History SoBadItsGood / Advertising

* [[ParodiedTrope Parodied(?)]] by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks3Cj_i3V1w Valley Volkswagen of Staunton, Virginia]]. Their ''many'' ads all have the same theme: an employee who wants to make commercials filled with [[HilarityEnsues wacky gimmicks]], only to have his boss tell them, "That's not Valley VW."

** For more over-the-top lawyer advertising, take a look at Bryan Wilson, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL3MxAH-kDI TEXAS LAW HAWK.]] His commercials usually include (a) a little-person actor, (b) Wilson crashing through a door/wall like Kool-Aid Man, and (c) Wilson {{corpsing}} at least once.

* The infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuFHrVv_ug4 I'M PLAYING NUT]] UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable commercial. It has bland, jerky, and scary animation, makes fun of racial stereotypes, and contains possibly the dumbest joke and tag line in the history of all mankind. It would probably be forgotten today if it wasn't for the WebAnimation/AwesomeSeries episode where a pissed-off Sony manager curses out and kills the man who came up with the commercial, and a parody in TheStinger of the WebVideo/UltraFastPony episode "For Glorous Mother Equestria!".

* Steve Ballmer in a [[https://youtu.be/DgJS2tQPGKQ?t=6 promotional video]][[note]]not an actual TV commercial, as many have claimed[[/note]] for [[UsefulNotes/MicrosoftWindows Windows 1.01]]. He just hams up the whole commercial with his unnecessary yelling and you got to love what he says in the end when he says the address to purchase one.

* UsefulNotes/Atari2600 commercials really were something special. They were probably hammy even at the time, but given how the games have aged they just seem '''completely unhinged''' now. Check out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lROb1vWNiig this commercial for Ice Hockey]] with a guy screaming in excitement, or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-qZv1IsEpQ this one for Star Wars]] where the guy ''literally blows up'' because the game was too intense.

* The [[https://youtu.be/6K00DCK1l98 E3 2008 trailer]] for the unreleased[[note]]''Duke Nukem: Critical Mass'' did eventually launch in 2011 on the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, but the other two games, ''Chain Reaction'' and ''Proving Grounds'', never made it to market[[/note]] ''VideoGame/DukeNukem Trilogy'' manages to drag on for almost four minutes despite barely having enough material for even a quick teaser. The entire trailer consists of the logos for the games dramatically flashing onscreen, interspersed with random photos of people wearing gas masks, stock particle effects, and a single still image of Duke that awkwardly slides across the screen in one shot, and has the camera slowly zoom in on his crotch in another. It's repetitive, amateurish, and utterly hilarious.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ0J1AEckOo This]] Italian advertisement for a book gained a SoBadItsGood reputation due to its amateurish direction, poor acting, messy background, creepy SoundtrackDissonance and the use of a word ("strategismo") that doesn't even exists. It was followed by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsoBYKKTqoI similar]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BP-X4vzbpI and equally SBIG]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9l8Hy4nqA4 advertisements]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwU_7vixSjg This]] old ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link To The Past]]'' advert. Sure, it's cheesy, but secretly it's rather awesome to see Link and bunch of monsters have a dance-off, with a [[ThePowerOfRock bizarre, Japanese rap playing in the background]].

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3kuR6TuHqo This Carmel taxi service commercial]] has New Yorkers calling each other [[GratuitousYiddish "mashugana"]] for not taking Carmel. The line reads are ridiculous (the second woman speaking from the car sounds like she's reading off a cue card]], there's a very poorly edited slow-motion shot with equally awkward audio, and a completely unnecessary {{rimshot}}. These all make it a charmingly bad local ad.

* ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsDarkAlliance'' had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk1Tim7zSkU this trailer]] featuring some ''incredibly'' awkward camera angles and ''VideoGame/GarrysMod''-esque flailing arm movements, leading to several jokes about the characters having strapped [=GoPro=]s on their weapons.

* The [[https://youtu.be/6K00DCK1l98 E3 2008 trailer]] for the unreleased[[note]]''Duke Nukem: Critical Mass'' did eventually launch in 2011 on the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, but the other two games, ''Chain Reaction'' and ''Proving Grounds'', never made it to market[[/note]] '''''VideoGame/DukeNukem Trilogy''''' manages to drag on for almost four minutes despite barely having enough material for even a quick teaser. The entire trailer consists of the logos for the games dramatically flashing onscreen, interspersed with random photos of people wearing gas masks, stock particle effects, and a single still image of Duke that awkwardly slides across the screen in one shot, and has the camera slowly zoom in on his crotch in another. It's repetitive, amateurish, and utterly hilarious.
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzxFdtWmjto first teaser trailer]] for '''''Film/{{Venom|2018}}''''' was rushed out before ''any'' of the effects for the title character were ready, and ended up just as vague and awkward as you'd expect for a trailer about a comic book character that can't actually show the character. [[NArm Especially ridiculed]] was a shot intended to be a close-up of Venom emerging out of Brock's face, which without the effects is just Tom Hardy [[ChewingTheScenery pulling goofy faces in fast motion]][[invoked]]. At the same time, the film found itself plagued by a rumor that hardly anything actually happened in it and Brock only bonded with the Venom symbiote in the final 10 minutes, which the teaser made so believable that Hardy himself had to step in and debunk it. Luckily, the following trailers where they actually were able to show the whole reason for the movie's existence were much better-received. Despite the controversy, [[NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity the film wound up with a huge box office haul]].

* UsefulNotes/Atari2600 commercials really were something special. They were probably hammy even at the time, but [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny given how the games have aged]] they just seem '''completely unhinged''' now. Check out [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lROb1vWNiig this commercial for Ice Hockey]] with a guy screaming in excitement, or [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-qZv1IsEpQ this one for Star Wars]] where the guy ''literally blows up'' because the game was too intense.

* (THE LATE) Creator/{{BILLY MAYS}}. ''OXI CLEAN DETERGENT SPOKESMAN''. '''{{LARGE HAM}}'''. YOU DO THE MATH. LIKE HE SAYS [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JGXbIfeuRY IN THIS COMMERCIAL FOR THE DING KING]], "YOU GOTTA SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT."

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ0J1AEckOo This]] Italian advertisement for a book gained a SoBadItsGood fame due to its amateurish direction, poor acting, messy background, creepy SoundtrackDissonance and the use of a word ("strategismo") that doesn't even exists. It was followed by [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsoBYKKTqoI similar]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BP-X4vzbpI and equally SBIG]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9l8Hy4nqA4 advertisements]].

* [[https://youtu.be/7LVcI-DQdYA?feature=shared This unintentionally hilarious PSA]] for meth usage has people, including children, saying in a very serious voice statements like, "I'm on meth." and "I'm on it." They mean to say that they're on the problem, but evidently, no one considered how this would actually sound, making everyone sound like they're all methheads.