I love bad advertising. The two biggest shopping days of the year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, always bring a plethora of ads, most of them slick and forgettable. But a few, especially those for local establishments, are wonderfully awkward:
- A Chinese restaurant we frequent proclaims, We promise you “good food,” apparently unaware that the use of quote marks sarcastically implies the opposite.
- One of our favorite pizza places features the motto: The pizza you can eat! As opposed to doing what else with it, exactly?
- This morning I received an email promoting Always White Tooth Whiteners with the tagline: A bright smile sends a message: “Look at my teeth–I didn’t eat your jelly.” What?
- A hair salon in London, England advertises: Tired of being ugly with bad hair?! Just be ugly!! Right, blokes, never miss a chance to insult your clients.
- On the other hand, a shop I visited in Canterbury, England, featured my favorite all-time window ad. In bold letters it announced: Sex aids for ferrets! Then, in small print below, forcing one to come near (to what turned out to be a music store) was the disclaimer: Not really, but we have some lovely deals on musical instruments.Â
I hurried inside.Â
Awesome read to start a Monday. Thanks MItch. 🙂
That hair salon sounds just right for me, we ugly guys have a right to good hair at least.
Hooah!
Haha, “good food” !
And my husband’s grandfather was a Chicago homicide detective with a sense of humor. I wonder if he made that first one up…
For just one moment there, Mitch, my ferret thought we were on to something.
Slogans are sometimes right on the money. These were a great way to start my day. Thanks!
Well, now that’s one heck of a brilliant music store! (and who thinks up something like sex aids for ferrets?!)
20 year old marketing majors?
LMAO omg too funny!
Such fun examples, Mitch! Thank you for the smiles. I also find much humor among the disclaimers on products. (Did you once write a blog about those, too?) One that I recall from years ago on a baby swing: “Do not store with baby in seat.” I am not kidding.
Yeah, “don’t be stupid” notices always makes me think of the Darwin Awards, for people who “improve the gene pool by taking themselves out of it.” ;>)
It never fails when you try to make a statement and the truth appears out of nowhere.
;>)
Hilarious! Cheers to fantastically funny, bad adverts. I wrote my graduate research on media images of women. Step one to deconstructing the media is pay attention. These certainly get our attention!
Ain’t it the truth! Thanks, Elizabeth.
Oh, my goodness… I’m laughing until the tear stream down my face. Too, too funny! Thank you, Mitch!
I love those ads. Nice way to start my day.
All of the examples made me smile, but I have to admit I liked the police officer’s coffee cup the best!
Hi Mitch,
HA, ha, and clever bad taste?
Gary