History Main / DadaAd

* [[https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/12247/hidden-camera-fun-2/type-magic This ad for the Argentinian print production company Type & Magic]] which gained infamy online. The only connection to the products being sold (photocopying) is the theme of the ad (one guy armed with a gun not liking surprises).
** [[https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/12248/hidden-camera-fun-3/type-magic There's even a sequel]]. [[https://www.adforum.com/creative-work/ad/player/8574/hidden-camera-fun-1/type-magic-print-production-company And another one]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T66SN21PUsg This ad for an Argentinian print production company]] which gained infamy online.

* [=GEICO=] are the masters of this, to the point where [[Advertising/{{GEICO}} they have their own page]]. How cavemen, a camel yelling "Hump Day!", a pig going "Wheeeee!", and Salt-N-Pepa demanding people to "Push It!" are supposed to have anything to do with car insurance is a RiddleForTheAges.

* The infamous K-Fee ads - peaceful setting followed by a sudden JumpScare of a zombie or gargoyle. And nobody knew what it had to do with a brand of coffee that nowadays is so obscure that finding it for sale online is less common than [=YouTube=] uploads of the ads themselves.

* The pre-release [[UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast Dreamcast]] adverts are fairly notorious for having nothing to do with anything - all they feature is people with spiral hair, you don't even get to see the console itself. Somewhat of a bitter 'if only' with Dreamcast fans.
* The [[UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn Saturn]] didn't fare much better, with the ads being very prone to not making much sense nor actually advertising the Saturn. While Sega eventually managed to stop making such commercials come the "Hard Stuff" campaign, ''the'' prime example of this can be seen in the promotional video Sega produced to market the Saturn at launch. While the video admittedly talks about the Saturn's features for most of the 9 minutes (yes, it's that long), that's to say nothing of what actually ''happens during the dialogue.'' Absolutely nothing makes sense, nor does it have anything remotely to do with the Sega Saturn, and it's one of the few of these ads that has to be seen to be believed. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pK5KsX3a0Y Words simply can't do it justice.]]

* [[https://www.kevinandkell.com/1999/kk0805.html]] One strip of ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' has the Dewclaw family watching a commercial for Kevin's online grooming service Flea-Bay. None of them are able to figure out when or if the actual service is mentioned in the commercial.

* One strip of ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' has the Dewclaw family watching a commercial for Kevin's online grooming service Flea-Bay. None of them are able to figure out when or if the actual service is mentioned in the commercial.

* Now that Advertising/TheManYourManCouldSmellLike has run its course, Old Spice has resorted to hawks [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNOWSmrQ6o scary enough to]] [[TheMagicPokerEquation make a player lay down a royal flush]].

* Arguably downplayed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thaE-4nlxzM this]] 2015 commercial for Longines Watches, in that it makes sense...[[BaitAndSwitchComment but only if you read the description on]] Website/YouTube. In the commercial, a slowly increasing group of children are chasing a seemingly magic tennis ball. They eventually stop when a man picks up the ball, hands it to the first kid, then leads them to tennis courts, with the slogan "Longines, official time keeper of the French Open" said by a boy with a french accent as a picture of a watch appears. If an advertisement needs to be explained by a Website/YouTube description which comes off like the dream interpretations in the Literature/BookOfDaniel, you're doing something wrong.

* At the Super Bowl in 1984, Apple Computer ran [[Advertising/NineteenEightyFour one of the most infamous Dada ads of all time]], featuring a rather heavy-handed Orwellian caricature of their competitors (or something) inspired by ''Literature/NinteenEightyFour'', concluding with the line "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like ''1984.''"

* Apple Computer Inc. ran [[Advertising/NineteenEightyFour one of the most infamous Dada ads of all time]] in 1984, featuring a rather heavy-handed Orwellian caricature of their competitors (or something).
** It seems the ad was made just for the pun at the end. "1984 won't be like ''1984''".

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROBanxb91h8 This]] ad for tires features''Anime/AstroBoy'' and is really MindScrew.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA2-bxNTI08 This Singaporean ad]] for the {{UsefulNotes/Xbox360}}, in which a Japanese woman describes her near-death experience after an asthma attack. She mentions how she suddenly got pulled back, and the commercial ends with the slogan "LIVE FOR IT". There's no mention or explanation of what the commercial is selling at any point.

