"I've lived all my life in this weird wonderland;
I keep buying things that I don't understand,
'Cause they promise me miracles, magic, and hope,
But, somehow, it always turns out to be soap."
I keep buying things that I don't understand,
'Cause they promise me miracles, magic, and hope,
But, somehow, it always turns out to be soap."
— "Chim Chim Cheree" by Allan Sherman, a parody of "Chim Chim Cheree" from Mary Poppins
An index of tropes about the advertising, marketing, and promotion of commercial products.
See Advertising for a list of works.
General:
Main:
Categories:
- 30-Day Free Trial
- Absolute Comparative
- Abusive Advertising
- Ad-Break Double-Take
- Ad Bumpers
- Ad Dissonance
- Advertisement Game
- Advert-Overloaded Future
- Advertising by Association
- Advertising Campaigns
- Advertising Disguised as News
- All-Natural Snake Oil
- Allegedly Free Game
- Animate Body Parts
- Appliance Defenestration
- Asbestos-Free Cereal
- Attack of the Political Ad
- Beer Commercials
- "Before" and "After" Pictures
- Best is Average, Better is Best
- Better Than New
- Billboard
- Billboard Epic
- Bite the Wax Tadpole
- Blipvert
- Blue Liquid Absorbent
- Brand Name Takeover
- Brand Names Are Better
- Brand X
- Breakaway Advertisement
- Bumper Sticker
- Cable/Satellite Mudslinging
- Character Shill
- Christmas Creep
- City Shout Outs
- Clarke's Law for Girls' Toys
- Colbert Bump
- Commercial Break Cliffhanger
- Commercial Pop-Up
- Commercial Switcheroo
- Consumer Conspiracy
- Crunchtastic
- Dada Ad
- Damned by a Fool's Praise
- Damned by Faint Praise
- The Dead Rise to Advertise
- Deceptively Simple Demonstration
- Defenestrate and Berate
- Delicious Fruit Pies
- Design Student's Orgasm
- Disney Owns This Trope
- Dualvertisement
- Enforced Plug
- #EngineeredHashtag
- Everything Talks
- Excuse Question
- Eye Catch
- Face on the Cover
- Fake Food
- Fake Video Camera View
- Forced Meme
- Fourth Wall Greeting
- Free Prize at the Bottom
- Freemium
- Get the Sensation
- Ghost in the Machine
- Gourmet Pet Food
- Gratuitous Special Effects
- Green Christmas
- Here Comes the Science
- Hive-Mind Testimonial
- Homogenous Multinational Ad Campaign
- Hope Mongering
- iProduct
- Iconic Logo
- If You Like "X-Files"
- Imagine Spot
- In-Universe Marketing
- Insane Proprietor
- Internet Ads
- Invisible Advertising
- Japandering
- Just Pennies a Day
- Kitschy Local Commercial
- Let's Meet the Meat
- Letters 2 Numbers
- Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
- Limited Special Collector's Ultimate Edition
- Logo Joke
- Made in Country X
- The Man Is Sticking It to the Man
- Mascot
- Men Buy from Mars, Women Buy from Venus
- Microtransactions
- Model Couple
- Modeling Poses
- Neurosis Commercialis
- Never Needs Sharpening
- New and Improved
- New Look, Same Great Taste!
- Offer Void In Nebraska
- Operators Are Standing By
- Organ Autonomy
- Our Product Sucks
- Our Slogan Is Terrible
- Parody Commercial
- Pistol Pose
- Polish the Turd
- Poverty Porn
- The Power of Cheese
- Pre-Order Bonus
- Product as Superhero
- Product Placement
- Product Promotion Parade
- Product Switcheroo Ad
- Propaganda Piece
- Public Relations Ad
- Repeating Ad
- Reverse Psychology Marketing
- Ridiculously Loud Commercial
- Rigged Contest
- Salesman Cam
- Scare Campaign
- Scare 'em Straight
- Self Promotion Disguised As News
- Sequel Logo in Ruins
- Serving Suggestion
- Sex for Product
- Sex Sells
- Sexy Packaging
- Shaving Is Science
- Shoddy Knockoff Product
- Side-by-Side Demonstration
- Side-Effects Include...
- Sigil Spam
- Similar to the Show
- Slices, Dices, and Makes Julienne Fries
- Slogans
- Starting From
- Stealth Cigarette Commercial
- Stepford Consumer
- Strawman Product
- Stuck on Band-Aid Brand
- Subliminal Advertising
- Subliminal Seduction
- Super Bowl Special (also known as FIFA World Cup Special)
- Taglines
- Talking Pest
- Tape Switch
- Token Trio
- Too Incompetent to Operate a Blanket
- Totally Radical
- Trope Co. Trope of the Week
- Two Chicks in a Kitchen
- Two Guys in a Garage
- Unfortunate Ingredients
- Up Marketing
- Very False Advertising
- Viral Marketing
- "Wanted!" Poster
- We Care
- We Don't Suck Anymore
- We Suck Less
- What Were They Selling Again?
- Wolverine Publicity
- Xtreme Kool Letterz
Breakfast Cereals:
- Adjacent to This Complete Breakfast
- Cereal-Induced Superpowers
- Cereal Vice Reward
- Magically Delicious
Disclaimers:
- *batteries not included
- Do Not Attempt
- I Approved This Message
- Motor Mouth
- Rattling Off Legal
- Results Not Typical
- Unreadable Disclaimer
Medical:
- I'm Not a Doctor, but I Play One on TV
- Nine out of Ten Doctors Agree
- Pain Center
- Side-Effects Include...
- Spice Rack Panacea
Music:
Stock Phrases:
- ...And 99¢
- But Wait, There's More!
- Four Equal Payments of
- If You Call Before Midnight Tonight
- It Works Itself
- Just Pennies a Day
- Not Available In Stores
- Now How Much Would You Pay
- Please Subscribe to Our Channel
- This Product Will Change Your Life
- Viewers Like You
Notable Figures and Campaigns:
- Billy Mays
- The Burger King
- Dr. Rabbit
- Ernest P. Worrell
- John Jameson
- Kevin Butler
- M&M's
- The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
- The Most Interesting Man in the World
- Mr. Whipple
- Peggy
- Segata Sanshiro
- Shigesato Itoi
- Stan Freberg
- Terry Tate Office Linebacker
- UFO Kamen Yakisoban
- Vat19
- Vince Offer
- Wilkins Coffee
