History Main / ReversePsycho

* Many of Sit 'n Sleep's ads feature the boss Larry and his "accountant Irwin", whose reaction to their various offers is [[CatchPhrase invariably]] "You're killing me, Larry!"

* The "Your Mother Hates VideoGame/DeadSpace2" commercial, which features a group of women from middle-aged to elderly, absolutely horrified by the game (one even vowed to smash her kid's video game console if she ever caught them playing it)-except for one lady who thinks it's hilarious.

* Extra Polar Ice chewing gum had a series of ads where several young men claimed chewing Extra would... [[MayContainEvil mutate you into a polar bear]]. Seriously. (Whether this is a positive or a negative, of course, depends on your perspective.)

* Extra Polar Ice chewing gum had a series of ads where several young men claimed chewing Extra would... [[MayContainEvil mutate you into a polar bear]]. Seriously.

* The "Your Mother Hates VideoGame/DeadSpaceII" commercial, which features a group of women from middle-aged to elderly, absolutely horrified by the game (one even vowed to smash her kid's video game console if she ever caught them playing it)-except for one lady who thinks it's hilarious.

[[AC:Entertainment]]

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaY_31-jd0s The trailer for the third season]] of ''Series/LazyTown'' has the villain Robbie Rotten pull a blind over the screen and say "[[MemeticMutation Don't let your kids watch it!]] Before you know it, they’re going to be eating sports candy and moving and running and jumping and dancing and being healthy."

[[AC:Food and Drink]]

[[AC:Furniture and Housewares]]

[[AC:Hygiene]]

[[AC:Restaurants]]

* Burger King had a WesternAnimation/{{Chicken Run}} promotion that used a similar tactic, with the movie chickens telling people driving by the farm to eat more beef to save them.

[[AC:Sports]]
* Callaway Golf had a series of commercials where an old-school golfer played by John Cleese implores you not to buy their golf balls because they make the game of golf too easy.

[[AC:Technology]]

* Creator/JimHenson was responsible for an early example of this in his pre-''[[Series/TheMuppetShow Muppet Show]]'' days. He produced a series of commercials for Advertising/WilkinsCoffee, featuring two characters: Wilkins, who loves the coffee, and Won'tkins, who hates it and tells the audience not to buy it. Which usually ends in Won'tkins getting maimed in a highly amusing fashion.

An attempt by ad executives at ReversePsychology. Call it one of the "perks" of living in a post-modern world, and try not to follow the chocolate bunnies' example over it. See also TalkingPest.

* The "Boycott [[SpyroTheDragon Spyro...]]" campaign for the first game in the series, led (more like single-handedly run) by a grouchy anthropomorphic sheep (who also turns out to be the first boss). Like the probable response towards this entry, no one really cares.
* Earthbound. It stinks.

* Creator/JimHenson was responsible for an early example of this in his pre-''[[Series/TheMuppetShow Muppet Show]]'' days. He produced a series of commercials for Wilkins Coffee, featuring two characters: Wilkins, who loves the coffee, and Won'tkins, who hates it and tells the audience not to buy it.
** Which usually ends in Won'tkins getting maimed in a highly amusing fashion.

** The workless Maytag repair men commercials were harshly parodied in ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', where the out-of-work repair man goes home to a screaming wife and have a huge argument.

* [=McDonald's=] tried this a few years ago with their "Arch Deluxe" sandwich as a way to appeal to the more mature crowd, as opposed to their long-standing "appeal to kids" philosophy. They had a huge advertising campaign showing how repulsed children were at the new sandwiches. It didn't work out so well, and other fast-food restaurants started to make fun of them in their commercials.

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** The workless Maytag repair men commercials were harshly parodied in ''RobotChicken'', where the out-of-work repair man goes home to a screaming wife and have a huge argument.

* Creator/JimHenson was responsible for an early example of this in his pre-[[TheMuppetShow Muppet Show]] days. He produced a series of commercials for Wilkins Coffee, featuring two characters: Wilkins, who loves the coffee, and Won'tkins, who hates it and tells the audience not to buy it.

* Another early example was Mr. Whipple, the Charmin salesman, who once became infuriated whenever potential customers squeezed the Charmin to test its softness. ("PLEASE DON'T SQUEEZE THE CHARMIN!") Eventually [[HeelFaceTurn he saw the light.]]

* JimHenson was responsible for an early example of this in his pre-[[TheMuppetShow Muppet Show]] days. He produced a series of commercials for Wilkins Coffee, featuring two characters: Wilkins, who loves the coffee, and Won'tkins, who hates it and tells the audience not to buy it.

* ...and then the people who make Stride Gum encourage people to "start chewing that second piece" because sales have plummeted and workers are breakdancing in the factory to pass the time.
** Which was followed by commercials in which representatives from the company are ''forcibly removing'' that first piece of gum (in humorous ways such as a ram head-butting a guy in the stomach out of nowhere), accompanied by the tagline, "Spit out your Stride gum and chew another piece already -- or we'll find you." Because threats of violence are sure to improve sales.

* Serta mattress's "CountingSheep" commercials, where the mattress is so comfortable the sheep (which people would normally count in order to get to sleep) urge people not to buy Serta mattresses because they are losing their jobs.

** This series has gone on so long they seem to have got worried about the actor's age; a young apprentice repairman with a neurotic dedication to makework was introduced.
** According to Wikipedia, Jesse White played the original repairman in 1967, followed by Gordon Jump from 1989-2003. White died in 1997; Jump died in 2003. Demographics wasn't the ''only'' factor.

* Inversion along the same principle: Chick-fil-A, a fast-food restaurant chain that specializes in chicken products with a side of religious right, has ads with normal cows imploring people to eat chicken, not burgers or other beef products, complete with crudely-painted signs with bad spelling (because cows are dumb and can't type/write/paint well with hooves).

** Burger King had a WesternAnimation/{{Chicken Run}} promotion that used a similar tactic, with the movie chickens telling people driving by the farm to eat more beef to save them.

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* The "Boycott [[SpyroTheDragon Spyro...]]" campaign for the first game in the series, led (more like single-handedly run) by a grouchy anthropomorphic sheep. Like the probable response towards this entry, no one really cares.