[[folder: Stand-Up Comedy ]]
* Creator/RonWhite uses this trope in one of his comedy routines. He says perfume ads have become too complex for simple men like himself. Then he describes an over-the-top Dada Ad which ends with a man on fire and sensual woman saying, "I would know him in the dark." The punchline is, "What's the trick? He's ON FIRE!"
* Creator/MargaretCho was first to the punch with poking fun at crazy perfume commercials, most notably the insane Egoiste ad featuring women residing in an old European-type apartment complex who open their windows and shout the perfume's name before closing them. Ms. Cho said she always wanted to get famous enough to have a commercial where those women opened up their windows, shouted out her Korean name (Moran), then closed their windows.
* Creator/LewisBlack thinks of this as well for [[SuperBowlSpecial Super Bowl commercials]] - hey, you're certainly not going to reuse an ad you've already aired on TV if you're going to spend $2 million on a 30-second spot. You're going to do something new and memorable, hopefully for the right reasons but sometimes...
-->'''Black:''' Some of the commercials are spectacular. They're extraordinary - they're like mystery stories. You don't even know what they're selling until the very end. Three rabbits are on a log, and one of them goes home and hangs himself. [[spoiler:Buy a bike.]]
* Creator/KathleenMadigan also poked fun at these ads in her 2010 special ''Gone Madigan'', using a commercial she'd seen for tech company [[https://www.accenture.com/ Accenture]], featuring a woman in a field of wheat simply saying the words "Yesterday. Dreams. Innovation. We're with you. ''Accenture''."
-->'''Kathleen:''' What the hell was that? They sold ''nothing''. I turned to my sister and said, "I think there's aliens living among us, and this is how they communicate right in front of our faces."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games]]
* In ''Cake Mania 2'' the message you get after completing the August level of the Grand Battle stage says that satisfied Japanese customers are thinking of making a commercial for Jill's bakery: "Something to do with cute hamsters, a talking mushroom and go-go dancers playing poker with fish."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]
* Radio/NealBoortz [[http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/2009/06/is-there-anyone-out-there.html expresses his confusion at the Lexis IS]] ads.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZyNBK6M6BQ The third Powerthirst ad]] by ''Series/PicnicFace''. While the other two were fairly straight TestosteronePoisoning-driven tirades, this one...well...''Drink Powerthirst! Shoot the clouds! Hit Jesus! Strap him to a bull! JESUS RODEO, DEAD JESUS RODEO!''
* [[WebVideo/ImAMarvelAndImADC Lars M. Dusseldorf]] made a commercial for the 2011 Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo featuring random dancers, a song with lyrics that constantly repeated, "C2. E2.", and such phrases as, "Are C2 and E2 lost in a world without meaning? No. [=C2E2=] is '''life!'''"
* In ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'', every episode has a segment where Cecil says "And now for a word from our sponsors..." followed by something that at best only vaguely resembles an ad. In one case, it's just Cecil making strange groaning noises for a couple seconds. In many more, a bizarre monologue is followed by the non-sequitur name-dropping of a company or product. Dips into WordSaladHorror in some cases.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]
* [[http://www.instantclassic.net/story.php?comicID=29 Parodied]] in the prologue of Brian Carroll's webcomic ''Instant Classic''.
* One strip of ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' has the Dewclaw family watching a commercial for Kevin's online grooming service Flea-Bay. None of them are able to figure out when or if the actual service is mentioned in the commercial.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E9MrPlow Mr. Plow]]", Homer hires a fancy ad firm for his plowing business, and they give him a weird Calvin Klein Obsession knock off complete with a ''Film/CitizenKane'' ShoutOut.
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E22InMargeWeTrust In Marge We Trust]]" has the "Mr. Sparkle" ad for a Japanese dish soap which begins fairly normally, but quickly descends into madness, with underwater go-go dancing girls who change into dancing sumo wrestlers when the mascot breathes on them, and a reporter interviewing a two-headed cow which then disintegrates.
* Likewise, the crew of {{WesternAnimation/Futurama}} has a commercial made about their delivery service, but upon viewing the finished product (which is based on the 1984 Apple ad mentioned above) are baffled by the abstract imagery and conflicting messages.
* Creator/DonHertzfeldt's animated short ''WesternAnimation/{{Rejected}}'' presents a series of Dada Ads created by an unbalanced animator who is possibly suffering from "creative stagnation in a commercial world." All of his humorously surreal and unsettling cartoons are rejected for being wildly inappropriate. The animator has a mental breakdown and his cartoon world collapses.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' had a commercial for Puppet Pals Jeans featuring DeliberatelyMonochrome models and an eerie lack of music. Also, the Puppet Pals themselves did not show up until the last 15 seconds, though earlier scenes had abstract references to them. At the end, Creator/TomKenny tries to prevent the viewers from thinking, "WhatWereTheySellingAgain?" by informing them (with a French accent), "You know it's ''Puppet Pals'' because of the name on the label."
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' in the episode where the sectors are showing off their latest advancements in two-by-four technology. Many groups put together small video presentations about their inventions. The French KND shows off their invention with a black and white video about absolutely nothing coherent. The operative evaluating the inventions and demonstrations calls off the ad part of the way through and just asks outright what it's supposed to be advertising. Their response is essentially that TrueArtIsIncomprehensible.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheProblemSolverz'' episode "Breakfast Warz" features a commercial for Professor Sugar Fish's Psycho Puffs of Madness cereal, which involves a kid flopping around with a giant rainbow-colored fish laughing in Morse code while their house burns down and bright neon colors flash everywhere. After viewing the commercial, Horace responds with, "Well, ''that'' was crazy..."
* In ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', the title character becomes an underwear model and appears in a surreal ad, he asks the director what this has to do with underwear. "Everything" the director says.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'', the members of Dethklok sign a number of endorsement deals, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEBDPAV3Yss star in a series of ads]] that have them [[WhatWereTheySellingAgain interchangeably starring out over the sunset atop a mountain in the desert]] (with a score straight out of a PerfumeCommercial).
* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', there's the ad for Turbulent Juice. Morty's reaction says it all.
-->'''Morty''': What in the hell?
-->'''Rick''': Sex sells, Morty.
-->'''Morty''': Sex sells what? Was that a movie or, like, does it clean stuff?
[[/folder]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UUoZQFrAG4 This old ad]] for the [[UsefulNotes/GameBoy Game Boy Pocket]] has little to do with the actual product. Instead, for a good 30 seconds, we are treated to miniature people doing weird stunts and stuff in or on ordinary household items, including a bunch of hipsters [[MindScrew swimming in a jar of alcohol swabs]]. Not until the end do we actually hear the name of the product as "NEW GAME BOY POCKET". The mixed song in the background also includes samples from [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment the very ad itself]].

