I love bad advertising. Like the Chinese restaurant near us that boasts, We promise you “good food.” Or our favorite pizza place with the motto: The pizza you can eat! (as opposed to what, exactly?). On the other hand, some adverts are questionable on purpose. Like the shop I visited in Canterbury, England, that featured my favorite all-time window ad: Sex aids for ferrets! In small print underneath, forcing me to draw near to what actually turned out to be a music store, it said, Not really, but we have some lovely deals on musical instruments. Here are some classic examples of questionable advertising, a few intentional, most just wonderfully clueless.
Click on any image to enlarge it or to begins slide show.
PUBLISHED by catsmob.com
Mitch Teemley 
Wonderful 😂🤣
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Love the barber shop menu!
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Thank you for my daily laughs!
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There is a gas station up north with a sign on the pumps awning: “GAS for your Life!” Great, who’s gonna drive now? Norm
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;>)
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LOL! Some, not all, have come a long way, baby. 🤦 (I should be tunashamed for that.) What a riot, Mitch!
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;>)
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I enjoyed these, especially knife fight with Mark for free …
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Sometimes, you wonder…
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Somewhere I have a picture of the Shun Fat Supermarket in Edmonton, Alberta, CA.
https://shunfatsupermarket.com/ and if that site doesn’t work, try
https://www.yelp.com/biz/shun-fat-supermarket-garden-grove-2 😁
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Wow! I love bad ads too
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Some of these are funny, and some make me glad I didn’t grow up in the 1950s! Maggie
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I get that, Maggie!
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The martial arts one reminds me of when a local MMA fighter came to teach self defense to my (then-about 8yo) sons Scout troop self defense. My son accidentally kicked him where he should have been wearing protection. He can always tell people he almost knocked out a real MMA guy.
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;>)
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Okaaaay, Sabrina! Jeeez!!
“It’s A Grind” was my FAVE coffee chain. I think they’re all gone now.
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I think my favorite was Soon Fatt
😅😂🤣
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When I lived in Wy. there was a cafe’ called “Road Kill Cafe.'” gee I wonder why it was boarded up. 🙂
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If only vultures could read, they’d have done a, ahem, roaring business.
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Ah, if you’re missing a taste of the road, you can get your roadkill fix here: https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/florida/bizarre-restaurant-fl-swamp/. *smiles*
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I don’t think I’ll eat there either even though the ice cream did look good. 🙂
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Ugh, yeah, even though it’s not really roadkill, I’ve only been a few times back when I was growing up in Florida. It wasn’t very vegetarian friendly. LOL!
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It’s a lovely spot though…I miss the swamps!
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Years ago a friend and I awaited a new Chinese restaurant. Their OPEN SOON sign had been in the window for months. Eventually we had several delightful lunches in what we came to call “Open Soon.”
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;>)
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Wow, we have stupid, funny, clueless, AND offensive!!
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Yep, all the important advertising categories, Liz.
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Heh heh. 😀
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LOL- One of my favorites!
Fun fact – Alcoa is a city near where I grew up, the name of which is an acronym for ALuminum Company Of America. We often took a shortcut through Alcoa to the “quiet side of the Smokies.” 🙂
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As always, I love your stuff!
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Thanks, Kellye!
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Very amusing
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Gotta love those clever barbers. I wonder if they give clever hair-cuts? Then again, that might be too much clever. I’ve lived long enough to see some outrageous hairstyles. (Remember bee hives and jellyrolls?)
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I try not to, Nancy. ;>)
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My mother once gave my dad a “reverse Mohawk.” He never did live that one down! https://joynealkidney.com/2022/03/24/dads-reverse-mohawk/
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Oh my! Mom cut Dad’s and my brother’s hair, but I don’t remember any Mohawks–reverse or otherwise! Headed over to your blog to read the full account!
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Wonderful
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These are hilarious. And now, since it’s almost 1:00 A.M., I MUST go to bed. But I’ll fall asleep with a grin on my face. Thanks, Mitch.
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Ahh, sleepy grins are the best.
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How will be Orange Haircut Mitch😊
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Do you mean “Organic Haircut,” Ramani?
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OMG! Organic Hair Cut Mitch! It’s funny to hear 😊
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I have heard about only Mushroom Haircut😃
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Loved this, Mitch!
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Hilarious!!
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Good to see your comment was posted, Nancy! Are you having any more issues with that, or is it resolved?
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No more issues! Everything seems to have worked itself out. Must be magic lol! That was an incredible post about Ronald Reagan. What a story!
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Glad to hear it!
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Bleach cereal 😳🤣
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Some of these examples are ad-vertently hilarious (Spiderman especially)
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I loved the barber’s price board (and his haircuts are gluten free, apparently even the “free” one. As a former Electrolux saleman, I wondered what was funny about their advertising. Obviously classic Electrolux cleaners had enough suction to sway the Tower of Pisa!
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Yeah! ;>) But Dirt Devil has them beat: https://mitchteemley.com/2019/10/31/is-it-the-devil-3/
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Some of these are a bit off color, I’d expect better from you Mitch
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Sorry you were offended, Hetty.
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They’re absolutely hilarious! Think the Barber shop and the homicide mug are my favourites.
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I don’t know where you find these things, but I’m sure glad you do! And even happier that you share them.
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;>)
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My favorites are the ferrets, the ash tray, and Soon Fatt. 😂🤣
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These are hysterical!! Thanks for the morning laugh, Mitch!
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I’m a big fan of signs that put quotations around words that make no sense
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I’m going to have to go to Seventh Avenue Barbers now. My current barber actually charges EXTRA for knife fights and has never confirmed whether his haircuts are gluten-free or not.
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Wise choice, Michael.
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Mitch, this post made me chuckle! ❤ Thank you for posting these ridiculous ads.
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My pleasure, Cheryl!
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Some good ones there Mitch. I recall seeing a factory sign in Hong Kong – Wan-Hung-Loh brassiere company.
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Seriously?!
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The signs are hilarious! 😂
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