The world of advertising
I've long taken a certain pride in keeping this blog ad-free, but I have to admit that ads can sometimes be entertaining.
Anything goes in the struggle to get noticed. Diesel, a clothing vendor (when was it decided that company names should no longer have any connection with what they sell?) actually won an award for a campaign of ads associating the virtue of stupidity with its products, complete with images of people doing stupid or dangerous things, such as this:
Two of these ads were banned in Britain, not because they're, well, stupid, but because they're "indecent and promote anti-social behavior".
Then there are those ads all over the internet that say "[Authority figure]s HATE this!", usually promoting some dubious medical miracle that doctors HATE, or some gizmo that power companies HATE, because those things will enable the sort of people who fall for those ads to do without those old-timers' expensive services. They must be pretty effective at fleecing the marks, since they're so pervasive, but I simply couldn't stomach reproducing one here.
I can't remember where I found this one or what it was advertising, but apparently the selling point was that the product will give you some kind of hideous skin rash from outer space (click to enlarge):
This one at least has an eye-catching way of making its point:
The mid-twentieth century was a simpler, more naïve, and apparently stupider time. A time when it was possible to pretend to think that this ad (1968) was perfectly innocent:
But my favorite ad from those days has to be this one:
I mean, come on, Dick Lord? And don't even get me started on that outfit.
Those are old, but of course who knows how long the problem of annoying ads has been with us?
Today, of course, sexually-suggestive ads are common and I didn't want to emphasize them too much in this post because it's sort of like shooting fish in a barrel, but they do seem to be getting more blatant:
Sometimes it's hard to tell if they're being subtle or just careless. This was part of some junk mail I once got -- I think it was for an investment account or something like that:
Foreign countries sometimes use advertising gimmicks which we wouldn't. Here's an ad from Bulgaria for "Flirt" vodka -- this is a bit beyond flirting, I think:
Finally, here's a commercial for something called Bjørg Jewellery. I'll be damned if I can see what the imagery in this ad has to do with what it's supposedly selling (warning: it's a bit disturbing):
And with that, we're done. Back to ad-free posting.
Anything goes in the struggle to get noticed. Diesel, a clothing vendor (when was it decided that company names should no longer have any connection with what they sell?) actually won an award for a campaign of ads associating the virtue of stupidity with its products, complete with images of people doing stupid or dangerous things, such as this:
Two of these ads were banned in Britain, not because they're, well, stupid, but because they're "indecent and promote anti-social behavior".
Then there are those ads all over the internet that say "[Authority figure]s HATE this!", usually promoting some dubious medical miracle that doctors HATE, or some gizmo that power companies HATE, because those things will enable the sort of people who fall for those ads to do without those old-timers' expensive services. They must be pretty effective at fleecing the marks, since they're so pervasive, but I simply couldn't stomach reproducing one here.
I can't remember where I found this one or what it was advertising, but apparently the selling point was that the product will give you some kind of hideous skin rash from outer space (click to enlarge):
This one at least has an eye-catching way of making its point:
The mid-twentieth century was a simpler, more naïve, and apparently stupider time. A time when it was possible to pretend to think that this ad (1968) was perfectly innocent:
But my favorite ad from those days has to be this one:
Those are old, but of course who knows how long the problem of annoying ads has been with us?
Today, of course, sexually-suggestive ads are common and I didn't want to emphasize them too much in this post because it's sort of like shooting fish in a barrel, but they do seem to be getting more blatant:
Sometimes it's hard to tell if they're being subtle or just careless. This was part of some junk mail I once got -- I think it was for an investment account or something like that:
Foreign countries sometimes use advertising gimmicks which we wouldn't. Here's an ad from Bulgaria for "Flirt" vodka -- this is a bit beyond flirting, I think:
Finally, here's a commercial for something called Bjørg Jewellery. I'll be damned if I can see what the imagery in this ad has to do with what it's supposedly selling (warning: it's a bit disturbing):
And with that, we're done. Back to ad-free posting.
posted by Infidel753 at 3:55 AM
9 Comments:
Note: This post originally included a "Russian Tampax commercial" which I removed because it's actually a spoof, not a real ad. Here's the video if you're interested -- it's funny in a rather brutal way.
That last one is beyond weird. I'm really glad you don't accept ads. I think something happens to the integrity factor when bloggers go down that road.
"Diesel's "Be stupid" campaign, created by ad agency Anomaly..."
And obviously "Anomaly" is the ad agency of choice for the current GOP.
Sorry. Couldn't resist.
That last video was selling jewelry by Bjørg Jewellery? Seems the name of the company should be Bijou by Jean d'Arc.
I think the public has become a bit jaded, so the ad agencies have to come up with more and more bizarre ways of getting its attention.
"Speedy Alka-Seltzer" used to take care of a "spicey meat-a-ball, now we have human sacrifice to sell jewelry.
Leslie: I agree, plus you have very little control over what ads appear -- you could end up advertising something quite against your principles.
Shaw: I'd love to see what kind of campaign they could come up with for the Republicans.
If ads are going to get any more bizarre that that one, I'll need to put some kind of warning label on the next post I do like this.
And "The wicked witch of the blogosphere" is a better line than any of these ads have.
BTW, in Boston, where I live, "wicked" means "awesome." The trolls have named me the "awesome" witch of the blogsphere. LOL!
Wicked pissah!
I like advertisements that are hilarious, creative, or visually stunning. Most, however, insult viewers' intelligence or appeal to the lowest common denominator.
"Infidel753" has been included in the A Sunday Drive for this week. Be assured that I hope this helps to point even more new visitors in your direction.
http://asthecrackerheadcrumbles.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-sunday-drive_18.html
Interesting and true. I enjoyed running across your neat blog...:)
Shaw: Wicked indeed!
Ahab: I think the "Dick Lord" ad is unintentionally hilarious, and the Bjørg one is creative and stunning, in somewhat the same sense that a car bomb is.
Jerry: Thanks for the link -- I appreciate it.
Troutbirder: Thanks, and welcome aboard.
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