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgWn7zbgxZ4 This video]] from 1987, entitled "Pickle Surprise," is a sort-of parody. It appears to be a commercial for mayonnaise, but this 90-second MindScrew is actually [[LeFilmArtistique a short film]] created by gay video artist [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Rubnitz Tom Rubnitz.]] It's basically some weird sexual DoubleEntendre made in the style of a kitschy commercial.

[[folder: Stand Up Comedy ]]

[[folder: Videogames ]]

->''[absurdly artistic commercial plays]''
->'''Lisa''': "Dad, was that your commercial?"
->'''Homer''': "I... don't know."

* A European ad for the first UsefulNotes/PlayStation depicts a family at a dinner table, having a conversation. Except, they're speaking with video game sound effects. One of them only makes sounds from ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot'', another only makes war sounds, etc. It then [[GrossUpCloseUp zooms into their mouths]] [[NauseaFuel to reveal that their uvulas are in the shapes of the [=PlayStation=] buttons]].

* Interestingly, [[CrazyAwesome Hugo Ball's]] 1916 ''Dada Manifesto'' inverts the principle, using what sounds like a conventional advertising slogan for an actual brand of soap ("Hobby horse", or "Dada" in French) in a text that is [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible meant to be utterly nonsensical]]:

* Apple Computer Inc. ran [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8 one of the most infamous Dada ads of all time]] in 1984, featuring a rather heavy-handed Orwellian caricature of their competitors (or something).

->'''Lisa''': "Dad, was that your [[https://youtu.be/iTY5EKN6bzM commercial?"]]

-->''"Air. Ballet. Amazing haircuts. Weird countries. Three-alarm chili. Mountains, continents, the Earth, life.

* An ad for Pied Piper on ''Series/SiliconValley'' starts extolling the virtues of tables for thirty minutes, then says that tables are like Pied Piper, then starts showing random objects.

* Arguably downplayed in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thaE-4nlxzM this]] 2015 commercial for Longines Watches, in that it makes sense...[[BaitAndSwitchComment but only if you read the description on ]]YouTube. In the commercial, a slowly increasing group of children are chasing a seemingly magic tennis ball. They eventually stop when a man picks up the ball, hands it to the first kid, then leads them to tennis courts, with the slogan "Longines, official time keeper of the French Open" said by a boy with a french accent as a picture of a watch appears. If an advertisement needs to be explained by a YouTube description which comes off like the dream interpretations in the Literature/BookOfDaniel, you're doing something wrong.

