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Category — Bad Advertising

New CCTV Posters In UK Train Stations – Posters Better Than CCTV Itself?

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The new strangely creepy CCTV poster found in a Brighton, England train-station

The UK is the most watched country on Earth, and still the citizens seem to be increasingly preoccupied with crime. As of 2004, England had one surveillance camera for every fourteen citizens, and it’s gone up since then, all in the name of security.

But do CCTV cameras actually reduce crime? The statistics aren’t all that spectacular for the studies that show a positive result, and most studies suggest that camera density has no overall impact on the levels of crime at all, especially in residential areas. A better idea might be along the lines of the West Midlands Police’s ‘Operation Momentum’ – using posters and an understanding of psychology, instead of cameras, to try to limit crime. Read on:
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December 17, 2008   Comments Off

Classmates.com Sued Over False Advertisement

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A former customer of Classmates.com has filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, saying their claims are fraudulent and they tricked him into upgrading to a gold account. Sound like a simple false advertising case, but if the case progresses, it could force Classmates.com, and other websites like it, to change they way they advertise.

Anthony Michaels signed up for a free member of Classmates.com last year. However, with only a free membership, Michaels couldn’t interact with other members or do anything interesting at all. He said that he began receiving emails from Classmates.com claiming that old classmates of his had been looking at his profile and trying to get in touch with him through the site. The thing is, he had to sign up for a paid membership to gain access to any messages his old classmates were trying to send him.
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November 14, 2008   15 Comments

Esquire’s Battery-Powered Cover The Last Gasp Of Printed Media?

My vote for the most deluded advertiser of the month goes to Michael Maguire, the CEO of Structural Graphics for his ideas on the future of print magazines.

If you haven’t already seen it or heard about it, the October issue of Esquire is “battery-powered”. Yeah, it’s just as tacky as it sounds. It cost Esquire $250,000 dollars just to get the technology to do it and it falls completely flat. I think it may just signify the jumping of the shark for print media as a whole, or maybe not, who knows.

Michael Maguire had some pretty lofty things to say about it though, like the cover was “heralding a new era in the use of technology in magazine advertising”, and he played the futurist, saying that “there are a number of steps that we’re going to see unfolding in the years to come… like animated color video in printed media, etc”. I’m not so sure. People may cling to magazines the way we’ve clung to books, but I think it’s just as likely that some sort of product like the Amazon Kindle could become mainstream and people could buy magazines for their Kindle and download them directly. Who needs paper, anyway?

What do you think AdSavvyites? Esquire’s electro-cover, lame or not?

October 28, 2008   3 Comments

Adam Pacitti and The Girl Of MY Dreams

Adam Pacitti started the website TheGirlOfMyDreams after he supposedly had a dream of a girl of such amazing beauty, that he felt he had to find her in real life. So he drew her, and he posted the drawing online along with a video. Fortunately for us and everyone who loves hilarious things, Adam draws like a 5 year old. Yes, you saw it correctly in the video. Here is the girl of his dreams:
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I’m still torn over whether Mr. Pacitti is a genius or slow-witted goon. If this is fake, he’s a genius, and he’s found a way to bring hundreds of thousands of people to his website and get exposure in the national media. But his website doesn’t have any ads, so it looks like he’s not making any money from whole thing. That means it may not be fake, and that’s a disturbing concept for me.
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October 22, 2008   10 Comments

Opinion: New Obama Ad – The American Promise: The New Cult of Change in the Country of Fear

Obama’s new political ad, “The American Promise” is the single most frightening political advertisement I have ever seen in my life. It’s absolutely chilling. The rabid cultist gleam in the eyes of the supporters nearly weeping as Obama repeats his meaningless rhetoric. Can this be real?

I’ve never had much faith in the political understanding of my fellow man. Admittedly, I’m a horrible misanthrope, of the opinion that the masses are irrational chumps, with about as much understanding of basic economics as I have about the inner workings of the Large Hadron Collider.

Maybe I’m out of touch, but I imagine the average person setting out nachos every Sunday to root for Red or Blue like a political football game; shouting out buzzwords like “More Regulations!” and “Al Qaeda Hates Freedom!”, then talking about it the next day at the water cooler. Why else follow politics if not as conversation fodder, right?

I figured I’d just watch the madness from the sidelines for a while and move to Costa Rica when the shit really starts to hit the fan and the freaks inevitably vote themselves into slavery. I didn’t think it’d happen so quickly though.
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October 5, 2008   7 Comments

Microsoft Gives Jerry Seinfeld The Ax, Comes Out With New “I’m A PC” Ad

Remember this?

I had no words for these commercials. I hesitated to even write about them since I thought there would eventually be some sort of punchline commercial to cap them off. But no, they were just odd for the sake of oddity, and now they’re canceled. The internet spoke unanimously and Microsoft listened. It might just have been the worst way to spend $300 million dollars in the history of the modern era.

Maybe that’s what Microsoft was getting at: “We’re so successful, we can spend $300 million dollars on a meaningless ad campaign, suck it Apple”. If that were the tag line, I’d at least respect their testicular fortitude.

But it’s over and done with, a thing of the past. What we’re interested in now is the future. Thankfully for Microsoft they have a new series of commercials that are actually good. Check out the video after the jump I’m A PC
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October 5, 2008   1 Comment

Hannah Montana Penis Candy – Marketing Mistake

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So the Hannah Montana people wanted to sell some sort of Hannah Montana-related candy, great idea. She appeals to kids, kids love candy, it all works. But they should have at least looked in to the manufacturer of the generic “guitar” shaped candy before they got involved. At the very least, they could have mixed the colors up a bit. I mean, flesh pink?

via Popcrunch – Guitar Shaped Hannah Montana Candy

September 30, 2008   3 Comments

Obama and McCain’s Political Advertising: We’re in the Thick of It Now

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Look at those teeth – Look at those ears

Every election season it goes the same way; the ads start off nice & easy with no real mud-slinging or negativity, and then someone says something a bit nasty, and the battle really begins. Well we’re right in the thick of nonsense season now. The battle has been on for a while.

We have less than 50 days to go until November 4, and since the race is so close, the ads will only get worse from here on out. Lots of negativity and juicy badness to come.
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September 16, 2008   Comments Off

The Fall of Arrested Development: Fox’s Ultimate Marketing Failure

The Bluth Family from Arrested Development

Arrested Development (AD) was considered by many people to have been one of the greatest television series of all time. It won countless awards and was acclaimed by just about every critic on Earth, and yet, it was canceled after only 3 short seasons. What happened?

Essentially, Fox dropped the ball. They had a potential hit and they failed to properly promote it. It was a classic example of poor marketing. Hopefully, future executives will learn from Fox’s epic mishandling of the Arrested Development situation.

What they did wrong:
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September 10, 2008   1 Comment

Sneaky Labels: Mott’s Apple Juice 50% Water For Full Price

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This one comes courtesy of The Consumerist

Apparently the new “healthy” Mott’s Plus Light is just regular Mott’s apple juice 50% diluted with water. They both sell for $2.69 too. Sly move, Mott’s.
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September 9, 2008   1 Comment