Next to a CNN news story about how The Rapture is predicted to occur this Saturday reader Ed noticed a little ad for Allstate insurance. (According to some beliefs, The Rapture is when Jesus returns to the Earth and pulls up all the chosen in the air to meet him and get whisked away to heaven. Then some really bad stuff happens down here.) The copy reads, “When it happens, you’re in good hands.” While no doubt the placement is accidental, and part of the effect comes from the intentionally vague and all-encompassing tagline, one does start to wonder how Allstate insurance could help out during the End of Days… [More]
contextual advertising
Facebook Encourages Open Marriages—Just Ask Dan's Wife
By 6.24.09
One thing I personally hate about Facebook is how the ads co-opt my friends’ pictures and use them to try to sell me stupid stuff. Dan received one of those types of ads yesterday, only the combination of text and photo selection was a little… um, let’s say “open minded.”
Seattle TV Station Offers Delicious Accidental Chicken Barbecue Recipes
By 6.4.09
Seattle TV station KIRO, like a lot of media organizations, has sponsored links on their front page. This is all well and good, since you have to pay for the camera(wo)men and the antennae and the pixels somehow. The problem is that sometimes sad news stories and contextual advertising lead to… hilarity.
Verizon Ad Appears Next To Story About Death By Exploding Cellphone
By 11.30.07
This ad for Verizon cellphones is placed right next to an AP story about a South Korean man who may or may not have been killed by a cellphone exploding in his shirt pocket. Someone should invent a fancy technology that excludes advertisers from appearing next to articles when the name of their core product appears in editorial proximity with “death” or “exploding.”
Contextual Ad Answers Article's Question About Cause Of Subprime Lending Crisis
By 4.3.07
Eric writes:
National Disaster Goes Better With Coke
By 9.11.06
Dealing with 9/11 is a matter of reframing it within a certain contextual advertising.
Fun With Contextual Advertising: Consumerist
By 6.14.06
Hoisted then atomic wedgied by our own petard! After our recent post about the dangers of contextual advertising in regards to KFC, Consumerist Daniel M. wrote us with a screenshot of our contextual advertising… specifically in regards to our Reader Tries To Cancel AOL post. Click it to the right to see what Daniel saw.
Fun With Contextual Advertising: KFC
By 6.13.06
The unintentional wit and wisdom of the internet. Note headline. Note ad in bottom right. Mmm…overflowing. Talk about being hoisted on your own moutarde! (Thanks to Rick Dobbs!)
Citi Thinks Diseases are Comedy Gold
By 3.27.06
The unintentional comedy of the context ad bots strikes again.
