Ad Nonsense

Visa Makes Ugly Appeal to Super Wealthy.

Given the current climate, we think this ad for Visa strikes a remarkably wrong tone. Granted, the Black Card is for the hyper-wealthy, but even they’re cutting back on jet-share hours. The ad informs us that the card is made with carbon graphite, which helps make it the ultimate buying tool. Why this is so,… Read More »

What’s arrived for Mom & Dad?

This one’s a classic. We’ve been showing it to ad students since it first ran and no one’s ever guessed it (if you’re one of them, please keep this to yourself). Sorry, we can’t give you any copy clues. You’ll see why when we reveal the product next Tuesday.  What product? Take your best guess (and… Read More »

H&R Block’s One-Eyed Unibrows

We know you’ve seen this a thousand times, but how can we not include it in the Creepy-Ville gallery. Our favorite thing is, of course, the unibrows. While the connection between one eye and two looks at your taxes doesn’t quite track — we’re guessing the original board presented by Campbell Mithun made a much… Read More »

Texaco Boasts Endorsement By Non-Organization.

We Googled, Yellow-paged, and 411-ed, and couldn’t find any Arizona Land Rover Association. We did find an Arizona Land Rover Owners’ site, a small affinity site for off-roading Land Rover off-roaders who seemed pretty into it. But nowhere on their site did we find a reference to Texaco Techron. On the international site landroversonly.com we… Read More »

Here’s the miracle mystery product this women has in her back pocket!

Of course! A single serve packet of water flavoring! Crystal Light promises to help on-the-go-women turn the water they need into ‘something beautiful’ (their words). A powder that will help a woman feel confident, playful, free and happy! We know of other powders that claim this sort of transformative power. But water flavoring? C’mon. This… Read More »

What’s she ridin’ with that makes her feel so confident and free?

The copy for this ad reads, “When I’m happy being me, I’m confident, playful, free, good to go.” Take your best guess below. Hint: It’s not what you’d expect your first guess to be.

Hormel Cure 81. The Ham That Goes Great With Graduation!

We’ve been showing this classic Hormel ad to clients and students for a while because we think it represents the kind of inbred marketing/ad thinking that too often leads to wild syllogistic leaps of logic. Granted, we haven’t seen any of the research on ‘college graduation and pork’. But if you show women frollicking in… Read More »

What Goes Great With Graduation Day?

Since you all failed so miserably at guessing Combos, see if you can do any better guessing what this ad is for. The copy proclaims ‘Graduation Day. A Day to look back. A day to look forward. A day for…’ what? Take your best guess!

Relax with a German Midget in Your Tub!

This ad for Schmitt Sohne Wines suggest that you to go to your local wine store and ask for a little German. We did and it didn’t go well. We’re not saying there aren’t lots of uses for a little German fella around the house — stacking stones, organizing the pots and pans on the… Read More »

What’s Perfectly Engineered For Guys? Pretzels Stuffed With Fake Cheese!

Combos Pretzels. Of course! You guessed deodorant, cologne, jeans, underwear, condoms, shades, t-shirts, talcum powder, spas, but no one came close to guessing this ad for Combos. Combos is a decent product, and there are a lot of things it is well-engineered for, like playing finger football at the bar. We just wonder why agency and… Read More »