History DarkerAndEdgier / Advertising

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* [=OnDigital=], later ITV Digital, was an early attempt to bring digital TV to British viewers. It was advertised by Creator/JohnnyVegas and a cute little DeadpanSnarker sock puppet monkey sidekick as in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeXu2kWsLc4 this advert]]. It wasn't a resounding success and ITV Digital died a quite public death with a lot of recrimination and lawsuits and all that fun stuff. But the Vegas/Monkey team were so loved that they ended up becoming the mascots of a completely different product, namely [[SpotOfTea PG Tips]]. How do you reintroduce a pair of endearing and loved characters? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3ETnljaDvU Like this, apparently]].
* A literal example: Restoration Hardware, an upscale home furnishing chain, went from white walls, brightly lit stores, and a retro-industrial-Thirties/Forties/Fifties aesthetic to dark gray walls, very dim lights, and items with a modern/rough-edged look at some point after 2008.
* T-Mobile tried this in Spring of 2012. Their spokeswoman, the T-Mobile Girl, before seen with only white backgrounds and wearing pink sundresses, is now being advertised as bored with the "nice, safe" life she has. She searches for, and finds, a black full-bodied motorcycle jumpsuit (with pink accents) and rides into the night on a Yamaha-looking sport bike.
* Captain Morgan rum usually portrays their Captain as a playful partygoer. Their new campaign has gone for giving him a more daring and adventurous personality; likely due to the popularity of ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''.
* Life Alert is a serious product - it's meant for older and disabled people if they ever, say, fall down and need help when no one is around -- but the old commercials have been the product of giggles for years. [[{{Narm}} "I've fallen and I can't get up!"]] was subject to MemeticMutation throughout the 90's and frequently mocked and parodied. Come 2014, they decided to darken up their ads into pure NightmareFuel. Gone are the old ladies almost comically on the floor, now the mood is noticeably darker and you can feel the pain and fear, as if Life Alert is saying "Thought that was ''funny'', did ya? Well, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4JzxG0cnpg yuk it up now]], [[YouBastard you little shits.]]"
* Nationwide Insurance (2015 Super Bowl) - Many audiences thought this advertisement was try to pull too hard on heart-strings. A kid talks about life insurance but ends by saying "because I am dead". The commercial ends with the motto Make Safe Happen. This disturbing commercial aimed to up the ante during the crucial advertising season, which ended up backfiring.
* In what is ostensibly ''not'' intended as a parody of this trope, Fairy -- who have for decades had a baby as a mascot to symbolise the "baby soft hands" you'll have after washing the dishes with their detergent -- introduced a new "Tough Baby" mascot in 2017 to emphasize being tough on dirt. Still a baby, but now he's a tattooed, [[HellBentForLeather studded-leather-jacketed]] [[TheQuincyPunk Quincy Punk]] baby with a deep Cockney growl, a [[BadassBiker motorbike]], and the catchphrase "No More Mr. Nice Baby"
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* OnDigital, later ITV Digital, was an early attempt to bring digital TV to British viewers. It was advertised by JohnnyVegas and a cute little DeadpanSnarker sock puppet monkey sidekick as in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeXu2kWsLc4 this advert]]. It wasn't a resounding success and ITV Digital died a quite public death with a lot of recrimination and lawsuits and all that fun stuff. But the Vegas/Monkey team were so loved that they ended up becoming the mascots of a completely different product, namely [[SpotOfTea PG Tips]]. How do you reintroduce a pair of endearing and loved characters? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3ETnljaDvU Like this, apparently]].

* In what is ostensibly ''not'' intended as a parody of this trope, Fairy -- who have for decades had a baby as a mascot to symbolise the "baby soft hands" you'll have after washing the dishes with their detergent -- introduced a new "Tough Baby" mascot in 2017 to emphasize being tough on dirt. Still a baby, but now he's a tattooed, [[HellBentForLeather studded-leather-jacketed]] [[TheQuincyPunk Quincy Punk]] baby with a deep Cockney growl, a [[BadassBiker motorbike]], and the catchphrase "No More Mr. Nice Baby". Yup.

* In what is ostensibly ''not'' intended as a parody of this trope, Fairy -- who have for decades had a baby as a mascot to symbolise the "baby soft hands" you'll have after washing the dishes with their detergent -- introduced a new "Tough Baby" mascot in 2017 to emphasize being tough on dirt. Still a baby, but now he's a tattooed, [[HellBentForLeather studded-leather-jacketed]] QuincyPunk baby with a deep Cockney growl, a [[BadassBiker motorbike]], and the catchphrase "No More Mr. Nice Baby". Yup.

