Making a good ad is hard work. You need to craft an attention-grabbing message that instantly transforms an uninterested person (who might even be unaware of your company) into a willing buyer, willing to spend their hard-earned money on your product. Plus, you have a budget, a timeline, and a results-hungry board of directors breathing down your neck with unrelentingly high expectations.
No wonder so many of them miss the mark. However, some are so exceptionally bad, that you can't help but wonder if the people behind them knew what they were doing or were clowning around on purpose. And you can find them on the Facebook group 'Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular Real Ads' and the page 'Advertisements that look like sh*tposts.' While these two are separate online projects, their content complements each other so well, we decided to feature them both in the same publication. Continue scrolling and check everything out yourself.
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yes, and therefore ought not to be in this post
Load More Replies...It's not the worst I have seen - it did make me want to read it....
definitely NOT an example of something that "Tried Hard To Be Relevant But Failed Miserably"
Yeah, this is super cute. Would at least give him a call.
Load More Replies...Indeed, it's hard finding honesty these days. Especially in the states.
Load More Replies...According to Michelle Greenwald, the CEO of Catalyzing Innovation, a global, cross-sector innovation hub, for advertising to be "effective," it must be:
- Memorable;
- Resonate with consumers by ringing true and delivering a personally meaningful message, even if the brand has a huge target audience like Nike's;
- Communicate how the product or service fits into consumers' lives or work to make them better, more productive, happier, and more fulfilled;
- Stand for values above and beyond the product or service itself;
- Be inextricably linked to the brand, so the ad won't be attributed to a competitor.
But most of the ads we see on 'Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular Real Ads' and 'Advertisements that look like sh*tposts' fulfill just the first requirement.
"Stop being paranoid - my wife is not going to find out about us! Now hush and eat your meatball footlong." "Oh baby I love it when you talk dirty."
I find pastrami to be a little stand-offish in certain situations. Now, brisket....that's a sexy meat.
Load More Replies...A hotel in my town has a large mural on the side of the building saying “have your next affair here”
Hey, you work up quite an appetite looking back over your shoulder all the time!
Free pizza arriving at your new home on moving day is a fantastic thing. It takes away the worry about having to find dinner, plates, cutlery etc.
When you've finished signing all the paperwork at closing they hand over a frozen pizza
the yummy is in the wrapper wym? Do you not like eating babies???
Load More Replies...That's actually kinda cute. Be a great infant Halloween, if you like Subway lol.
Greenwald thinks that great ad campaigns are often founded on deep psychological insights. The messages, delivered in novel and thought-provoking ways, increase the odds they'll be shared virally by brand fans, who further add credibility and awareness.
Furthermore, great campaigns help brands avoid being commoditized and compete only on price. They increase loyalty and good will, and can encourage purchases across more items within the brand umbrella too.
Looking at her last name...you might be in for a surprise
Load More Replies...🤣🤣 At least your honest for the sake of this post.
Load More Replies...I really want to know what this OnlyFans is...but then do I really. Yes..no...ah f**k it..I dont feel like looking at the google....and the mystery continues.
Basically people selling their nüdes and homemade pöřņ to strangers for money. I mean I think there's milder stuff but I believe most people use it for adult content
Load More Replies...though it does, 'unimproved recipe' sounds like it tastes horrible and they are stubborn and wont change it.
Load More Replies...Greggs has taken over the UK. Our town (Swindon) has around 250,000 people and there are 12 Greggs. That's as compared to one Burger King, one Taco Bell and one KFC.
Yeah, but Greggs is at least British. I remember my dad pointing out the one in Gosforth as the first shop, this was back in the 80's.
Load More Replies...Hit yourself at 3rd floor. You will thank us 3 months from now?
Load More Replies...Maybe the S fell off? Three months from now, you will sh*t yourself at (the) 3rd floor (and) thank us.
Oh i really miss s******g myself on the 3rd floor. Sign me up
Load More Replies...If the same people who planned this sign also planned this staircase, I ain't going up or down it in any month.
Did the person who put those up fall down the stairs?! They might be having a concussion. Can someone check on the clearly concussed person
Three months from now, at third floor, you will hit yourself. Thank us.
