| 1 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1597537885016131000 |
| 2 | %% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread. |
| 3 | %% |
| 4 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/antispeedingpsa_1.png]] |
| 5 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[OhNoNotAgain Don't you hate it]] when you accidentally [[SquashedFlat squish an entire class of kids]]?]] |
| 6 | %% |
| 7 | Have you ever seen those advertisements that are so over-the-top you wonder, "Wait, {{what were they selling again}}", or commercials that attempt to be serious, but end up just hilarious? [[{{Narm}} These are those commercials]]. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | ---- |
| 10 | |
| 11 | !![=PSAs=]/[=PIFs=] and Political Ads: |
| 12 | |
| 13 | * There was once a [[NightmareFuel horrific]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtJqw--DGl8 Northern Irish drink-driving PIF]] in which a car smashes through a garden fence and crushes a young child. In 2014, the DOE decided to ramp this concept up to eleven with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv1rKHGeMRk this ad]], in which a speeding driver loses control of his car and rips through a hedge, ''killing an entire class of schoolchildren'' (pictured above). It's too contrived and over the top to take seriously, and, in contrast to the earlier one, [[BloodlessCarnage there is no blood or injury detail]] at all. Not helping matters is the shot a boy's face just before he gets crushed flat along with his classmates, whose facial expression makes him look '''[[DullSurprise mildly inconvenienced]]''' by his impending death more than anything else. The ad was meant to convey the fact that 28 children (roughly the size of a primary school class) have been killed by speeding drivers since 2000. But surely there are better ways of illustrating that. |
| 14 | ** It even says "Shame on you" at the end like it's the viewer's fault. |
| 15 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-FC40_WWSA Another PIF from the DOE]]. Whatever [[NightmareFuel serious]][[TearJerker ness]] the ad is going for is ruined by the girl giving off a [[DullSurprise disinterested]] [[https://www.dictionary.com/e/emoji/pogchamp/ pog face]] just before being hit. |
| 16 | * The UK road safety campaign THINK! has developed a knack for this sort of thing. |
| 17 | ** [[http://youtu.be/Uk4egCvtw5Q This]] ad is definitely narm territory. The narrator (Christopher Eccleston) keeps saying "Now you see him. Now you don't." while the driver of the car looks in the rear view mirror at a motorcyclist who keeps disappearing from view. When the obvious impact happens, Eccleston's narration tries to be dramatic ("Now you see him! ''Now'' you see him!") as the camera slowly pans in on the unconscious or dead driver, but fails. Instead he sounds like he's trying to point something out to a birdwatcher. |
| 18 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIYlL5zkCIc Another]] THINK! ad was dropped when market research showed that audiences found the ending (in which a pizza splatters against a car windscreen in imitation of a human body) funny rather than shocking. |
| 19 | ** A JumpScare [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsJs4AYa8sU road-safety ad]] was briefly shown in the late 90s/early 2000s, wherein a driver would arrive at a junction. He'd stop the car, look both ways, pause a little longer, then slowly start to pull out... and a man on a motorbike suddenly crashes into the window. SmashCut to the biker on the ground (presumably dead) while a crowd of people stand around and give the driver of the car dirty looks. The message was for motorists to be aware of bikes on the road. A good enough message, certainly, but somewhat ruined by the fact that the driver of the car is clearly not the one at fault, having ''explicitly followed the proper procedure at a junction'', and the biker appeared to be some kind of [[Literature/HarryPotter apparating]] ninja biker who appeared out of nowhere just for the sole purpose of [[AesopCollateralDamage driving home]] the SafeDrivingAesop. It would have made more sense for the advert to be aimed at ''bikers''. |
| 20 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSU550qLmOw A drink-driving ad called ''Moment of Doubt'']] showed a man walking up to a bar and the barman asks for his order...before embarking on what can only be described as a one-man show which details the man's life once he gets caught drunk-driving (he gets fired, loses his license and apparently somehow ends up with nothing). The barman takes on several characters including a policeman, the man's boss, a car salesman and finally the driver. Then everything goes back to normal and he looks straight at the camera, saying "What's it gonna be?" while the THINK! slogan comes up. The fact that it all happens so fast (the entire ad is 32 seconds long. There is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNosr8CKWO0 slighty longer 50 seconds version]], but it's not much better) coupled with the threatening glare the barman gives at the end, not to mention the fact that there's no evidence shown for the driver being drunk when he approaches the bar, moves this firmly into narmy territory and makes it seem more like we've just witnessed a man suffering from split-personality disorder having a breakdown than a drink-driving ad. It's become something of a punchline among [=YouTube's=] community of [=PIF=] reviewers, with easportsbig899 calling it the worst [=PIF=] ever made, and making his hatred for it a RunningGag in his top 10 lists. |
| 21 | * [[http://youtu.be/Sg6IVUvVsAs Dark and Lonely Water]] was likely [[ScareEmStraight scary]] back in the day, but hilarious now, mostly because of the kid at the end going "Euw, 'orrible thing!" |
| 22 | * [[http://youtu.be/CPwtPaMa0vc This]] UK ad from safety on the move is a healthy mix of horror. A young woman crosses the road when she is mowed down by a speeding driver. She lands heavily on the tarmac, blood streaming out of her nose, and her ghost bends down over her own corpse, declaring "You've killed me!" This is where it gets into the narm territory, because she is generally trying to communicate with the driver despite knowing she is dead, even though he obviously can't hear her. The way she lands also ends up looking like slapstick because they use a cartoony stock "SMACK!" effect when her head hits the ground. |
| 23 | * There used to be a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAT_VnY6gME Canadian ad]] about getting tested for colon cancer. As serious as the topic was, it's hard to take it seriously when there are see-through bodies and one telling the other, "Looks like you've got colon cancer," in a casual tone you would use when talking about the weather. |
| 24 | * American anti-drug [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSAs]] seem almost always destined to be a magnet for Narm. |
| 25 | ** Worth special mention is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQVfsY0-ZR0 an Above the Influence ad]] in which a guy's dog tells him to stop smoking marijuana. Left unsaid was that if your dog is talking to you, then you have bigger problems than marijuana, like the powerful hallucinogen you obviously took. The thing is, [[MarijuanaIsLSD Marijuana does not work that way.]] While it wasn't their intent, it was a non-anthropomorphic dog who does nothing in the body of the ad but disapprove of marijuana -- and all the dialogue is ''written on-screen,'' not spoken. The whole thing is surreal. ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' even made a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGkKeaggYVs parody of it]]. |
| 26 | ** Made worse when a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgJdVEoVbgg live action version]] of this ad began airing. It's not as surreal as its animated counterpart, but it has the added hilarity of a dog talking for no reason. Also see the [[Creator/{{Dropout}} CollegeHumor]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_t8DvM2kX8 parody.]] |
| 27 | ** One late 1980s-early 1990s ad had an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer aggressive drug dealer]] that turned into a [[ScaledUp snake man]]. [[{{Anvilicious}} Subtlety]], thy name is ''not'' anti-drug ads. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2l8nJk0jDI here]]. |
| 28 | ** In 2007 and 2008, there was a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuAarw_LGvQ very odd anti-drug PSA]] from abovetheinfluence.org in which a girl dumped her pot-smoking boyfriend for an alien after it declined his joint. That was the message of the PSA: ''[[SpaceWhaleAesop If you smoke pot, an alien will steal your girlfriend]]''. That it was all drawn with magic marker probably didn't help. The most hilarious part was that the pot smoker sees an alien land, and what's the first thing he does is to [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight offer the alien a joint, of course]]. |
| 29 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKCYDrur_WI The guys smoking pot and circling through a drive-thru at a restaurant four times while a girl on a bicycle rides by]]; at the end, the producers pull a BolivianArmyEnding and imply she got hit. The ads was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0YtPi2QZSY parodied]] in ''Film/HaroldAndKumarGoToWhiteCastle'' and ''Series/ChappellesShow'': |
| 30 | ---> [[http://www.cc.com/video-clips/kqppso/chappelle-s-show-marijuana-psa---uncensored "If you're a girl under the age of 12, and you're high on marijuana, don't ride your bike."]] |
| 31 | ** In one infamous anti-drug PSA, a solemn tone is set as we go into a darkened room with a shadowed figure sitting in the center. The lights come up and reveal... [[Series/PeeWeesPlayhouse Pee-wee Herman.]] Not Creator/PaulReubens, '''''Pee-wee Herman.''''' Who proceeds to pull out a vial of crack and solemnly tell us about the dangers of crack. ''In the Pee-Wee Herman voice, but with a dead serious tone.'' Words cannot describe how incredibly surreal this is, so [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agT2GVNQjao we'll let the ad speak for itself]]. |
| 32 | -->''"Deeyus... eeyus kreck."'' |
| 33 | ** In another anti-drug PSA, starring [[Music/BlackFlag Henry Rollins]], he compares the feeling of using meth or speed (they're closely related) to driving a powerful car very fast. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNMoZOPZ8dk The car in the ad explodes.]] |
| 34 | ---> "The difference? You can't rebuild a ''human heart.''" |
| 35 | ** And here's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC4KJ9Nd3EQ this PSA]] with some good ol' concrete diving. |
| 36 | ** The WesternAnimation/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1987}}' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjcRQr-EzN4 foray into anti-drug PSAs]] (and, for added value, some nerd's foray into witty comebacks). |
| 37 | ---> "I'm not a chicken, ''you're a turkey!''" |
| 38 | ** The granddaddy was the fried egg [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl5gBJGnaXs "This is your brain on drugs"]] spot, which was the endless subject of parody for sketch comics from the mid-80s well into the 1990s. |
| 39 | ---> "This is your asshole before prison, this is your asshole after prison..." |
| 40 | ---> "This is your brain on drugs with a side order of bacon." |
| 41 | *** Even more so the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyXFN4ocN_o sequel]], depicting Creator/RachaelLeighCook using a frying pan to destroy a kitchen while rambling about what drugs will do to your life. |
| 42 | %%** This gem: |
| 43 | %%---> [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-Elr5K2Vuo "I LEARNED IT FROM WATCHING YOU!!"]] |
| 44 | %%*** ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv4Uh6r1i2g funny parody]] of this ad. |
| 45 | %%*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOkkTnRRMkI Also]] ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken''. |
| 46 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAx1_CsJc1k "Now let's see if I can still make a straight line!"]] This ad is an exercise in attempted scare tactics. Adding to the narm is the "whatever, as long as I get paid" expressions worn by the rest of the OR staff as well as the narrator. Also, it seems the actor playing the surgeon [[HamAndCheese is fully aware of the kind of ad he's in]]. |
| 47 | %%** [[https://youtu.be/URIrrAE5m28 "I looked down at my hot dog and there was a face on it."]] |
| 48 | %%** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADThs4WUsWY "He looked me right in the EYE 'n said 'NAWWW mama, I ain't doin' no drugs'!"]] |
| 49 | %%** [[https://youtu.be/K0_P88LUX3E "Walter do drugs, and you ain't gonna do it wit' 'im."]] |
| 50 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6oDJQ-2CVE This PSA]] has kids proudly announcing all the terrible things that happened while they were on drugs as if they were great achievements. If the premise wasn't already goofy, it's capped off with a guy saying "I let people draw on me!" with the dopiest expression. |
