on your current vehicle? A Nissan dealership in Texas has been advertising that it will get you out of your present lease for only one dollar, but the Federal Trade Commission says the fine print tells a very different story. [More]
L.A. Medical Marijuana Dispensary Removes Pot-Smoking Santa Painting From The Window After Complaints
By 12.17.14
If the legal marijuana industry learns anything from Big Tobacco’s experience in this country, it’s that mixing kids and smoking is just not going to fly, as the industry found out with the banishment of Joe Camel and his ilk. So even if medical marijuana is legal in California, it’s not legal for anyone under 18. You know, or anyone who might believe in Santa Claus. [More]
Send Us Your Nominees For The Worst Ads Of 2014
By 12.8.14
Even though many of us now try to employ our DVRs and streaming services to avoid as many commercials as possible, there are times when you have little choice; just ask anyone who has watched a Sunday afternoon football game and been attacked by the same truck and beer ads run, ad nauseam, during every time out. So here’s your chance to vent and call out the worst of the worst. [More]
Sorry Camel, Fewer People Than Ever Are Smoking Between Every Thanksgiving Course
By 11.26.14
It’s been 78 years since Camel rans its full-page Thanksgiving ad encouraging smokers to enjoy a cigarette after every course of their holiday meal to aid with “good digestion.” Since then, food has apparently gotten a lot easier to digest — and people aren’t so keen about dying of lung cancer, emphysema and heart disease — as a new CDC report finds that fewer Americans than ever are aiding their digestion with cigarettes. [More]
Restaurant Sorry It Offended People With “Roofie Colada” Drink
By 11.26.14
Here’s a suggestion for anyone running a business: When naming a product, you might want to think about not cracking a date-rape joke, as — amazingly — not everyone is amused by references to non-consensual forced intercourse. [More]
Sony To Issue Refunds Over Misleading PS Vita Ads
By 11.25.14
When Sony launched its handheld PlayStation Vita device nearly three years ago, ads promised that the Vita would include “game changing” technology, like the ability to play games stored remotely on PlayStation 3 consoles, or that you could save a game on your PS 3 and use your Vita to pick up where you left off, or that you could use the 3G version of the Vita to access a library of multiplayer games anywhere with a data connection. The Vita never quite lived up to this early hype, which is why — as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission — Sony will issue partial refunds to early adopters of the device. [More]
Budweiser To Waste Money Trying To Convince 20-Somethings To Drink Bud
By 11.24.14
By its own admission, nearly half of American beer-drinkers between the ages of 21 and 27 not only don’t drink Budweiser, but have never even tried the self-crowned King of Beers. That’s why we will all have to endure months of young and edgy ads attempting to target this demographic (before the company goes inevitably back to its default flags/horses/baseball marketing). [More]
Expect To See More Ads Pretending To Be Editorial Content
By 11.21.14
At the same time as Google is looking to give some sites a way to make money by not running ads, advertisers are ramping up their spending on ads that look like editorial content and can’t be avoided with any ad-blocking plugin. [More]
The Who Remix Old Songs To Fit Into New Ads
By 11.18.14
Using hit songs to sell shoes, food, insurance, cars, and many other items is nothing new, but because those tunes don’t always fit precisely into the super-tight confines of a 30-second TV ad, the songs are often either butchered by editors or re-recorded specifically for the commercial. In an effort to make their music more easily shoehorned into ads and other media, The Who has remixed more than a dozen classic songs. [More]