Lately, 'Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular Real Ads' and 'Advertisements that look like sh*tposts' have been featuring a lot of online campaigns. Which is understandable, considering that 2021 was great for digital marketing.
As work, play and shopping shifted online during the covid-19 pandemic, internet advertising boomed. In America, for example, spending rose by 38%, to $211bn, compared with average annual growth of 21% in the preceding five years.
Okay but why does that look bomb? As an Indian, I love me some butter chicken 😋
I thought it was just a meme. Then I realized this list has bizarre ads only.
KFCyou, I’m going to run away as fast as I can to the other direction :D
My friend sent this to me a few years ago and it broke my brain
Yeaah thus is KFC so makes sense seeing as they made a dating sim game
So any anime geek wanna tell us what this is meant to say?
I thought it was a meme former that came from a weird depression meme
Load More Replies...One shell of a yoke, cracking me up (*exits stage left*)
Load More Replies...***Due to recent events this product will no longer be available in England***
Social media firms such as Pinterest and Snap at times hit triple-digit year-on-year quarterly revenue growth.
Even giants such as Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and Meta (Facebook’s and Instagram’s), which receive a third and a fifth of the world’s digital-ad dollars, respectively, clocked rates of 50%.
This would have been true decades ago, when Coke actually contained coke leaf extract.
Almost a century actually, and apparently it was ecgonine that was actually in the original recipe, which is the cocaine precursor found in coca leaves. At least according to snopes
Load More Replies...A big part of growing up is just finding out how many people do coke lol
As a part of being an adult, realizing how many do coke..those that are famous, big wigs, people in politics, your next door neighbor.... it's quite surprising what goes on behind closed doors 😏
Load More Replies...I miss the days when I could do the laundry, write a novel, paint the house and play a quick game of Monopoly all before breakfast.
His right arm looks small and shorter, but the distance between him and the bowling ball is 'far' so I think his right arm is actually longer than his left. Very realistic game, 11/10 would play.
Looking like a Homowhatever. Evolution musta skipped something with him.
I'd get a strike every time if I had an arm long enough to reach the pins
There was an episode of the Cosby Show where Denise made a designer shirt for Theo. The shirt was yellow black, and looked frighteningly like this.
Badly photoshopping the tire wasn't enough, so they had to add this weird hair too? :D
And the lock necklace and mod ear buds...needs a tattoo
Load More Replies..."to the dad that slaps the most" yeah, maybe it's best you're getting him a tiny tire-
The hair looks fake. The tire looks fake. Everything looks fake.
It's a promoted post, so I guess it technically is an ad, even though it's not actually advertising a product idk
Load More Replies...I block them every time I see them. Can't wait to get this far into the Void.
I thought it was Luke Skywalker's lightsaber. It's missing a hand though.
But 2022 is a different story. On July 21st, Snap reported that its sales grew by 13%, year on year, in the second quarter, its most anemic ever. In a letter to investors, its execs confessed that so far this quarter revenue was "approximately flat." The market was spooked, and the company’s share price fell by almost 40%.
The next day, Twitter, which also depends on advertising, reported that its revenue had fallen slightly in the three months to June, compared with last year.
Vintage ad. When it was introduced this was considered high tech for children's toys
There was a time when blank cassettes were something valuable indeed... and the fact cigs are openly advertised here is a pretty good hint how long ago it was.
“More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette.” - 1946 ad.
And I FINALLY see the c*ck and balls on Joe's face that everyone else saw back in the '90's.
It's kinda smart, letting them record what they miss during their smoke breaks.
My dad used to record movies off the tv & press pause when the ads came on then record again when they stopped so you didnt have to rewatch them or fast forward everytime you watched it. He always used the longplay setting & got 3 movies on each tape. We had so many he even wrote on the sticker you got with them the time each movie stated. It was awesome to have so much choice before dvds, usb sticks or streaming services. This was the 90s 🤣 i sound soooo old now 🤣
I always programmed them for when I wasn't home, so I had ads...
Load More Replies...I have heard of ' Choose an option' because I had a very liberal upbringing.
And I have heard of it because I had a very literal upbringing.
Load More Replies..."Apologize to bother you but can you inform me how to receive to the English class?" "Of course! Just increase those stairs on the left!"