| 51 | ** In 2019, South Dakota rolled out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LVcI-DQdYA a new ad campaign]] that was meant to be a call to action against the state's increasingly severe epidemic of methamphetamine use. The tagline they chose? "Meth. We're on it." The internet promptly memed the entire campaign to death, while annoyed locals pointed out that it reinforced negative stereotypes about the state by making [[UnfortunateImplications it sound like everyone in South Dakota was hooked on speed]]. State officials argued that it at least got [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity people talking about the issue]], but the slogan has quietly receded into the background since its debut. |
| 52 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HuhV0Axg44 This]] commercial on the ''quite serious'' effects of drowsy driving has its impact (no pun intended) taken away at the end of the video... let's just say it makes the effects in ''Film/{{Birdemic}}'' [[SpecialEffectFailure look realistic in comparison]]. |
| 53 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHi2dxSf9hw A PSA]] about the example parents set for their kids had this unfortunate effect. The video showed children copying their parents (almost) exact actions right alongside them: the {{Narm}} takes over when some of the examples include a young girl smoking, a young boy throwing rocks at the neighbor's dog, a five-year-old flipping off a driver, and a little boy helping batter his mother. The tagline "Children See, Children Do" didn't help. |
| 54 | * Any [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSA]] involving the ''Franchise/PowerRangers''. It makes it look like the Rangers are more afraid of fast food hamburgers than {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s. It's also a BrokenAesop; an ad had Jason and Xander (fully suited; sorry, no return of Austin St. John) at UsefulNotes/McDonalds, and that back in the 90's, they promoted fast food both in the show and for UsefulNotes/McDonalds. |
| 55 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnOeioy7qu8 A particularly humorous example is when Jason uses self control to not beat the shit of a guy who comes in looking for a fight.]] The lesson is use the least amount of force to solve a conflict. This one is funny not only because have they basically curb stomped mooks '''every episode''', but also because the kid in the video doing tai-chi with the yellow ranger is clearly [[MaleGaze looking at her breasts]]. |
| 56 | * High school ScareEmStraight "Every 15 Minutes" campaigns against drunk/distracted driving can be very effective if done correctly by a professional video production studio, but they can also often veer into this: |
| 57 | ** One mimicked a real drunk driving accident in varying levels of detail. A movie was also made so that students who didn't see the actual crash scene could still get the gist of it - unfortunately, it opened with a line from the actor playing the drunk driver about getting drunk on wine. People invariably laugh at the idea of a sixteen-year-old getting into a drunk driving accident because he ditched school to sip a bottle of Cabernet, and the opening line ruined the tenor of the movie. (The line was recorded as a joke along with the "real" dialog, but [[ThrowItIn the editors who worked on the video threw it in anyway]].) |
| 58 | ** In another one for distracted driving, most of the Narm was provided by the principal and vice principals just standing near the scene, without a care in the world. No staff member pretending to be angry and shocked, they were just watching over like "yep, that's a problem". |
| 59 | ** In a MADD drunk driving movie called "Smashed" the crash victims appear to be bleeding purple. Takes the tension and seriousness right out. |
| 60 | * Oxfam's (a UK aid charity) TV campaign, called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQK6ODxDfDY Be Humankind]]. Apparently, you can defeat poverty (depicted as a giant monster) with halitosis. |
| 61 | * Another Oxfam's ad shows analysis of handwriting with one of the loops apparently meaning that "you care deeply about the world and want to help". Even without knowing about the questionable nature of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphology analyzing handwriting]] to determine personality, [[TranslationYes it seems like a lot]] of information packed into one little part of what is written. |
| 62 | * London South Bank University has [[https://www.richardatkinson.co.uk/images/lsbu-ad-3.jpg a poster campaign]] involving people with giant brains for heads. |
| 63 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJKb-F4MdHE "It Only Takes a Second"]], a video campaign by the Federated Mutual Insurance Company, depicts unfortunate and painful accidents through dramatization. What makes this safety video so narmy is that many of the situations are poorly acted and sometimes unrealistic. The final scene of the video is a good example of this. |
| 64 | * There's an "Immigration rap" where two guys rap about how to become a U.S. citizen. The best part is probably "Are-you-a drug dee-al-er?" |
| 65 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b8bk9DnKwE A similar rap]] (perhaps the same one) plays on a loop in an exhibit at the Boston Prudential Center, and includes the line "Have you ever been a patient in a mental institution?/ Do you swear to defend the US Constitution?" |
| 66 | * In Canada, there was a series of well-made ads with relatively high production values about the hazards of unsafe driving. The impact (pun intended) came from people not expecting to ''see'' the impact; while we don't from inside the car, we do get to see a Mack truck make hash out of one half of the little midsize car. The following ads show the aftermath: physical therapy (for the girlfriend of the driver), a funeral (for the driver's little brother), a trial for the driver of the car... All chilling. Then someone noticed that the guy playing the driver is the VillainProtagonist from an older commercial about how to avoid having your car stolen, and people started asking if the car that got smashed was the same one he stole. |
| 67 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTW49FSgLlQ This anti-global-warming PSA from Quercus, a Portuguese environmentalist group]]. It starts out visually striking with the shots of desolate wastelands and melting ice-caps, but when [[spoiler:the monkey hangs itself]], the ad becomes complete Narm. The CGI lip-quivering should have been a warning. And that was with the original sad piano score. The second version backed by Music/PeterGabriel's "Don't Give Up" is even ''worse''. |
| 68 | * The Canadian "Home Front" domestic abuse [=PSAs.=] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GdTgjn_lsM "You stupid BITCH!"]] Or better yet, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZQLeeNo6Qw "She spilled my coffee!"]] |
| 69 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-yGTrd4Z7I This old British PSA from the late 1970s]] that warned children not to play in electrical substations could either be considered hilariously Narmy or pure horror. |
| 70 | * A fairly well-known healthcare system in metropolitan UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}} has, as of late, become known not for the quality of their medical services, but for their [[https://www.beaumonthospitals.com/ horribly over-the-top commercials,]] which skip right past ScareEmStraight and into Narm territory. These gems come complete with dim lighting, silently frowning (or gowned and masked) medical staff, pounding ScareChord music and a deadly serious voiceover actor reading lines like "Choosing a hospital could be the most important decision you'll ever make" and "It's your heart/eyes/life/whatever... Do you have a Beaumont doctor?" The general effect of the commercials has been to generate an epidemic of spontaneous gluteal detachment secondary to laughter overdose in the viewing population. And then they promptly go get treated somewhere that doesn't sound like a Creator/VincentPrice film gone wrong. |
| 71 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wssfl22Hhp4 One anti-piracy advert]] with the slogan "Piracy funds organized crime!" (found at the end of UK ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' UsefulNotes/{{DVD}}s and the beginning of certain British Disney tapes from the era) features a man with a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything suspicious]] resemblance to [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Joshamee Gibbs]] branding a pile of [=DVD=]s with an "X" brand and [[FridgeLogic somehow setting them on fire]], while the flame is reflected [[RedEyesTakeWarning in his eyes]] and he smiles evilly, giving him a demonic appearance. |
| 72 | %%* The anti-piracy ad Advertising/DontCopyThatFloppy (see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up863eQKGUI here]]). I mean, you'd be just as reasonably confused as the kids in the ad if [[AWildRapperAppears a wild rapper suddenly appearing for no reason, would you?]] |
| 73 | * National Organization for Marriage's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AzLrn5JVIo "Gathering Storm"]]. A dead-serious and deeply-dramatic PSA.....about the supposed evils of gay marriage. And they, without irony, say that they're forming a "rainbow coalition." |
| 74 | ** Their initials spell NOM, and they use them. This may provide narm, especially to those familiar with WebOriginal/LOLCats, because the sound of a cat eating can't be taken seriously. |
| 75 | --> [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Da Sturhm. Eez. Kahmming.]] |
| 76 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijbovskICjk Boys Beware]], a horrible 1950s short film that [[AllGaysArePedophiles equates gay people with pedophiles]]. "What Jimmy didn't know was that Ralph was sick. You see... RALPH WAS A HOMOSEXUAL." Delivered ''in a completely serious tone'', while [[SoundtrackDissonance inappropriately cheery music plays on the soundtrack]]. |
| 77 | * There are a number of comedic advertisements in New Zealand that involve housewives doing strange and unusual things. As such, when an advert aired that had a women talking about healthy snack food, only to trip over a toy car and plummet into a glass-topped coffee table, many people burst out laughing... only to find out, as the camera panned away and the woman lay there sobbing amongst the glass shards, that it was meant to be a deadly-serious PSA about the dangers of leaving toys about on the floor. "Most accidents occur IN THE HOME." Because negotiating toy-covered floors whilst filming muesli bar commercials in their own home is something that every housewife [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u51OxZF1ltI has to deal with]]. |
| 78 | * On the subject of New Zealanders. Drop the lines [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_Ii_IlmrFk "Ït's the same day David" and "Don't say sorry to me, say sorry to his kids"]] into casual conversation with one of them. Odds are they won't put on a grim face and talk about the evils of driving too fast. The ad features a speeding man seriously injuring himself and killing a father of three. The hilarity comes from the man's wife/girlfriend delivering the infamous lines and his own squeaky cries at the end. |
| 79 | %%** Alternatively, you can try: "Eat your peas, Molly! You ungrateful little bitch!" |
| 80 | * There's an old commercial that still plays late at night which encourages people to get tested for cancer. It would be admirable, but it features various elderly people who survived cancer -- not actors. They don't even ''try'' to emote; they just squint at the camera and read off cue cards. The worst? Just imagine the following quote read in a nasally monotone by the Church Lady from ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'': |
| 81 | -->"Norma Ray. Breast cancer. Three years. Survivor." |
| 82 | * War Amps, the Canadian amputee organization, had the infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GN9dANKe_Y PLAYSAFE]] commercials staring [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASTAR ASTAR]], a robot from Planet Danger (the planet with NoOSHACompliance). The silly alien costume and monotone voice during the "I can put my arm back on--you can't" resulted in many parodies in Canadian pop culture. |
| 83 | ** There's also a [[https://youtu.be/45W7YmQNX-o?t=1m9s updated version made in 2000, ]] which takes the first one and renders it in comically ''terrible'' CGI, along with rendering ASTAR's voice to sound whiny and almost campy. |
| 84 | * [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland The Belfast City Council]] embarked on an anti-litter campaign which features pop art characters expressing [[FelonyMisdemeanor horror and disgust]] any time their companion litters. This results in ads like a picture of a crying girl thinking, "''All I did was drop my chewing gum on the ground... [[MinorFlawMajorBreakup and now he won't speak to me!]]''" |
| 85 | %%* And, speaking of [[UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland Our Wee Country]], the mind-meltingly narmy [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L84dSVDg5XU "Walking" PSAs]] that helpfully extolled the benefit of doing just that while singing about it. "Give yourself MORE ENERGY and BETTER SLEEP!" |
| 86 | * South Dakota used to have state-issued radio ads during the wintertime with dramatic, heart-pounding music that is obviously meant to be frightening and a man who sounds like Peter Thomas who drags out the words "DON'T CROWD THE PLOW" in a menacing way. It's utterly hilarious. Sadly, they've realized that and stopped playing it. |
