History MisaimedFandom / Advertising

* Recent Best Buy ads have women buying presents and using them to compete against Santa's gifts. The ads are supposed to show off how Best Buy truly has the gifts your family wants. However almost all of the ads have the women acting like total bitches and mocking Santa in the process. You know, Santa, the most generous man in modern culture that is beloved by all. Guess who people side with?

* The website Confused.com pulled an ad using a cover of Queen's "Somebody to Love" when it was revealed that an increasing number of people who had seen the commercial now believed the site was a dating agency - it is in fact an insurance price comparison website.

* The website Confused.com pulled an ad using a cover of Queen's "Somebody to Love" when it was revealed that an increasing number of people who had seen the ad believed the site was a dating agency - it is in fact an insurance price comparison website.

** This falls under the Bernard Manning school of parody: it walks like a duck, it quacks like a duck, it's a parody.

* Currently in some states, there are anti-drunk driving [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHytr5GocwY commercials]] explaining how if you are drinking and driving, you ''will'' be caught and you ''will'' be arrested. In order to represent the drunk drivers, they have their cars/motorcycle helmets ''filled with alcohol,'' so that opening the window/visor causes the beer to spill out in a waterfall. It quite possibly may be the best anti-anything commercial ever because it is [[HilarityEnsues impossible to]] [[{{Narm}} take seriously]]. Not that drunk driving is something to be taken lightly - but good luck convincing anyone of that with these commercials (especially people who ''already know'' the dangers of drunk driving, who will probably point out, "Look at all the alcohol they wasted" or "The inside of that car is ''ruined''").
* Be honest, does anyone consider the Trix Rabbit the antagonist?
** In 1976, General Mills had a contest where kids were able to vote on the question "Should the Rabbit be able to eat some Trix?" 99% of the responses were "Yes".
*** They had a similar contest in 1990, with the same result.

* In the '80s, there was an anti-drugs campaign in the UK called "Heroin Screws You Up." It was eventually pulled when the actor who played a heroin addict in the TV and poster ads became an unexpected pin-up boy with teen audiences - partly because of the "heroin chic" look that was in fashion at the time.

** Also, a good number of people dislike the commercial series because it was ''all'' about making the PC look bad. And they chose John Hodgeman to play the PC as a whiny, oversized Bill Gates caricature. Problem is, Bill Gates and John Hodgeman's PC are ''personally'' more charming and affable than Justin Long's Mac.

* In Apple's "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads, many people thought that the Mac came across as an arrogant jerk, whereas the PC was a cute, lovable loser. This was particularly notable in the UK, where the localized advertisements featured comedic duo Mitchell and Webb, who played a lovable loser and an arrogant jerk, respectively, in ''PeepShow''.

* In the '80s, there was an anti-drugs campaign in the UK called "Heroin Screws You Up." It was eventually pulled when an actor who played a heroin addict in the TV and poster ads became an unexpected pin-up boy with teen audiences - partly because of the "heroin chic" look that was in fashion at the time.

* In the '80s, there was an anti-drugs campaign in the UK called "Heroin Screws You Up." It was eventually pulled when an actor who had appeared in the TV and poster ads became an unexpected pin-up boy with teen audiences - partly because of the "heroin chic" look that was in fashion at the time.

* TheNazis once made a propaganda spot, "Liese und Miese". (Think about Goofus and Gallant, only with women instead and Nazi propaganda added.) Liese was the good, pro-Nazi German woman; Miese [[MeaningfulName (meaning "the bad one" in German)]] would be lazy, talk with spies, listen to foreign radio broadcasts, be unpatriotic and so on. However, the (half-Jewish, but the Nazis didn't know this) actress of Miese, Brigitte Mira, made her character more likable. The series was cancelled for being counter-productive.

* Similar to the Mac v. PC thing above, Alltel wireless ran ads where they portrayed their representative as a "normal guy", and the competition (AT&T, Verizon, etc) as basement-dwelling, friendless nerds.
** Made even funnier now that Alltel has been bought out/merged with Verizon. Y'know, one of the companies they said they were ''better than!''

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK_jDA3qrUU VD is for everybody!]] They never say if that's a good thing, though.
** GottaCatchEmAll.
** Pass the BrainBleach. And the other bleach.

* Recent Barbie commercials have been using a kid safe remake of "Barbie Girl" by Aqua. Mattel unsuccessfully sued Aqua when the song first came out.

* Meth, ooh meth! One of the best commercial jingles of all time. Yeah, it's supposed to make meth seem awful, but these commercials just make it sound way, way more useful than coffee.

** Also, a good number of people dislike the commercial series because it was ''all'' about making the PC look bad. Tell me why you're better, not [[TheWarOnStraw why the other guy's worse.]] It could also have to do with the public perception of Mac users as arrogant jerks, as well. Not to mention their choice of quirky celebrity John Hodgman to play the PC. Especially with Hodgman specifically portraying a whiny Bill Gates caricature.
** Even Microsoft noticed this, and started making "I'm a PC" ads showing satisfied customers in a TakeThat to Apple.
** Consider: of you interviewed these two men for a job, which would you hire? For that matter, which do you think you could stand talking to for more than thirty seconds?

* Currently in some states, there are anti-drunk driving [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHytr5GocwY commercials]] explaining how if you are drinking and driving, you ''will'' be caught and you ''will'' be arrested. In order to represent the drunk drivers, they have their cars/motorcycle helmets ''filled with alcohol,'' so that opening the window/visor causes the beer to spill out in a waterfall. It quite possibly may be the best anti-anything commercial ever because it is [[HilarityEnsues impossible to]] [[{{Narm}} take seriously]]. Not to say, of course, that drunk driving is something to be taken lightly - but good luck convincing anyone of that with these commercials (especially people who ''already know'' the dangers of drunk driving, who will probably point out, "Look at all the alcohol they wasted" or "The inside of that car is ''ruined''").
* Be honest, does anyone ''actually'' see the Trix Rabbit as the antagonist in those commercials?
** In 1976, General Mills had a contest where kids were able to vote on the question: "Should the Rabbit be able to eat some Trix?" 99% of the responses were "Yes".
** The Apple from the current Apple Jacks commercial used to be a DesignatedVillain, but the makers of the ads changed it due to feedback so that he and "Cinni-Mon" are [[FriendlyEnemy friendly enemies]] now.
* Recent Barbie commercials have been using a kid safe remake of "Barbie Girl" by Aqua. Can anyone else tell me what's wrong with that picture.
** Also ironic because Mattel unsuccessfully sued Aqua when the song first came out.

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK_jDA3qrUU VD is for everybody!]] They never say if that's a good thing or not, though.
** GottaCatchEmAll
*** [[{{Squick}} [=*winces*=]]] Pass the BrainBleach.

*** [[http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2010/10/axe-calls-out-old-spice-for-its-horse-fixation.html This ad has a billboard chastising Old Spice - saying Axe is for men who would rather be with a woman than on a horse]]
** Many viewers who dislike the Axe/Lynx commercials do so not because they misinterpret them, but because they simply find their humor rather sleazy.
* TheNazis once made a propaganda spot, "Liese und Miese". (Think about Goofus and Gallant, only with women instead and Nazi propaganda added.) Liese was the good, pro-Nazi German woman; Miese [[MeaningfulName (meaning "the bad one" in German)]] would be lazy, talk with spies, listen to foreign radio broadcasts, be unpatriotic and so on. However, the (half-Jewish, but the Nazis didn't know this) actress of Miese, Brigitte Mira, made her character actually more likable, and the series was cancelled for being counter-productive.