Yes, in Britain there are sea-men. Like seahorses, but less wet, and without narration from David Attenborough.
Load More Replies...Yay trans representation?? Also no one would speak like that, it would be stilted and unnatural.
my fiance does but i think that's just how he learned english
Load More Replies...I'm an English teacher. This almost made my head explode. I want to cry...
I teach ESL. I see stuff like this daily. I have to laugh or the face palming would give me brain damage
Load More Replies...Soon you can make the English speaking most deliciously!
Load More Replies...These numbers triggered concern about the health of online advertising, dragging down the share prices of the biggest industry names.
On July 26th, Alphabet duly disclosed Snap-like quarterly sales growth of 13%, down from 62% in the same period last year. That was less terrible than expected (its market value rose by 8% on the news) but still pretty bad (it remains a bit below what it had been before the Snap bombshell). A day later, Meta said that its revenue declined for the first time, by 1% year on year.
Well I'm not sleeping tonight. Or ever again.
Load More Replies...This is one of those photos where everything looks fine at first, and then starts to fall apart the more you look at it
An instructional guide from the creators of "For Dummies"
Load More Replies...Yes but you have to collect as for unrelated reasons I don't have a car
Load More Replies...Uhhm miss/sir, I believe you posted in wrong Facebook group😮. Sorry I know it’s serious and I feel horrible because I laughed!
So why did I need to know the guy went to the hospital? Is this a fire sale?
This is how far inflation has come. Too broke to have your own car accident? Here's a free one!
Upstart challengers like Snap are the most exposed — when marketing budgets get trimmed, advertisers tend to stick to what they know, and they know Google search much better than they do Snap's experiments with augmented reality. The big firms also boast larger and more diverse audiences; Meta serves 10m advertisers globally, compared with Snap’s estimated 1m or less. That protects them somewhat from softening demand. Somewhat, but not entirely.
Ok seriously these posts make me feel like I'm high. Or the advertisers were high. Or we're all high.
"please buy my only fans, I'm not built for real estate" 😭
Load More Replies...This exists because there was an desire for it. There is also a desire to have the people who desired this lobotomized.
The only desire is that of companies trying to get cheap clicls from unsupervised children online
Load More Replies...I'm just wondering the kinda person the algorithm decided to send this to might actually click it.
Yes please :> (joke, hate that I have to clarify that)
Sounds like a great premise for a movie. Maybe a comedy starring Steve Buscemi. Give it a shaky cam Arrested Development style treatment like in Death of Stalin.
Load More Replies...But when they played back the tape, every voice came out at a really high-pitched level for some reason.
How are they “trying to be relevant” this is literally something that happened.
Thanks for clarifying that they were fictional, was confused for a second. Also, this looks like a pigmunk.
FICTIONAL band? No way, they had albumS. Somebody start drawing again so they can sue this bozo
For years, big ad-sellers shrugged off blips in the broader economy, as many customers came to see online ads as a virtual shopfront that needed to be maintained even in tough times—often at the expense of other ad spending. That has left ever fewer non-digital ad dollars available to be diverted online. In a pinch, advertisers may now, therefore, need to take an axe to their digital billboards. However, I don't think that 'Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular Real Ads' and 'Advertisements that look like sh*tposts' will run out of content any time soon.
Honestly brilliant marketing to get your post seen by more people, you know the comments section gonna be lit lol
One of these things is not like like the others, one of these things just isn't the same, can you guess which thing is not like the others?
It's a memento necklace that is supposed to have your family's names with their birthstone next to it, but for some reason the ad has the names of former presidents :)
Load More Replies...Am I missing something here? Everyone's joking about feet licking, but I'm seeing a cat in front of the door in one pic, and a cat in front of the door on top of a box and blankets in the second.
Okay so its not just me being confused cuz I see the cat too
Load More Replies..."Awesome! I've been looking for someone to hack all of my accounts while I lick their feet!!" 😄
Pretty sure that is from a Magic: the Gathering card
Load More Replies...the fact the email say Sanjay I am betting he does not look like that in real life.
that is, no joke, an actual US Army issue extreme cold weather face mask. I have had one, I have used one, I might still have one buried in a moving box somewhere .