| 87 | * A notorious anti-drunk driving [[PublicServiceAnnouncement PSA]] from a alcoholism treatment center circa 1980 with a hysterical housewife chasing after her husband shrieking, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQJzlWFCZto Don't take the car! You'll kill yourself!]]" The acting and the freeze-frame on the housewife mid-sentence are just the icing on the narm cake. |
| 88 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U219eUIZ7Qo Australian Grim Reaper AIDS PSA from the 1980s]]. Maybe it was scary [[ValuesDissonance back in the day]], and in some aspects might still be; but the way the people suddenly fall over when getting hit is done in the most spastic, over-the-top way ever. |
| 89 | --> [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Alwehs yooz CAHN-DAHMS. Alwehs.]] |
| 90 | * From the 2008 campaign: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec3aC8ZJZTc&nohtml5=False This John McCain ad]], which goes the ViewersAreMorons route: "Is Obama ready to lead? ''(dramatic pause)'' [[LittleNo NO."]] |
| 91 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIlUaKIB07E&nohtml5=False This ad]] does something similar: "He promised better. ''(long pause, with the sound of a ticking clock in the background)'' HE LIED." |
| 92 | * There is a Canadian road/ambulance safety ad, which starts out with an ambulance with a patient in it and some idiot talking on his cell phone and not paying attention to the road. It's serious up until the point the guy talking on his phone crashes into the ambulance, and you see his face afterwards. It was supposed to come across as the guy feeling awful about what he did, but the DullSurprise on his face made it look more like he was thinking "Holy shit, that was AWESOME." Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be on Youtube yet. |
| 93 | * This early '90s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWPpWYRyFvk road safety campaign]] from the UK starts off dramatically but rapidly dissolves into Narm: "This child needs help! Anybody!" |
| 94 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QRBcHIIsXc This]] message from PETA about animal testing. That it's from PETA should already convince you that it's {{narm}}, but just in case you need further convincing, bear in mind that it's readily apparent that this is probably an attempt at being scary, but their wording in trying to make it seem that way just comes across as laughable. [[note]]Though how well it works might depend on how much you agree with its message; if you go in with the impression that this is going to be ridiculous, that might help you better notice the amusing aspects of it, but still.[[/note]] The following line is especially hilarious if you say it in a dramatic voice: |
| 95 | -->''They get hurt. Bad. [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment BAD.]] The kind of burning, needing, fear-producing, cage-circling, screaming, SCREAMING, screaming hurt we shudder to even imagine.'' |
| 96 | %%** The "Testing... 1... 2... 3" part was hilarious too. |
| 97 | %% ** Speaking of PETA, there's [[https://youtu.be/RGLH1Bq1n9s this]] (semi-NSFW) PSA for having your cats spayed or neutered. |
| 98 | * A PSA encouraging abstinence bore the tagline "Sex lasts a moment. Being a father lasts your whole life". This was changed from the earlier tagline of "Sex lasts a minute", likely because the only reasonable response would be "Not if you're doing it right". |
| 99 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvqdiyLqFZU This commercial]] shows that you probably won't see the arresting officer coming, especially if you're wasted. Well, it shows that to a serious-minded person. To anyone else, it shows: "Oh my lord! Invisible ninja cops!" |
| 100 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slJyhOEo-SY ''The Finishing Line'']], a railway safety film, was regarded as very scary back when it first aired in the 1970s. However, by today's standards, the bad acting, lines such as "You're like a jellian" (According to Guru Larry, a jellian is "A mop-headed child from the seventies that gives pointless strategic advice") and the CaptainObviousAesop (Don't hold sporting events on railway lines) propel it firmly into Narm territory. |
| 101 | * Above the Influence really made some of the most bizarre anti-drug [=PSAs=]. Take [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkuRhZa3qZ0 this one]], an interview with a girl that has been almost squashed flat. By what? [[LiteralMetaphor Pressure]]. The visuals here really [[WhatWereTheySellingAgain detract from the message]]. |
| 102 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU9C4ENHEFo This]] Montana Advertising/MethProject video, which has a meth-addled teen hamming it up while screaming about shadow people and swinging at the walls with a baseball bat. NightmareFuel to some, but ''comedy gold'' to others. |
| 103 | * If you ever took swimming lessons through the American Red Cross water safety program sometime during the last two decades, chances are you were shown [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5fptgS14OQ "Longfellow’s Whale Tales".]] You didn’t want to laugh, but you did anyway. |
| 104 | * The Above the Influence commercials, showing "testimony" from people who have refused to do drugs (or people who have stopped). The whole thing is goofy, but what really seals it is the footage of the group's Facebook page, which is littered with self-righteous comments (presumably from people who have never been around or offered drugs). It ends with a close-up of several posts, the best (funniest) being: "WE RISE ABOVE. TOGETHER" (caps included in original post). |
| 105 | * The British NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) ran a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PKaFwYIBbg television advertisement]] that showed a DrillSergeantNasty ordering a woman to cook for him and read him stories, in imitation of a young child. It's trying to make a point that having a child can be really demanding. But the fact that a ''US Marine'' is shouting things like "Pay me attention!" and "Read me this story!" kind of ruins the effect. And then there's the ending, where the marine literally reverts back to a child while demanding water, resulting in the mom yelling "AIVEAD ENOUGH!" and charging at the poor child, before we SmashCut to NSPCC's hotline. |
| 106 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orl6vXPJAww "... a door... a table..." *klang* "... a FIST!"]] |
| 107 | ** Another NSPCC advert at Christmas time tried to depict the horror of a Christmas ruined by an abusive father. Having a fight with a Christmas tree... |
| 108 | * UsefulNotes/{{Singapore}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jxU89x78ac "Mentos National Night"]], urging Singaporeans to have more kids. |
| 109 | * The Narcotics Task Force of the New York City Housing Authority would like you to know that smoking crack is like [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKRSgxQxVAo putting a gun in your mouth]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tAfUybCBXo and pulling]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dM_NGlBHDU the trigger]]. |
| 110 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbJH1NF0yKE "Think Before You Speak"]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrJrw5ZZfRU commercials.]] Sure, the intention is good (telling people to stop using the word "gay" as an insult) but the way they go about it is pretty funny. Having Music/HilaryDuff pop up out of nowhere and say, "You shouldn't say that!" as if she's summoned by casual homophobia probably isn't the best way to go about it. Neither is the passive-aggressive "Knock it off!" at the end. |
| 111 | * An RSA ad trying to show the dangers of ignoring the stoplight on a railroad crossing featured a man performing all sorts of near misses such as getting on his crowded train just as it starts to the tune of happy music and then he crosses a railway crossing on a moped only to get hit by a train while the music is still playing and getting sent flying into the air along with the moped. |
| 112 | * [[http://youtu.be/0tteHhYh9rU This British road safety ad]], where a man appears to be using a dead kid as a draught excluder. |
| 113 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T549VoLca_Q This]] "End The R-Word" PSA is no doubt well-meaning, but its comparison to other slurs comes across as amusing when the site it's posted on is one where all those other slurs are popular as well. |
| 114 | * Everyone knows you're not supposed to use your phone during a movie, making [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgU2ue37hgY this video's]] annoying and condescending tone all the more grating. Apparently, there's no technology in movie theaters... or something. And this plays before ''every movie at a Cinemark theater.'' If you go to a place where the local movie theater is a Cinemark, expect anyone who goes to the movies regularly to have this memorized by heart. |
| 115 | %% * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85q4gJLyfZo This]] UK Iceland advert circa Christmas 2009. The whole thing qualifies. |
| 116 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dM_NGlBHDU This Anti Crack PSA]] is part of Jeffrey Witotsky's mid to late 1980s series of anti drug spots. While the others in the series were obviously going for cheesy cinematics, this one simply has a spokesperson who appears to be imitating Christopher Walken's intense style of delivery. Very badly. |
| 117 | * Christine O'Donnell's infamous "I'm You" [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek3OUay2uWw political ad]]. Even if you know the reason behind the statement, it's hard to take anything she says seriously when she starts off by informing the viewer "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial I'm not a witch.]]" ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' summed it up well in their [[http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ebc_1288639889 parody of the ad]]: |
| 118 | -->''Isn't that what the people of Delaware deserve? A candidate who promises first and foremost that she's not a witch? That's the kind of candidate this country hasn't had since [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials 1692]].'' |
| 119 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2w4Xh6sho2o An anti-smoking PSA]] that states that "cigarettes are bullies". The statement itself is pretty ridiculous (especially when aimed at teens, who are likely to laugh at adults still warning them about "bullies") because you know cigarettes aren't animate. But the PSA doesn't stop there. It features a itty bitty schlubby looking man that is meant to be an anthropomorphization of a cigarette that seems to have 10 times his own strength. The PSA ends with a narration spoken in a deathly serious voice that doesn't seem to fit because the ridiculousness of the whole commercial. One can't help but feel like the people who came up with this ad thought that it was clever but it's all really silly. |
| 120 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCfDK5vhOS0 This short bus safety PSA]] from the 90s informs kids that "It's very cool to follow the rules." |
| 121 | * This [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suE_WJWUEVs SPCA]] ad, which was listed under "IsntItIronic" because of its song choice. As one Platform/YouTube commenter put it, "This is so close to satire it's ridiculous. Why do all the animals look like they're going to cry? Why does the voice over sound like she's going to cry? I feel like there should be a kitten at the end of the video with a cg mouth that asks, 'Are you going to let the bad people kill me, mister? I just want to wuv you...'" |
| 122 | * A 1987 [[https://youtu.be/KogodHNjIUs anti-drug ad]] features a teenager in a waiting room being called on. The ad tells us that many young people like him "have volunteered to take part in a frightening experiment". The ad proceeds to list some of the experiment's side effects, from paranoia and diminished coordination to "adverse effects on reproductive organs". Though the visuals and music are somewhat eerie, the ad would have us believe that the "most frightening part of this experiment" is that it's not conducted in some laboratory by amoral scientists. The teenager is then shown simply smoking marijuana. While this may have been shocking in the late 80s, it's now legal in some places. |
| 123 | * In 1993, Friends of the Earth did an advert in which blood gushes out of a flushing toilet as Jonathan Pryce talks about the real cost of mahogany (which is used to make toilet seats among other things). However, the dark liquid flooding the bathroom looks less like blood and more like... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq8pYfURSnI well, see for yourself]]. |
| 124 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lio_C9uliIk A 1994 PIF from Partners Against Crime]] shows a man attempting to break into a house as passers-by gather around and clap slowly in [[SarcasticClapping an apparently intimidating manner]]. The message is that most crimes are stopped with help from the public. Unfortunately, it looks as though the crowd is actually ''applauding'' the burglar for his efforts. |