* ''TheSimpsons'':
** In "Mr. Plow", Homer hires a fancy ad firm for his plowing business, and they give him a weird Calvin Klein Obsession knock off complete with a ''Film/CitizenKane'' ShoutOut.
** "In Marge We Trust" has the "Mr. Sparkle" ad for a Japanese dish soap which begins fairly normally, but quickly descends into madness, with underwater go-go dancing girls who change into dancing sumo wrestlers when the mascot breathes on them, and a reporter interviewing a two-headed cow which then disintegrates.

* 2008 USA Presidential candidate Mike Gravel ran ads like this; one had him [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rZdAB4V_j8 standing by a lake before tossing a rock in and walking off]], another had him lighting a [[https://youtu.be/lRwizmuCnOw campfire]]. No one could figure it out, [[ShrugOfGod not even Gravel himself]]. It sure was freaking creepy, though; [[Series/TheDailyShow Jon Stewart]] remarked that [[Literature/TheRing seven days after you view the ad, you will die]].

* A European ad for the first UsefulNotes/PlayStation depicts a family at a dinner table, having a conversation. Except, they're speaking with video game sound effects. One of them only makes sounds from ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot'', another only makes war sounds, etc. It then [[GrossUpCloseUp zooms into their mouths]] [[NauseaFuel to reveal that their uvulas are in the shapes of the [=PlayStation=] buttons]]!

*** Heck, the initial commercial using the exploding water concept was even worse: It had a guy doing a backflip on an asphalt basketball court and preparing to ''land on his back'', exploding into liquid only upon contact with the ground!

** Heck, just take a look at ''any'' of his UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 commercials.

** The ad with [[UncannyValley two children twitching their brows]] was ''very'' badly received in Hong Kong: the importer of Cadbury had to take it down.

* A Toohey's ad which appeared to be featuring the Man With Silly Hair growing beer in these giant cocoon-like plants.''' ''[[MemeticMutation Please explain.]]'' '''
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tML1z720C4&feature=related Just]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHrF_4sgyw8&feature=related about]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY6uJlI-t14&feature=related every]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esrNyIg_SMI&feature=related Australian]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvIwsLty9Fo beer]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvIwsLty9Fo ad]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSTqwZG_4Gs&feature=related counts]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROBanxb91h8 Is this]]... an ad for ''tires?!'' Why is ''Anime/AstroBoy'' [[MindScrew there?!]]
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkX3RhK4udk Las Vegas CityCenter]] is trying to give the city a reputation for TrueArt, so the advertisement shows almost nothing but a couple dramatic shots of the product in between lots of footage of people having great fun doing things nowhere near Las Vegas (riding the waves in a yacht?). Even fans who had been following the project since groundbreaking found the ad almost incomprehensible.
* If you thought the [=PS3=] ads were weird, you haven't seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDttY8-fLLk Future of Gaming]]. It's supposedly a 9-minute promotional animated short for the [=PlayStation=] 2 (even commissioned by Sony), but it's nothing short of grade-A MindScrew. Some of the ending is not safe for work, but that will be the least of your problems if you decide to see this. It should be clear less than halfway in why Sony disowned it.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ve4M4UsJQo Honda]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrQoof1F2cQ adverts]]... [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W-O7jnoSWo just]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K4QlJky-sw Honda]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxZNbbxvML8 adverts]].

** Hey, that Rube Goldberg machine was [[DoingItForTheArt real]]!

* Now that Advertising/TheManYourManCouldSmellLike has run its course, Old Spice has resorted to...hawks [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdNOWSmrQ6o scary enough to]] [[TheMagicPokerEquation make a player lay down a royal flush]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZrks-BPeLQ This]] TV ad for Quizno's subs, featuring singing... rodent pirate zombies(?)
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDzSSy9UXMM This]] '70s ad for Nesbitt's Orange Soda. They don't make 'em like THAT anymore!
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqDb_5hs0v8 This ad]] begins with a nurse at a hospital checking up on the newborn babies in the nursery, [[StrayingBaby only to find one empty]]. Cue an eclectic chase after the baby...who is a giant hamster. Comedic havoc ensues throughout the hospital as doctors, nurses, and police attempt to catch this infant hamster until the baby parachutes off the top of a building with a baby blanket. He lands with a family of giant hamsters in the advertised product: the Kia Turbo Soul. Until then, there was nothing to indicate that it was a commercial for the then brand new vehicle beyond the baby hamster's name actually ''being'' Turbo.

** [[https://youtu.be/Nlnls3RlUVc One more.]]

** The DavidLynch [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Laf9vpJMDjA directed ad]] may just take the cake for most weird.