My dad (military collector) just bought one of those. It’s terrifying.
The bonus is we'd get to scare the shi* out of our neighbors!
Load More Replies...wait what? nandos usually has absolutely awesome adverts in our country. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rl8wYtCgZAk
It could be an ad out of the UK, where American fries are chips. But that's no excuse for that background
Load More Replies...Why stop at syphilis? Planned Parenthood will do the full checkup in 15min. Everything from Herpes to HIV. Just get it done it's really easy and cheap.
Great idea! Oh right...PP doesn't exist anymore. Thank you GOP.
Load More Replies...Anyone whose member looks like that needs to get tested for a whole bunch of things!
"What's the sweetest thing you can do for your partner?" Not put a giant stick of candy up their äss, first of all
Health and senior services? Wrong targets Missouri. We're way down the Swanee river and too far gone. 🙄
STDs are on the rise in nursing homes and assisted living. totally appropriate
Load More Replies...It's not an ad promoting this as an actual diet though, it's more of an infographic to show you why some kids (especially those with sensory disorders) are resistant to some fruits and vegetables.
And some of us grow up to be adults who are resistant to certain textures.
Load More Replies...That's great info, actually. I've personally had this problem with carrots but never realized it might be why kids don't like some foods.
This is spot-on for understanding pickiness. All it takes is one mushy grape, one seed in an apple slice, one sour blueberry, and my grandson won't touch another one for a year. Got sand in some Lance peanut butter crackers on the beach and they were off the menu until next summer. So even crackers can be iffy.
YES. I love sweet blueberries but they're just not a trustworthy fruit
It's like trying to win a lottery for the sweet ones-
This is why I struggle with raw foods and why I never eat a whole punnet of fruit
"Why can't they be as miserable as us heterosexuals in their marriages?" "- Dolly Parton, US national treasure, on same sex marriage.
Load More Replies...This isn't real, people have been trolling Claire's with Photoshop for ages
This is just... odd. For a start, having to "get your taxes done". Does the US not do any sort of PAYE (pay as you earn)? In the UK, my income tax is taken from my pay directly. If, due to some change in circumstances, I overpay, I get issued a refund. Only people with unusual circumstances or the self-employed need to file a tax return.
In North America they do take money from our paychecks but we alao have to file income tax so the Government can check that our employer deducted enough....and if we made any money in other ways (ie capital gains from investments) then they want their cut from that too.
Load More Replies...No extra charge for piercing your wallet, it's just a slight pinch. Claire's not responsible for any errors and will not be available for an IRS audit.
Harry twatter and the bedroom of secrets
Load More Replies...Saying any Kardashian could be a Slytherin is an insult to Slytherins.
I thought it was fine - and that’s when “Magic Organ Cat Scratch Board” hit me
Bouche is only six months. She's still way too young to have her magic cat organs scratched. In January, her magic cat organs will be removed.
Did anyone else click the ‘see more’ on the picture or is it just me?
I just clicked it too, so that you wouldn't be alone in that, though tbh if I'd been lacking proper sleep and nutrition, that would have been me in your place and OmYgOsH this post is perfect for you, CrazyCatLady
Load More Replies...Yes I want one copy of trump please. Just to have something to set on fire
That has to be AI generated, it's not possible something so cringy and stupid is created by human.
Why isn't anyone in the comments talking about how Robitussin wants to teach us 5 simple ways to give head?
Clearly the best "Feel better formula" I've ever seen.. Wish the 5 simple ways were included LOL..
The worst is someone forgetting how to colour within the lines while using the mask tool in Photoshop ...
The worst? They don't clearly list (or at least didn't used to) that the cherry flavor is from real cherries...my friend who is allergic to cherries ended up in the ER after two sips...she almost died (unalived :p). That's the worst that can happen.
If something is a flavour in the UK (drinks, sweets e.t.c) we assume its a natural flavour. Not many things are artificial these days.
Load More Replies...Ok, this kinda makes sense if you're Australian and did Dollarmites when this was a give away. Not sure about the 2008 thing, but if you know the platy bank, it isn't so weird. I've still got mine under the bed.