| 125 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3BjUvjOUMc This ad]] from the Always #[=LikeAGirl=] campaign that treats [[FirstWorldProblems a lack of Emojis representing girls]] as a serious social issue. Unsurprisingly, there are twice as many dislikes as likes. |
| 126 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e86qSVx0cds Imagine a world without milk. It would be a tragic, tasteless existence]]. This PBS commercial straddles the line between {{Narm}} and NarmCharm. Highlights include a sign in front of an empty barn saying "We've Mooooved" and the cookie falling into an empty glass. |
| 127 | * The "truthorange" [=PSAs=], which try to encourage teens and young adults to quit smoking. That's a noble enough goal. However, they try so hard to appeal to their chosen demographic that it becomes ridiculous. Special mention goes to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loLpcd7gqNE dogs]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLtschJxRy8 cats]] campaign, which undermines its point ("Smoking can hurt your pets") with what appears to be random animal videos taken off of [=YouTube=]. It doesn't help that the crux of the campaign is essentially "[[SkewedPriorities there will be no more cute animal videos if they die of cancer]]", rather than, you know, losing a beloved pet to cancer is painful. And then there is their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNrkj4trOl0 #PEEtition]] follow-up, which adds an element of random {{Squick}}. |
| 128 | * [[https://youtu.be/yznCE3zLMv4 This]] (NSFW) PSA for Greenpeace makes no sense. It has a naked foam woman on a beach being covered in crude oil. The tagline is "Nature is beautiful. Let's keep it that way;" how that's best represented by [[WhatWereTheySellingAgain the imagery shown]] is beyond us. |
| 129 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN4sMISyYgk A Woman's Day #throughglass]] is an infamous PSA for domestic abuse. It's about two and a half minutes long, and plays out mostly like an extended commercial for Google Glass. The PSA is [[POVCam filmed from the first-person perspective]] of a woman cheerily going about her day with help from her high-tech eyeglasses, while upbeat music plays in the background. The music stops when she gets home, and her husband beats her for not getting there earlier. The twist at the end comes totally out of nowhere, and is an extreme example of MoodWhiplash. What was supposed to be serious and disturbing instead comes across as a piece of unintentional BlackComedy that has to be seen to be believed. It received a ColbertBump when it was discussed on an episode of WebVideo/OneyPlays, and most of the recent comments on the video are references to that. |
| 130 | * There was once an anti-gambling ad featuring several homeless people around a bonfire explaining how they ended up there, with one noting how he lost everything because of his son gambling on the Internet. While problems with gambling can be serious and damaging, the kid's whiny "I said I was sorry!" and the dad's reply of "go to your box," like he's punishing him for missing curfew instead of bankrupting the family and causing them to live on the street, makes it too hilarious to take seriously. |
| 131 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6uepXw9gZA This]] PSA from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration starts off grim, with a father talking about his daughter in a funeral, while relatives grieve in the background. At the end, it tries to give the message that the last text message you send could be the message engraved in your tombstone. While this is an interesting concept, it's entirely ruined by the final shot: a tombstone reading [[spoiler:"Smh."]] |
| 132 | * The "You Wouldn't" anti-piracy ads put on [=DVDs=] in the 2000s. To the few people who might not have seen them, a woman is sitting at a computer with a large download button, after which several captions appear detailing things you wouldn't do (i.e. "You wouldn't steal a car"). This culminates in the caption "You wouldn't steal a movie. Piracy is stealing. Stealing is against the law" after which the woman cancels the download and leaves the room. The problem is that apart from the CaptainObvious factor of the last set of captions, each of the captions is followed by a short scene showing someone ''doing the exact thing they've told you that you wouldn't do''. Not to mention the fact that the editing and shots of the woman attempting to pirate...something are so awkward that it's actually easy to miss the fact that she cancelled the download. In short, it almost seems as if the captions are an anti-piracy ad while the actual pictures are pro-piracy. |
| 133 | ** ''Series/TheITCrowd'' riffed on the silliness of these ads in an [[https://youtu.be/ALZZx1xmAzg?si=R4fkwvIn9PVURzCT episode from Series Two]], which culminated in a [[CrossesTheLineTwice man shooting a police officer, stealing his helmet, taking a dump in it, then mailing the poop-filled helmet to the man's widow before stealing it again]], after which an American FBI agent shoots the English teenager who was about to download a pirated movie, all narrated with utmost seriousness by Creator/MattBerry. |
| 134 | --->'''Roy:''' Man, these anti-piracy ads are gettin' really mean. |
| 135 | * The Mexican Advertising/ViveSinDrogas campaign, aimed at young children and starring a rapping flower, is supposed to teach that DrugsAreBad. However, due to it having creepy-looking CGI animation, bizarre and vague rap lyrics, and the rap itself being TotallyRadical but sung by a singer who is not really suited for such a song, the entire campaign is hard to take seriously and is remembered more as a joke than anything else. |
| 136 | * A UK ad about reporting suspicious images online features a teenage boy searching for porn on his laptop, while a ''cheerful talking sock'' watches with him. And no, that's not an unfortunate coincidence -- it's [[{{Squick}} strongly implied]] that the boy has indeed used that sock in his moments of adolescent relaxation. |
| 137 | * In the late 1980s in the Los Angeles area, a public health PSA related to healthy eating was briefly aired. The camera slowly panned over vegetables, menacing music playing. Then the announcer comes in, "Don't drown your veggies in ranch." |
| 138 | * A 2020 PSA opens with some parents looking dramatically into the camera and saying, "No!" and "Get out of my face!" without context. Then we get the context, and it doesn't really help: they're yelling at ''cancer.'' It's a PSA to get children vaccinated for HPV to prevent further cancer complications, but instead it looks like the parents think you keep cancer away by ''[[SwiperNoSwiping sternly talking to it.]]'' |
| 139 | -->"Hey, cancer? ''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Not. My. Child.]]''" |
| 140 | * One [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlliAPPR61g Australian PSA for the Meningococcal W vaccine]] had a group of teens asking each other about their friend Lucy, only for another friend to walk in, and in a dramatic tone, tell them that Lucy died. Sad piano music and the sound of the teens crying plays immediately afterwards, but what really takes the cake is one of the teens yelling a bleeped out "FUCK OFF!" at another teen, and a random shot of one of them running away. |
| 141 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXV3kLmQ528 This]] memetic PSA encouraging people to stop sexual violence. It features two teen actors with monotone, slurred speech. After one boy says he didn't do anything when he saw a guy trying to get his girlfriend to do something she didn't want to do, his friend says, "Whoa, what?" and freezes his friend in place. The other boy then delivers his message to the camera and ''walks away with his friend still frozen.'' |
| 142 | * [[https://youtu.be/aT3BjDVR5pM A 2020 PSA by the Dallas Police Department]], which concerned [[FiringInTheAirALot celebratory gunfire]] and the illegal use of fireworks on New Year's Eve, begins with a man shouting "Happy New Year!" before firing a bullet from his pistol in the air. The video then cuts to the Dallas 9-1-1 Call Center receiving a call from a crying woman, briefly shown [[DiedInYourArmsTonight cradling her pet's corpse]] after it was just struck by the same bullet from before. This scene was meant to be a serious portrayal of the realistic and lethal consequences of firing bullets in the air. However, the fact that the pet in question is very obviously a ''[[SpecialEffectsFailure plush toy]]'' (not even a plush cat or a dog, but a ''small cow'') completely ruined the intended impact. The PSA was ultimately pulled from television broadcast shortly after, simply because that particular scene ''made it too silly for the public to take seriously''. |
| 143 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wBBnaZAtZs A 2021 ad for the Mexican Partido del Trabajo political party]] has a pregnant woman and her partner looking at their baby through an ultrasound. The woman asks the doctor, in regards to the baby's gender, "What's it going to be, doctor?," to which the doctor responds, "Just like the both of you... ''poor!''", leading to the ad getting mocked on social media. |
| 144 | * A series of anti-piracy ads produced by UBV (Brazilian association of audio-visual publishers), included on [=DVD=]s in 2007, tried to alert the public that piracy funds organized crime, particularly drug trafficking. However, because of the forced dialogue and unrealistic situations shown, these ads turned out hilarious instead of serious or scary. |
| 145 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SwRcD2prSw In one of these adverts]], a family is having dinner, and the father proudly announces that the family will be watching a pirated movie he bought at a very low price. The daughter rolls her eyes and retorts: "A pirated DVD, dad? Don't you see you're helping crime? [[InsaneTrollLogic Tomorrow I'll be selling drugs at school because of that DVD!]]". She then gets up and walks away without finishing her plate. The rest of the family, visibly disappointed at the father, does the same, leaving him alone at the dinner table. |
| 146 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK2cEpYJrDk Another ad]] shows a woman bringing home a pirated DVD to watch with her daughter. As it plays, the TV screen displays a message saying "Thank you for your special cooperation in buying this pirated DVD". It then cuts to a slum, where criminals with rifles thank the woman for helping them buy their armament. What makes it even better is the [[LargeHam over-the-top acting]] of the criminals, all of them very loud, speaking in slang and even offering a gun salute to her at the end. |
| 147 | --->'''Criminal:''' A GUN SALUTE TO THE ''TIAAA''! [[note]]''"Tia"'' (aunt) is a very informal (and often rude) way of referring to a woman, usually older than the speaker[[/note]]''(everyone cheers and starts firing their guns)'' |
| 148 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5cJDClPDDc Another one]] has a man buying pirated [=DVD=]s from two street vendors. The man pays for the [=DVD=]s, and one of the vendors asks "May I give you the change in ''bala''?" [[note]]This is a pun on the word ''"bala"'', which means "caramel candy" or "bullet" depending on the context. In Brazil, some small businesses, such as local bars, newsstands and bakeries, don't have sufficient change for very small/fractioned amounts such as 5 or 10 cents, so they ask customers if they're fine with receiving the equivalent amount in candy instead of coins[[/note]]. The man agrees, receives a handful of bullets and looks at them in concern, while the vendor gives a brief AsideGlance. |
| 149 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXaAb5OdESE This spot]] by the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence calls attention to the lack of safety regulations on guns, inspired by gun violence rates in Chicago. It shows the slowly-rotating silhouette of a teddy bear, while sinister music-box music plays and an overdramatic narrator talks about the many safety standards required to produce a teddy bear. The narm comes in when the narrator solemnly (and hilariously) intones "Unless that teddy bear...is a gun" as the camera reveals that the teddy bear is made of metal and has a gun for a face. |
| 150 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXY80p8jMPc This UNICEF child abuse PSA]] compares how children can remember growing up in an abusive home to [[ItMakesSenseInContext how parrots can remember it as well.]] How do they convey this message? By showing us a montage of [[FowlMouthedParrot Fowl-Mouthed Parrots]] displaying their [[ClusterFBomb colorful vocabulary.]] The sudden shift in tone when the message at the end about how "1 in 4 young children are exposed to domestic violence" as one of the parrots could still be heard shouting "YOU LITTLE BITCH!" makes it all the more ridiculous. Moreover, most of the footage was from [=YouTube=] videos of parrots who were likely trained to swear just to make people laugh, making this PSA even more ridiculous. Special mentions go to the subtitles for the Moluccan Cockatoo's nearly-unintelligible ClusterFBomb and the parrot with a thick New Zealand accent threatening to kick someone's ass[[note]]In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdhlPHEIkss video]] from which the footage is sourced, the parrot, named Tui, is having a tantrum in response to her owner, who had earlier made the mistake of yelling at her for making too much noise, telling her not to squeal.[[/note]]. |