* Life Alert is a serious product - it's meant for older and disabled people if they ever, say, fall down and need help when no one is around -- but the old commercials have been the product of giggles for years. [[{{Narm}}"I've fallen and I can't get up!"]] was subject to MemeticMutation throughout the 90's and frequently mocked and parodied. Come 2014, they decided to darken up their ads into pure NightmareFuel. Gone are the old ladies almost comically on the floor, now the mood is noticeably darker and you can feel the pain and fear, as if Life Alert is saying "Thought that was ''funny'', did ya? Well, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4JzxG0cnpg yuk it up now]], [[YouBastard you little shits.]]"

* Life Alert is a serious product - it's meant for older and disabled people if they ever, say, fall down and need help when no one is around -- but the old commercials have been the product of giggles for years. [[{{Narm}}"I've fallen and I can't get up!"]] was subject to MemeticMutation throughout the 90's and frequently mocked and parodied. Come 2014, they decided to darken up their ads into pure NightmareFuel. Gone are the old ladies almost comically on the floor, now the mood is noticeably darker and you can feel the pain and fear, as if Life Alert is saying "Thought that was ''funny'', did ya? Well [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4JzxG0cnpg yuk it up now]], [[YouBastard you little shits.]]"

* Life Alert is a serious product - it's meant for older and disabled people if they ever, say, fall down and need help when no one is around -- but the old commercials have been the product of giggles for years. "I've fallen and I can't get up" was subject to MemeticMutation throughout the 90's and subject of many a parody. Come 2014, they decided to darken up their ads into pure NightmareFuel. Gone are the old ladies almost comically on the floor, now the mood is noticeably darker and you can feel the pain and fear, as if Life Alert is saying "Thought that was ''funny'', did ya? Well [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4JzxG0cnpg yuk it up now]], [[YouBastard you little shits]]."

* Life Alert is a serious product - it's meant for older and disabled people if they ever, say fall down and need help when no one is around - but the old commercials have been the product of giggles for years. "I've fallen and I can't get up" is catchy and memetic but in 2014 they decided to darken up their ads into pure NightmareFuel. Gone are the old ladies almost comically on the floor, now the mood is noticeably darker and you can feel the fear.

* T-Mobile recently (Spring 2012) seems to trying this. Their spokeswoman, the T-Mobile Girl, before seen with only white backgrounds and wearing pink sundresses, is now being advertised as bored with the "nice, safe" life she has. She searches for, and finds, a black full-bodied motorcycle jumpsuit (with pink accents) and rides into the night on a Yamaha-looking sport bike.

* Nationwide Insurance (2015 Super Bowl) - Many audiences thought this advertise was try to pull too hard on heart-strings. A kid talks about life insurance but ends by saying "because I am dead". The commercial ends with the motto Make Safe Happen This disturbing commercial aimed to up the ante during the crucial advertising season which ended up backfiring.

* Make Safe Happen - Nationwide (2015 Super Bowl). Many audiences thought this advertise was try to pull too hard on heart-strings. A kid talks about life insurance but ends by saying "because I am dead". This disturbing commercial aimed to up the ante during the crucial advertising season, which ended up backfiring.

* Life Alert is a serious product - it's meant for older and disabled people if they ever, say fall down and need help when no one is around - but the old commercials have been the product of giggles for years. "I've fallen and I can't get up" is catchy and memetic but in 2014 they decided to darken up their ads into pure NightmareFuel. Gone are the old ladies almost comically on the floor, now the mood is noticeably darker and you can feel the fear.

* Captain Morgan rum usually portrays their Captain as a playful partygoer. Their new campaign has gone for giving him a more daring and adventurous personality; likely due to the popularity of ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''.

* Captain Morgan rum usually portrays their Captain as a playful partygoer. Their new campaign has gone for giving him a more daring and adventurous personality; likely due to the popularity of ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''.

* T-Mobile recently (Spring 2012) seems to trying this. Their spokeswoman, the T-Mobile Girl, before seen with only white backgrounds and wearing pink sundresses, is now being advertised as bored with the "nice, safe" life she has. She searches for, and finds, a black full-bodied motorcycle jumpsuit (with pink accents) and rides into the night on a Yamaha-looking sport bike.

* A literal example: Restoration Hardware, an upscale home furnishing chain, went from white walls, brightly lit stores, and a retro-industrial-Thirties/Forties/Fifties aesthetic to dark gray walls, very dim lights, and items with a modern/rough-edged look at some point after 2008.