| 151 | -->'''[=YouTube=] Commenter:''' I was watching it laughing at the cursing and when the ending came I laughed even harder. Bruh that is serious don't get me wrong, but I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready! |
| 152 | * [[https://youtu.be/ORjgH3lii3o?si=aR5B5NOR0h5nD-vH This local PSA]] about talking to your kids about underage drinking has a mother warn her child about teens drinking at a party, saying that they're also "doing other things they shouldn't be." It then cuts to... scenes of the teens just hanging around and talking with their drinks in hand, with one fairly chaste kiss between two of them. Then it cuts back to the mother about to tell her daughter why what they're doing is dangerous. While the message is well-intended, the editing implies we should warn our children about the dangers of age-appropriate socialization and kissing. It also makes the mother look ridiculous by either showing her as so paranoid she doesn't want teens to kiss at parties, or serves as a GilliganCut to imply drinking isn't really that bad. |
| 153 | * Around the San Diego-Tijuana area, border blaster radio stations, which transmit from Mexico but are aimed at listeners in the U.S., are obligated by Mexican law to air [=PSAs=] and political advertising during breaks. Not wanting listeners to confuse them for Spanish-language stations, some border blasters (most notoriously [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XETRA-FM 91X]]) air these in translated and dubbed English. The problem is that since the messages were originally intended for a Mexican audience and not a U.S. audience, there is ''absolutely zero effort'' made when the messages are dubbed into English: |
| 154 | ** As the voice actors literally read the script monotonously, any expressions from the original Spanish versions are completely absent from the English version, and an "Oh no!" is instead read out as [[DullSurprise "Oh no."]] |
| 155 | ** The number of voice actors seems to be rather small, as its not uncommon to get an ad promoting a political party read by one voice actor, only for the next ad to be from a rival party voiced by ''the same actor, disparaging the same party they were just promoting''. |
| 156 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEm7dB3UOp8 One ad for the Labor Party]] is a song with the chorus repeating "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Party_(Mexico) PT]] is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Transformation 4T!]]". The English version does away with the song and is just a voice actor reading out the lyrics without any changes. As a result, "PT is the 4T" is duly repeated several times in a row, coming off as some kind of incomprehensible MadnessMantra for anyone who isn't following Mexican politics. |
| 157 | |
| 158 | !!Other |
| 159 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr2gdPY-88w This glorious Ad.]] It confused everyone when it came out. It is an ad for a lawyer and has heavy metal, fire and a scene where he hits a tombstone with a sledge. |
| 160 | ** And [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-JdG8aaUyc here's the follow-up]]: involving government class in high school, a scene where the lawyer ''literally interrogates injustice'', and a scene where an angel forges the sledgehammer in the previous video. |
| 161 | ** What makes these extra narmy is the guy's backstory- he was a criminal defense lawyer who got rich defending scumbags, but then his brother was murdered so he became a super lawyer. It sounds like the plot to an 80's movie. |
| 162 | * At one point, Edmonton-based radio station The Bounce aired ads which mashed together songs it plays. These were hilariously awful and mashed together Katy Perry's "E.T.," [=Ke$ha=]'s "We R Who We R," Lady Gaga's "Born this Way," Martin Solveig and Dragonette's "Hello", etc. None of the choices fit together, and it was simply hilarious. |
| 163 | * The [=WaxVac=] infomercials that advertise a vacuum that removes earwax from your ears. As soon as the scenes with the couple practicing ear candling and the guy yelling "'''OW!'''" [[TooIncompetentToOperateABlanket while barely poking a Q-tip into his ears]] come on, it's no longer possible to take the commercial seriously. (Though it's worse in that it dampens the seriousness of anything said by the experts that follow in the commercial. It's hard to take the words of a doctor seriously on the risks of using Q-tips when people are too distracted by the unintentionally humorous agony of a man from the result of a Q-tip. Unsurprisingly, the narm factor is made fun of by ''Series/TheSoup''.) |
| 164 | * Anna [[MeaningfulName Blue]], a CGI girl who sings a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tE31Wd7DF4 "So Alone"]] in a Jamster commercial. [[StockFootage The repeated mirror throwing]], mixed with the over-dramatic, stereotypical {{emo}} [[EmoTeen behavior]] makes the song hardly anything to take seriously. As if the emo appeal weren't cheesy enough, Jamster took the liberty of making a second song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aun1lHyqwBg "Your Heart,"]] sung by a ''[[Literature/TheTwilightSaga Twilight]]''-esque CGI vampire guy named Damien Dawn. Not only does it use the same StockFootage from "So Alone," but it also adds its own cheesy clips. Like Damien climbing up and singing on Anna's roof, and him jumping in the moonlight. |
| 165 | ** Jamster commercials in general were driven by truckloads of narm. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtUEEJ200ZA This one]], which [[RepeatingAd will probably trigger flashbacks to those who watched TeenNick in the early 2010s]], implies that if you don't use their love calculator service, then you will be dumped and left at the altar by your boyfriend. The narm isn't helped by the overacting and how often this commercial was recycled (the names of the two leads would often change, i.e. "[[Music/MileyCyrus Miley]] and [[Music/JonasBrothers Nick]]", "[[Music/JustinBieber Justin]] and [[Music/SelenaGomez Selena]]"). |
| 166 | * The 2010 TV ad for Creator/CirqueDuSoleil's winter production ''Wintuk'' has this narration: |
| 167 | -->This is the magic of ''Wintuk''. This is the thrill of ''Wintuk''. This is the season of ''Wintuk''! ... Don't miss the final season of this wonderful, winterful show that ''The New York Times'' calls "a family-oriented holiday extravaganza"! |
| 168 | * In 2009, an Alberta-based carpeting company called ''End of the Roll'' issued a series of ads with images of people buying carpets, laying down carpets, people smiling over their carpets and what not. The song in the background is "The Look" by Music/{{Roxette}}. Furthermore the ads having the over-excited narrator saying "Give your house... THE LOOK!!!!" followed by "Na na na na na, she's got the look..." just heightened the narm up to 11. |
| 169 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o50_ZlMnjqY This]] ad for a CD called "Cheers to You". The very fact that such a product exists (each of the CD's tracks consist of words of encouragement towards the listener) is depressing enough (ironically), but the "HOORAY FOR YOU!" at the end of the commercial really push it off the edge. |
| 170 | ** Parodied by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsKHueDfT8U this]] video. |
| 171 | * "I've fallen and I can't get up!" — originally supposed to be a shocking line in an ad for "Life Alert" ads depicting a helpless elderly woman who had fallen from her walker, it quickly descended into farce. There were even T-shirts once. Life Alert now has the phrase trademarked, and it appears at the bottom of some ads. |
| 172 | ** From a later commercial: |
| 173 | ---> [[PunctuatedForEmphasis All. Senior. Citizens. Should. Have. Life Alert.]] |
| 174 | ** Then there's the scene where an elderly woman is lying on the floor and trying to reach a phone that's sitting on a desk a few feet away -- sort of. She doesn't try to move towards it; she just reaches for it as if she believes that she can make her arm stretch the rest of the way. |
| 175 | ** AAAAND there's [[https://youtu.be/ZAQo0ja6IPM another one]], which tries to go for a dark and serious tone but ends up being somehow even narmier than the other examples; dark and moody music is heard while a camera pans through different rooms in the house and a woman can be heard yelping "HEEEELP!!! I've fallen... It hurts!!! Help me... HELP ME!" and the elderly woman can be seen at the foot of the stairs sobbing with a laundry basket dropped on her. There seems to be nobody home, making it even more hilarious. And shortly after such a dramatic scene, [[MoodWhiplash they cut to happy music and bright colors as if nothing happened]]. |
| 176 | ** Bonus narm points for the weird shift between blue and amber tints, and the fact that woman doesn't even try to look like she really took a fall; she's laying on her back in the ChalkOutline pose with her feet resting on the stairs. |
| 177 | ** The commercial also comes with a trigger warning. |
| 178 | ---> The following is based on reality. You may be offended. |
| 179 | ** In another Life Alert commercial, a little girl happens to be home with her grandmother and actually hears the crash, and she asks: "Grandma, are you OK?" instead of calling 911. It's one of the few times in these commercials a person didn't actually need the product advertised. |
| 180 | ** The newest commercial features an elderly woman taking a shower, but at some point she may have forgotten she wasn't in an anti-drug PSA and hears voices in her head, then falls and takes the curtain down with her (thankfully). |
| 181 | ** An elderly woman falling down the stairs should theoretically not be a humorous sight, but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cTEcLtBfgM here we are]]. |
| 182 | * ''All'' of the commercials for Michael's Furniture in Los Angeles. You can tell that the producers of the commercial didn't bother with trying with costumes, advertising, and even special effects. |
| 183 | * The ad for the movie ''Film/OneMissedCall'' is unintentionally hilarious, with an ominous announcer voice saying, "When your call goes straight to voicemail, your world goes straight to '''Hell.'''" Bonus points for the victim saying "That's not my ringtone" in a terrified almost-whisper. With skill, it's possible to make nearly anything scary; but it seems cell phones (and [[Film/NightOfTheLepus rabbits]]) are a rare exception. |
| 184 | * The ad for the movie ''The Darkest Hour'', HolidayMode. Watching something unrelated, just seeing the super-serious "Survive (beat) The Holidays" and seeing the dog disintegrate, was just hilarious. |
| 185 | * "More Ovaltine, please!" Ovaltine hasn't changed their commercials from BadBadActing cutesy children since the product came on the market. And while at one time, it went into NarmCharm category with how long they'd kept it up, now the gimmick is squarely back in the eyeroll-worthy box. |
| 186 | * Call Liberty Medical and ask them about your [[MemeticMutation DAHH'BEETUS]]. This message brought to you by Wilford Brimley (a.k.a. the "Quaker Oats" guy). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFIsoq63lwo Here:]] |
| 187 | ** "Ah haet prickin mah fingahs! With Liberty Meter, it's much less painful. ''And it even talks to me.''" This is ridiculous because testing one's blood sugar levels via any regular meter that's been introduced to the market since 2000 has become so refined that it requires one tiny little finger prick that you barely feel. The insulin jab hurts a heck of a lot more. Granted, the hospital meters still require the old fashioned ginormous pricks that would hurt, but... |
| 188 | ** The poorly acted commercials for those "free" diabetic cookbooks ("Free" is in quotation marks since there's always a catch to these things.), where Nicole Johnson tries her hardest, but puts across a creepy Sandra Lee kind of vibe, and the black woman sasses it up so much that it's almost worthy of giving the NAACP a conniption. |
| 189 | * Multiple House Alarm commercials that play out pretend scenarios where a burglar, rapist, etc. would be scared away by the alarm. These scenarios, however, were frequently farfetched and downright funny. |
| 190 | ** One involves two burglars attempting to break into a house ''in the middle of the day'' by loudly breaking a window with a crowbar because they spotted overgrown grass and multiple newspapers in the porch. It turns out a single mother with her children were all in the laundry room (why they let the grass over-grow and didn't pick up the paper for days on end is a mystery), but they were gladly protected by the incredible threat of a loud noise. |
| 191 | ** A more ridiculous scenario involves a single woman coming back to her (two-story, full-sized, middle-class) house from a date, only to have another man spy on them. Immediately after the man on a date left, the spying man runs up to the house and kicks open the door in the most obnoxious and over-dramatic way, setting off the alarm that baffles him and causes him to run away. The woman gets a call from the alarm system technicians to ask what's wrong, and she says her ''ex-boyfriend'' knocked down the door. |
| 192 | ** A third commercial of equal ridiculous nature involves a burglar breaking open a front door in the middle of the night in the most obnoxious and loudest way possible, then acts surprised before running away because of a house alarm. Narm moment indeed. |
| 193 | ** There's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKI4t5MFG1E "this"]] Broadview Security ad, where the man breaking in looks straight at the woman before punching through her window (which sets off the alarm), lets her run upstairs, and ''then'' runs away. It's even more narm-y and ridiculous because the commercial made it clear that he'd just been to this woman's house while she was having a party (probably casing the joint, as neither the woman nor her friends seemed to know who he was) - he could have easily gotten in with a lie about leaving his keys or wallet behind and then incapacitated the woman. Instead he seems to think that if he waits fifteen minutes she'll magically be gone from her own home ''and'' manages to miss the security keypad next to the front door. |
| 194 | ** Another security system ad has a jacket-wearing man in a neighborhood at about noon watch a jogger go past. Once the jogger's gone, the man in the jacket flips his hoodie up like a low-rent supervillain and proceeds to loudly kick open the door to a house, setting off the alarm and sending him running. |
| 195 | * "Our world is under constant attack". The start of a trailer for ''Mega Disasters'' on the History Channel's UK version. |
| 196 | * In [[TheEighties the 1980s]], video games were given some narmful adverts. For instance, every commercial for an Platform/{{Atari 2600}} video game, ever. |
| 197 | ** A ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'' ad had a [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} random blonde with a shirt with mega-shoulder pads]] and big hair, and a guy in a cheap Dracula costume with stiff, almost zombie-like poses and weird faces, standing in dry ice and tombstones that were obviously pieces of styrofoam painted gray. |
| 198 | * The ad for the horror film ''Film/{{Mirrors|2008}}'' had a scene at the end that features Kiefer Sutherland sitting in a car saying, "mirrors are everywhere." Then he looks at the rearview mirror, sees a monster in it, lets out the most narmy yells, and dramatically flinches away from the mirror. Ironically it's more or less correctly done as the entire film is like that, with the absolute peak coming from his vision of a burning woman in a large ceiling-to-floor mirror, and his then being afflicted with this condition himself. Nearly a minute is devoted to just him writhing on the floor yelling, "THE FIRE! IT BURNS! AAAAAHHHHHH!" |
| 199 | * "We just finished level three, and need to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRWvfMLl4ho tighten up the graphics]] a little bit." This commercial suggests that video game testers have the cushiest job in the world, but the attempt to replicate what video game testers ''say'' just sounds like somebody who has no idea what they're talking about. |
| 200 | ** Neatly put to bed in [[http://www.threepanelsoul.com/comic/on-level-three this strip]]. |
| 201 | ** [[http://lr-comic.com/index.php?strip_id=223 Also parodied in this strip]] |
| 202 | %%* This driver's-ed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjoPZzG_oVk video]]. It should speak for itself. |
| 203 | * Have you been injured at home or at work in the last 4 years and it wasn't your fault? You could claim money. This line is normally given after a poorly acted reconstruction, though it sometimes is used on screens which should have people suing the law firms for causing epilepsy. |
| 204 | * The protagonist yelling out "JUNNNIIOOOORRRR!" with added repetition and echoes [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQVs71qabnY in the trailer for the film "Waist Deep"]] at about 0:40. |
| 205 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5bju8ybvSs& "Thank You Sarah Palin"]]. |
| 206 | * The [[Advertising/TheMagicBullet Magic Bullet]] To Go infomercial. While the first had the distinction of colorful, wacky characters congregating over a small machine after a party the previous night, it didn't have Dino. Dino makes his first appearance in the To Go infomercial, and the actor playing him is so bad that it makes every line top-grade Narm fuel. Just [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nmEqSD_MBQ check out]] the way he says "Whoa! That is magic." at 3:49. Also, the background music at the start of the infomercial bears a strange resemblance to that of "[[Film/GoodBurger We're All Dudes]]". |
| 207 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L65VrvcVNM This]] ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' ad. Their version of "Marche" is just... so... wrong. |
| 208 | -->Feel free to call, otherwise I may become '''irritable'''! |
| 209 | * One TV spot for ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' features Creator/ShiaLaBeouf's character screaming "Bumblebee!!" in an anguished tone of voice -- which may send viewers not familiar with the ''character'' named Bumblebee into hysterics. But heck, even if you are, it's still funny -- especially if you have someone nearby who decides to snark, "Hey Shia, what's your favorite brand of tuna?" just before the line comes up. |
| 210 | * The Australian advert for [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi]] [[Film/SyfyChannelOriginalMovie Original]] ''Boa'' is quite bizarre. All it shows is a factory at night, a guy looking at something, and a big snake. The narmy narration is apparently the result of a schizophrenic howler monkey who'd been handed various hallucinogens and a broken-down typewriter from 1935. |
| 211 | -->Narrator: *ominously* If it had legs... maybe you could tie them together... and capture it. But it doesn't... so you can't. ''Boa''. |
| 212 | ** Protip: Never argue against your own narration. |
| 213 | * The ad campaign for the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' [[ForTheEvulz Piraka]]. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZXBDIMBKm4 first ad]] is kinda cool, even with ([[MundaneMadeAwesome or because of]]) Thok blowing a presumably Antidermis bubble; but as soon as the [[HipHop painfully gangsta]] announcer opens his mouth, it's hilarious. And even more hilarious is the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1CTPC02n0c Piraka Rap]]. The video isn't official, but the music is. |
| 214 | ** The following year, they had a promotional mini-movie for the Toa Mahri setline, in which the characters actually ''talked''. Leading to the lines... |
| 215 | -->Hewkii, as a giant Gadunka appears: ''Holy Gadunka!''\ |
| 216 | Matoro, ramming a sea-craft into it: ''Eat '''this''', Gadunka!'' |
| 217 | * Book commercials in general, or at least the ones that try to adapt the contents to live action. They're often plagued by cheesy narration over [[SpecialEffectFailure exceedingly low budget footage]] that make them look more like bargain-bin UsefulNotes/{{DVD}} movies than {{literature}}. |
| 218 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spL77iqRl7s This]] Advertising/{{Orangina}} ad. Before, it was simply UsefulNotes/FurryFandom hijinks ramped up to eleven. But this muscled puma looks silly. |
| 219 | ** Look at [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06o4skl2xzg this dominatrix panther.]] |
| 220 | * There's a commercial that talks about a medical service that will give you a supply of fresh, disposable catheters. The first commercial showed a woman whining that she had to ''boil'' and ''reuse'' her catheters. This is amusing until you are informed about the reality of the situation, when it becomes a HarsherInHindsight. The second was for the same service and had an old lady and a handicapped man who delivered their lines in a ridiculously fake-sounding way. |
| 221 | %%* Some old douching commercials were so {{narm}} that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1cAYWi9E_0 they seem like parodies...]] |
| 222 | * Any attempt by Creator/ABCFamily to use their slogan "A new kind of X". It gets silly. Absolutely everything has to be described this way by the network. How it began: When Creator/{{Disney}} wanted to rename the channel to "XYZ" to remarket it to a different audience, they were forced to change it to ABC Family instead (the debacle about the word "Family" remaining in the name as part of a contract turned out to be a hoax when the network rebranded as Freeform in 2016). Disney being Disney, "A new kind of Family" was their way of explaining what they were doing (which would eventually be like Creator/TheWB of basic cable). It snowballed (snowcloned?) from there. |
| 223 | * A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6g9sCEFF10 commercial]] for a Time-Life documentary of ThoseWackyNazis is hard to take seriously because the voice-over announcer is attempting a terrible Creator/DonLaFontaine impression. It doesn't help when the end-of-infomercial voiceover guy [[MoodWhiplash cheerfully pipes up]] to instruct you how to "order your copy of ''The Nazis''." |
| 224 | ** There's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOhchYz9_4Y a version]] of the commercial with an alternate opening that's so {{MoodWhiplash}}-y, it should be grounds for a lawsuit. |
| 225 | -->"They sang...laughed...played..."*gunshots suddenly ring out*"...And murdered MILLIONS." |
| 226 | * Even [[Tropers/TheAdvertisementServer Adbot]] isn't immune. Every so often, a truly groan-worthy ad will pop up on the left on the screen. Notable examples are ads like the "Are You A Vampire? Find Out Now!", "Which Naruto are you?", and, [[FetishRetardant of course,]] the VideoGame/{{Evony}} ads. |
| 227 | ** Some advertisements are only pictures of actual screenshots from media like VideoGame/MarioKartDoubleDash and WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb with nothing else added onto them. |
| 228 | * Ads for the Creator/{{NBC}} show ''Series/TheEvent'' before it started airing. They all take the same form: "(insert random, standard plot driving event here) is not the Event. What is the Event?" with a line from the show saying "he's going to tell people about the Event." The whole thing is so overwrought and so generic that many viewers find it impossible to take seriously. |
| 229 | ** Even better, they strung this series of commercials out so long that some viewers were actually sick of the show before it ever hit the air. |
| 230 | * There's a Nesquik advert, and the gist of it is 'kids only grow up once, enjoy it.' This would be quite touching if it weren't for the Nesquik bunny's voice. With it, the advert becomes ridiculous and seems to be trying too hard. |
| 231 | * Jamster has been running these advertisements for a "Ghost Camera" for your cellphone. It starts with a voiceover of a woman showing you pictures of various locales from her European trip. She gets increasing confused and edgy from the images of "ghosts" on each of her photos, but by the third photo she freaks out and lets out one of the most unconvincing screams of terror ever. Any iota of suspense built up to that point is completely ruined and turned into narm. To give you an idea, it sounded like the voice actor just flatly ''read'' the word "Aaaaaah" aloud from the script. |
| 232 | * An ad slogan for Tyson Chicken: "It's what your family deserves." |
| 233 | ** As in a [[StealthPun big, fat cock]]. |
| 234 | * The 24-hour news networks have been showing an ad by the oil companies featuring people on the street talking about taxing energy. Naturally, these people are all smarter about macroeconomics than real economists, even though all economics is inherently uncertain. And they are so not reading from teleprompters; it's just natural to talk like a fourth-grader reading from his reader (i.e., flat and pausing at awkward times). |
| 235 | * The commercials for the St. Louis and Kansas City-based Midwest Hemorrhoid Treatment Center have become a huge joke across the state of Missouri. You've got to wonder which poor saps were stuck with composing and singing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4fzO9whly8 the]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRGw5uAJBHc jingle]]. Not to mention the whole "don't suffer in silence" thing, which is probably more appropriate for victims of domestic abuse or something along those lines, not hemorrhoids. |
| 236 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltA50HKyM14 This Kay commercial]] features some spectacularly BadBadActing, as well as the gem (no pun intended) that the cold piece of shiny metal "captures the comfort found in each other's arms." |
| 237 | ** Strangely, the way the woman reacted to the lightning, she acted as though she'd never seen anything brighter than a full moon, or louder than a vacuum. Not to mention - a line that is supposed to be delivered as a sweet platitude comes off more like a threat. |
| 238 | * The trailers for the 2011 ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' movie. Dramatic music, a dying alien dramatically intoning, "Become one of us... become... a Green Lantern!" If you're not familiar with the comics, that's a pretty bizarre request to make in a dramatic scene. |
| 239 | * The otherwise pretty spooky [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaaEkJcdrP8 trailer]] for the film ''The Skeptic'' ends with an intense montage of quick clips, including two shots of people... goofily tumbling down the stairs. Obviously they're supposed to be violently falling, but both actors (especially the woman) just drew their arms in and sort of ''roll'' in an un-alarming fashion. |
| 240 | ** {{Jump scare}}s featured in the trailer quickly become predictable when you notice that they repeatedly use a stock ScareChord which quickly loses its scare factor. |
| 241 | * There is a commercial for Montgomery's Furniture (a local furniture store in South Dakota) that basically consists of music that sounds like it should be featured in an action movie... accompanied by random shots of furniture. In other words, the commercial is trying to make furniture seem "Edgy" and "Awesome", but the commercial is just too hilariously bad for it to work. |
| 242 | * One of the trailers for the 2001 remake of ''Film/Thir13enGhosts'' was also quite Narm-ish. It didn't give us any hints or things to look forward to about the movie; it just listed why it was rated R. Not to mention the things it was rated R for were pretty much standard fare by that point in film history. However, R-rated movies with violence, nudity, and [[Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome colorful metaphors]] already existed, [[OlderThanTheyThink despite what the trailer wanted people to believe]]. |
| 243 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jubP3t27IQ This]] ad for a furniture shop definitely qualifies, although there's horror as well; the man's awkward, stilted dialogue, his subtle threat about your credit and the fact that he talks to mannequins are quite alarming. |
| 244 | * With T-Mobile's ads about its 4G network came an ad in which a man impatiently pounds on his cellphone for the "slow 3G buffering" occurring on his screen, unable to wait a few seconds. |
| 245 | * [[http://www.redshirttreatment.com/ You Deserve The Redshirt Treatment]]. [[{{Redshirt}} Not the sort of thing you want to hear at a hospital]]. |
| 246 | %%* Have you ever read the "Urban Legend" on the side of Paul Newman Lemonade cartons? Try to do it without cringing. |
| 247 | * Northern Irish presenter Julian Simmons has a tendency to deliver [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hbdDvfZbeo hilarious,]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ktiJUUBLPo ridiculous]] introductions to the popular soap opera ''Series/CoronationStreet'' which cross into Narm territory. [[NarmCharm He's pretty much the single reason why UTV still uses continuity announcements]]. |
| 248 | -->''[[CatchPhrase But now on the UTV...]]'' |
| 249 | * ''Film/TheDevilInside'' looks like a pretty horrific movie, except for one part in the trailer where [[spoiler: the possessed mother motions for her daughter to come closer. After a few seconds of awkward silence, she lets out a hilarious scream]]. |
| 250 | ** The TV spot shows the rather {{Adorkable}} Father Ben letting out a hilariously girly scream as well, and his facial expression doesn't help matters either. |
| 251 | * Subaru's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA3ml2EkJ3o "Keepsake" ad]]. There was also another advertisement from Subaru where a hip young man delivered a forlorn narration as he put his old Subaru out to pasture... Literally. |
| 252 | * The TV spots for the 2012 action movie ''Film/{{Chronicle}}'' show a character being hit by a flying bus. It's hard not to laugh at it. |
| 253 | ** Likewise for the scene where the kid sits cross-legged, staring into the camera with a dead serious facial expression, clenching a fist, crushing a car. |
| 254 | *** And the "B-BLING, B-BLING!" at the beginning. |
| 255 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xd2ceHDd-g A trailer]] for the horror film ''House at the End of the Street'' uses a "rewind" gimmick a la the ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' trailer, to show how fine and dandy everything started out before the horror stuff happened. A couple of shots -- such as a teenager backflipping out of a swimming pool and a child flying ''back onto'' a swing -- merit at least a chuckle. |
| 256 | * The commercial for James Patterson's new novel, ''I, Michael Bennett,'' is pretty funny. It starts with a little girl asking if her dad would take a bullet for her, then cuts to a little boy asking a similar question, followed by a man awkwardly leaning toward the camera and saying, "I will," as slowly and dramatically as possible. |
| 257 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kI7TsHKaksA This]] advertisement for the Accu-Check Nano blood testing machine. The song sounds like something meant for advertising a Franchise/MyLittlePony doll, not a diabetes-management device. |
| 258 | * An old commercial for debt recovery featured low-quality footage and BadBadActing. It opens with a woman with some papers in her hands and others strewn in front of her and saying, in the blandest, most monotonous voice possible, "Bills, bills, I don't know how we're gonna pay them," then pursing her lips and shaking her head. It was very hard to take the rest of the commercial seriously after watching that. |
| 259 | * The actors in this advert for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB2L1Q0hjdU The Money Shop]], especially the petrol guy: |
| 260 | -->'''[[LargeHam Ugh! AAAAAAAAAARGH!!!]]''' |
| 261 | * This TotallyRadical [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI3rO3PbYOo ad]] from TheEighties, which features two nerds rapping about ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI''. |
| 262 | -->Yeah, go Link yeah, [[AccidentalInnuendo get some]]! |
| 263 | * The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-qBkWerZDg second ad]] has no painful rapping, but makes up for it by being certifiably nuts, featuring a spastic young man in what appears to be an abandoned loony bin hallucinating monsters from the game and calling out for Zelda repeatedly. ''Pe-pe-Peahats!'' For bonus geek points, horror-loving boils and ghouls [[RetroactiveRecognition may recognize the kid in the ad]] as none other than John Kassir, the voice of [[Series/TalesFromTheCrypt the Crypt Keeper]] himself. |
| 264 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzlDg1XKC2Y A DIY book commercial]] at one point runs down pest species you can repel with tips from the book. It inexplicably decides to show this by pasting up a picture of a screaming child's face with wasps photoshopped onto him. |
| 265 | * In the mid-90's, ''Duncan Yo-Yo'' (like just about ''everybody'' marketing to kids at the time) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohr0bZ_WWFQ tried to make]] their commercials [[TotallyRadical hipper and more modern]] by depicting a stereotypical "cool kid" enthusiastically playing with a yo-yo, while comparing him to a nerd sitting at home playing... [[PacManFever a Sega Genesis with Atari 2600 sound effects]]. As if that (both the whole comparison and its execution) wasn't crazy enough, the ad ended with this classic line: "You want speed, action and excitement? GET A YO-YO!!!" |
| 266 | * Another 90's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWJDAOlBO_A toy commercial]]: A board game called ''Ask Zendar''. During the ad, one of the players asks the plastic toy in the center "Am I going to the prom with a geek?" Zendar answers in the affirmative, being sagacious enough to know that [[HypocriticalHumor a girl who consorts with an electronic warlock is almost certainly a geek herself]]. |
| 267 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gccVehom30g This TCF bank commercial]] with polka dancers and a singer on an accordion. The narm should speak for itself. |
| 268 | * UsefulNotes/RPGMaker has a couple of narmy trailers. Unfortunately, later versions lack the hilarious narrators and just pan across the different editors while showing off the pre-installed resources. |
| 269 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnrqig4Eugc The trailer]] for RPG Maker XP has the narrator constantly repeat the product's name [[LargeHam in an increasingly over-the-top voice]], and ends with footage of an RPG starring {{Captain Ersatz}}es of ''Franchise/StarWars'' characters fighting "Dark Vader", who says "You Don't know the power!!!" before [[AnticlimaxBoss dying in one hit]], followed by not-Luke Skywalker saying "Download this!!!" |
| 270 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il3ZcBGh20c The trailer]] for RPG Maker VX has some truly awful lines such as "Wow! Check this out! Pixel art is awesome!" and "It's almost like cheating!" |
| 271 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDASxk5kiDw Principal Wilson has an epic breakdown over]] [[FelonyMisdemeanor someone parking in his spot]]. |
| 272 | * Whilst we imagine none of the men in the audience have ever found these funny; a lot of women tend to find tampon adverts unintentionally hilarious. There are quite a few that try to claim that their product is so amazing, stress-free and revolutionary that after using it you will like nothing more than to go roller-skating or rock climbing or dancing in a packed nightclub (and more often than not whilst wearing a huge contented grin upon your face.) What makes this scenario so funny is that A) Tampons have historically never lived up to their claims and B) They fail to take into account that its far more likely to be the cramps and the aching muscles that stop you from enjoying yourself on a period rather than your lack of a God-like tampon that can solve all of your worldly problems for you. |
| 273 | * Value Village is a Canadian chain of second-hand stores that were once infamous for selling clothes that were clearly gotten rid of for a reason, and not just for being several years out of style but also for things like visible threadbare patches or stains, because they would literally accept ''all'' donations and actually attempted to sell them. At the height of this infamy, it released a commercial wherein shoppers would gleefully proclaim "Funky!" "Bargains!" "Value Village is ''stylin'''!" (said by a young woman who was dressed like she was in a Tiffany video) or a little girl, holding up a piece of clothing that her grandmother might wear, and proclaiming "excellent" as though [[DullSurprise heavily sedated]]). |
| 274 | * ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'' is generally considered either narm or too awful to even be considered narm. However, the commercials that were preserved on some bootlegs of the special are narm in their purest form. Highlights include: |
| 275 | ** The most well-known is a local news promo from the New York airing of the special consisting of a news anchor saying: "Fighting the frizzies, at 11." A famous ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' RunningGag [[Recap/SouthParkS3E15MrHankeysChristmasClassics sprinkled a parody of this promo throughout their Christmas special]] and ended with the newscaster in [[LiteralMetaphor a boxing match with a frizzy monster.]] |
| 276 | ** The hilariously dated promo for a CBS special called "Bobby Vinton's Rock 'N Rollers": "From the creators of ''Donny & Marie'', it's like ''Grease'' on wheels!" To quote [[Podcast/{{Rifftrax}} Mike Nelson]]: Funny what passed for selling points back then." |
| 277 | ** [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds "There's more in the middle of an Egg McMuffin than an egg in the middle of a muffin!"]] |
| 278 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcHufFQ8UnA This]] commercial promotes the high standards of Whirlpool appliances, but is coated in so much PatrioticFervor (the only visuals in the commercial are clips of an bald eagle flying around) that it becomes ridiculous. The narration ends with, "If we can't keep this simple idea alive, then indeed ''we'' are the endangered species," as if the fate of America depends on where you buy your dishwasher. |
| 279 | * A possibly intentional example with the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkuuhr8hazk Perfect Bacon Bowl]]. The over-the-top singing, overwrought reactions to people eating it, the general presentation of it as if were the most epic thing known to man. Just all of it. |
| 280 | * A Colombian TV ad for a brand of powdered juice similar to Tang has two mothers, one of them pregnant, talking about the benefits of the product for their kids, when the one promoting it says: 'And it helps the immune system to work proficiently!'. This causes the pregnant mother to ask 'Immune system?' with a very bewildered expression and tone. The fact a grown-up woman, pregnant at least twice, hasn't heard about a concept taught in school and mentioned in many environments among them some related to pregnancy development, has caused a lot of laughs and mocking towards the writer of the ad. The ad doesn't really help itself, as the reply to that question is a short explanation as if it were given to a child despite the audience the ad is targeted at are adults. |
| 281 | * Creator/TeenNick advertised their block The Splat (now known as Creator/NickRewind) with a Facebook post that [[http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1032165-nickelodeon read]] "Saturdays are all about Splat and chill". Funny thing is, "Netflix and chill" (the original meme) is meant to be an UnusualEuphemism for inviting someone to your place to hook up. |
| 282 | * Commercials for AT&T U-Verse Internet have families talking about how reliable the service is--while within a house where everything else is breaking down rather catastrophically. For example, in one commercial a bathtub falls through the floor above right near a girl sitting on the couch with her tablet. The last concern on a person's mind after that would be whether or not their Internet was working. |
| 283 | * A series of commercials from 2000-2001 for American Express Travelers Checks featured a middle-aged woman in New York City calling the police about losing her purse filled with $1,000 in a taxi. As sad as it aims to be, it loses some luster and becomes this when the woman cries out in a thick Southern twang, "You don't understand, I'm on vacation. Everything is in that cab!" Fortunately, the other commercials from this era had the other individuals' reactions being more believable and serious. |
| 284 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Tnult8aKo "If you build it, people will come."]] So says Freddie Flintoff in Morrisons' 2011 Christmas advert. What starts off as a ShoutOut to ''Film/FieldOfDreams'' gradually becomes an AccidentalInnuendo through sheer overuse of the word "come". In the words of Creator/CharlieBrooker, "I've been impressed by an aubergine in Morrisons, but not once have I felt like coming." |
| 285 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGs4CjeJiJQ This]] famously terrible Chanel No. 5 advert, in which Creator/BradPitt stands alone in a room and talks [[MeaninglessMeaningfulWords complete]] [[FauxlosophicNarration nonsense]] for half a minute. When it first aired, it was roundly ridiculed for being one of the most laughably pretentious things ever. |
| 286 | * The people behind [[https://www.thepoke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Bk2iFj0IcAA-Njl.jpg this print advert]] for Locum, a Swedish property management company, had the idea of replacing the "o" in the logo (which is all lower case) with a love heart... accidentally resulting in something NSFW. Hilarity ensued when people saw the logo and immediately realised what it looked like. |
| 287 | * One of ''many'' sorts of misdirected advertising agency effort identified and vilified on name-and-shame-crap-adverts site ''Website/AdTurds''. |
| 288 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP5lz2CYNR4 This commercial for Sakura Con]], which quickly became MemeticMutation when it was originally released. Highlights include ''everyone'' in the Japanese restaurant proclaiming their love for Japanese things, and especially the {{goth}} guy who yells "GIRUGAMESH!". |
| 289 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUFPGYVhmSs The Story of Lucy]] is a three-minute long prestige ad featuring soft soulful music, as we watch a montage of moments in the life of a man who has a daughter. We see her born, watch as she grows up, gets married, and has a child of her own. Throughout this touching and heart-string tugging commercial, you can't help but wonder what it is they're selling. Life insurance? Cars? Cell phones? It's not very clear. Then, at the end of it all, as the father looks through a pane of nursery-ward glass at his new granddaughter, we see the message, "What's between us, connects us"... then it cuts to a logo for Windex. |
| 290 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q9YVm-X0jA An advert]] that began airing in 2016 featured a woman in a wedding dress being driven away from a church having abandoned the groom at the altar. We're informed that the man has money, a good job and a nice car, "but that still doesn't mean he gets you". The product? [[spoiler:Chewing gum, specifically Wrigley's Extra.]] No, we don't get it either. |
| 291 | * The horror-thriller film ''Film/{{The Snowman|2017}}'' may have generated some hype with its trailer, only to shoot itself in the foot with [[http://www.impawards.com/2017/snowman.html quite possibly one of the worst movie posters of all time]]. It has a juvenile vibe with simplistic handwriting over a doodle of a snowman whose expression is best described as "disappointed". It was so bad that it became a {{meme|ticMutation}}. The fact that the juvenile vibe and snowman drawing are original to the film and not [[Literature/HarryHole the novel it adapts]] hasn't helped. |
| 292 | -->MISTER POLICE. |
| 293 | -->YOU COULD HAVE SAVED HER |
| 294 | -->I GAVE YOU ALL THE CLUES |
| 295 | ** On top of that, the stilted wording brings to mind the ''Series/TwinPeaks'' parody from "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo Who Shot Mr. Burns? Part Two]]". "''Chief Wiggum! Dooon't eat the cluuues!''" |
| 296 | * While [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Niwnnri4kyU this]] commercial for ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' is rather creepy, there's an [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6JlLiOHy90 alternative version]] for a wrestling cross-promotion where a wrestling match is interrupted by footage of the kid playing the video game. Wrestling/MattHardy unenthusiastically says "He's got 72 hours to save the world" as Wrestling/{{Jeff|Hardy}} nods in agreement and we see a close-up of the gamer's sweaty face as a dramatic '''THUD''' plays in the background. It just makes the commercial look silly. |
| 297 | * Both of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlSBNtkFiTo these]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2zSHK1LgMQ adverts]] for Fiftylife life insurance, featuring what must be the most hilariously forced conversations about bereavement ever put on film. Special mention goes to the second one, in which there is absolutely ''no'' change of tone between the woman's cheerful "Mum loved coming here!" and the subsequent "Her death was such a shock." |
| 298 | -->'''[=AdTurds=]:''' Is there a right way to broach the cost of your own mother's funeral? Perhaps, but reserving the manner you'd normally adopt for feigning interest in someone boasting about their double glazing probably isn't the ideal tone to adopt. |
| 299 | * The old Marks and Spencer adverts of the early 2000s. AKA the "This is not just X, this is ''M&S'' X" era. Literally ''everyone'' in the UK was making fun of these. The gist was that you'd be shown a slow-motion pan over a fork or spoon cutting into some kind of food while a woman narrated exactly what kind of food it was. There'd usually be about 3 or 4 of these per ad and it would end with the slogan: "This is not just food. This is M&S food". Not bad in and of itself, but when you factor in the woman speaking in the kind of voice often reserved for more...adult scenarios, and some combination of the slow-mo, the close-ups and the descriptions of the food making it all seem less than appetising, it quickly became utterly ridiculous. |
| 300 | ** For more M&S silliness, look no further than their infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqwUOedIo0Y "I'm Normal"]] advert from 2000, in which a size-16 woman runs to the top of a hill while stripping off, where she loudly declares (while fully naked and with arms outstretched) that she is "'''NOOOORRRMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!'''". The intentions may have been admirable, but the scenario is absurd. While the ad has faded into obscurity, it came at a time when the company's fortunes were beginning to decline, and did no favours for their ailing public image. |
| 301 | * A Mexican ad for the Athletes' Foot cream Silka Medic became a minor meme for its ending, where it's narrator declares in a completely serious voice, "Nothing is faster than Silka Medic. Nothing. There aren't any. ''They don't exist!''" They slightly hammed up the last line in later ads. |
| 302 | * The famous American ''WesternAnimation/{{Muzzy|InGondoland}}'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD9i39GENWU commercial]] from [[TheNineties the 1990s]] is infamous for this. It starts with a young girl pointing to herself and proudly proclaiming ''"Je suis la jeune fille!"'' (''"I am the young girl!"''). Then it gets even funnier when the presenter--who's hanging around the girl's living room for no apparent reason--excitedly points out that ''"Yes, that's French they're speaking. And no, these children aren't French--they're American!"'' That last line has become something of a [[MemeticMutation meme]] among '90s kids, who regularly saw the ad playing on Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} while growing up. |
| 303 | * [=4DX=] motion-seating theaters have [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLpIplowO44 this video]] before each screening. However, the last shot of all the onscreen audience miming holding a motorcycle's handlebars has gotten laughs out of real audiences for being so absurdly ''not'' what moviegoers would do. |
| 304 | * The Florida House Experience is a rehab center to help people fight off addiction. Addiction is a serious condition but [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZO7zGZfnjc the commercial begs to differ]]. It starts with the mother pouring an alcoholic drink in the glass then it cuts to the scene with her daughter asking for cereal and her response is this: TAKE THE POP-TART AND GO TO YOUR ROOM! The unexpectedness and delivery of this scene altogether makes it hard to take it seriously from that point onwards. You think we would expect something way more serious. |
| 305 | * Admit it: while many CD compilations have some great hits, the fact that the commercials were played ad nauseam, you probably know the whole advertisement by heart. This is ''especially'' true if it aired in your childhood while watching Nickelodeon or Creator/CartoonNetwork. How many times has one seen (or was ''waken up by'') a commercial that came on at full blast singing ''[[https://youtu.be/wSnZi0YTmuo "And I can't fight this FEELING ANYMOOORRE..."]]'', ''[[https://youtu.be/N89qnlZM0i0 "Ooga-chaga, ooga-ooga, I-I-I, hooked on a feeling..."]]'' or possibly the best known example, ''[[https://youtu.be/JkxNLeKGr4M "Cause I'm your la-DAAAAYY, and you are my MAAAANNN..."?]]'' |
| 306 | * A commercial shows a dad talking to his kid through a door, apologizing for missing her game. The kid's upset, but when the dad writes a long apology note on the advertised product, she forgives him. Clearly intended to be sweet...but the advertised product is Angel Soft ''[[https://www.ispot.tv/ad/omkS/angel-soft-so-sorry toilet paper.]]'' And he doesn't just use a bit of toilet paper; he uses an ''entire roll,'' writing "So..." on every square until he writes "Sorry" on the last square. It's such an amusingly ridiculous use of the product that [[{{Glurge}} you can't take the intended sweet message seriously at all]]. |
| 307 | * [[https://www.ispot.tv/ad/tROy/colonial-penn-the-talk This spot]] for Colonial Penn life insurance should be pretty serious and realistic, with a couple talking about life insurance after a healthy elderly man they knew suddenly died. Unfortunately, the actors' delivery and the AsYouKnow dialogue makes it sound like a strange joke. |
| 308 | -->'''Wife''': I just got a text from my sister. You remember Rick, her neighbor?\ |
| 309 | '''Husband''': Sure, he's the 76 year old who still runs marathons?\ |
| 310 | '''Wife''': Sadly, not anymore! |
| 311 | * The trailer for Creator/ButchHartman's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPkRPy_gzFc OAXIS streaming service]] is supposed to sell a family-friendly streaming service by having a family get disgusted at inappropriate content in their television program. The family does this by acting horrified at a television airing the words "HORROR MOVIE COMMERCIAL" and "SEX SCENE" and "MURDER SCENE" and trying to cover the kids' eyes in an exaggerated panic. While Hartman is trying to make a genuine point about inappropriate television content, the lack of any actual threat in context makes it look like a joke.(Hartman's arrival in the trailer does bring deliberate humor, though.) |
| 312 | * Coca-Cola's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2QZjUzWPMA Real Magic]] ad takes their usual {{Glurge}}-y writing and applies it to the world of streaming and E-sports. Apparently, drinking Coke in real life can bring your character back from the dead, who then becomes self-aware and throws his weapon to the ground, convincing everyone else in the battle do the same. It's all intercut with reactions from streamers and audience members crying TearsOfJoy. It's utterly ridiculous and makes ''no'' attempt to understand its demographic, which kind of makes it amazing. |
| 313 | * It's almost common knowledge that ''WesternAnimation/{{Bambi}}'' is a highly dark movie once one looks past the cuteness. Well, it seems the Disney Company is aware of this. Whenever the movie is promoted, either for theatrical re-releases or on home video, the trailer will go out of its way to make it seem like a safe, fun and cute romp with cuddly animals. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bo8tJkrZWQ This particular trailer]] takes the cake, with a peppy remix of the ice skating leitmotif and unfitting cartoon sound effects. Anyone who knows what actually happens in the story will find it laughable as well as misleading. |
| 314 | --> "Ah, Disney, never stop misadvertising your infamous 'this film ruined me, his mother died out of nowhere' movie as fun and whimsical" |
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