I'm a yank and I still put that together.
Load More Replies...No rules rules, not nice and no logo are my favourite methods of fixing trust trust issuees ☺️
I find that Freakonomics is the most useful for trust issues and making things better.
Load More Replies...tbf, i think stoner rock appeals to joker fans the most.
Load More Replies...No logo??!? I understand psychopath free, but what does a logo matter?
It reminds me of a coffee shop I used to frequent in college that had a Barbie Halloween contest. My favorite was someone who glued her torso onto a giant plastic spider.
Lol, good his right arm wasn’t any lower. Would thought it was something else then🤣🤣💀
" You too can be a skin cancer victim trapped in his car by enormous ceramic dog." There, fixed it.
I feel like I could hear chickens saying "juckport." "Juck...juck...juck..juck...juck...juck..juck..juck...juckPORT!"
And congratulations, I'm giving it all to you! Just send me your bank details! Don't forget the password!
Some hypothesis about the matter say it was an increase in meat consumption or the use of fire to cook meat .
But Terence McKenna believes it can be traced back to a single individual who introduced the consumption of psilocybin laced mushrooms into the diet of her familial group.
Load More Replies...What’s so sketchy about this?? Looks better than the other ones for sure
Somebody just copied and pasted a request for an advert without editing it lol
Load More Replies..........never seen an episode of Rick and Morty, so would someone mind explaining this?
Except he is not nor was he ever the richest person in the world.
Honestly, it's aldi. They're ads are always weird- buuut it makes you remember them so it works
I enjoy a good conspiracy theory, but this is more like alphabet soup. OMG my alphabet soup is talking to me. The FCIA has been listening this whole time. Who stole my can opener? Is my can opener the mole?
Load More Replies...So, I had to check it out. And... It's clearly a joke. Albeit a very funny joke, that this guy has gone all in on, to the point of even buying ad time (so to speak). It's full over the top stretches, even more outlandish than this. Well worth a look. He has found a convert (to his brand of humour) in me!
On Christmas Day in 2005 a giant tsunami hit Indonesia
Load More Replies..."Do you want ads that you see to be more or less like this?" - "HELL NO"
Contrary to popular belief, working a certain part of your body doesn't remove fat from that part. I.E. sit-ups don't make a beer gut go away.
Load More Replies...Your opinions for the week will be emailed to you every Monday morning before business hours.
Had to log in to mention this is what you look immediately post-op for hair transplants. It's a little funky to use for the ad but it's technically what it looks like.
He's pointing out the fact that someone rubbed coffee grounds on his scalp??
Life tried to break me when my internet failed. My carpal tunnel syndrome scars tell the story of my keyboard warrior lifestyle in my mom's basement. 😂
Load More Replies...Literally everything about this says "Compensating for a tiny tallywhacker".
The first time I saw that I looked at it in shock for 30 seconds. But the little animated frog is super cute!
Load More Replies..."Excludes certain promotional content." It's claiming to be ad-free when it isn't.
Load More Replies...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE5RdFFgW0w Human matrass dominoes are a thing apparently.
How to make your AirPods look more like hear aids. Great way to show solidarity with hearing impaired loved ones!
Read recently there's an app that lets you use your airpods and phone as a makeshift hearing aid. I think it's pretty clever.
Load More Replies...Right? My AirPods always fall out so I never use them.
Load More Replies...Inside the swastika the crazy Tesco dude carved in his forehead? Sounds reasonable
Remember when all you had to be shocked about a president was that he was getting a bj on the side?
"surprised blow up sex doll" may be the bigest contradiction in terms I've ever seen.
Load More Replies...Well, if you want to pray like Jesus, the first thing you have to do is learn Hebrew!
Or Aramaic. Or Latin. Or maybe Greek. Which one did he speak anyway?
Load More Replies...Actually🤓,according to my mother, you're suppose to pray with your hands open and out. Don't fact check me, my "Christian and trying to convert to Judaism" mom said this.
Hands open like a money catcher in a megachurch. Be The Church!
Load More Replies...I wanna be church. I can use all that extra tax free cash.
I saw a YouTube documentary on that, horrible thing going on there
Load More Replies...Eww... it's a boot with holes(which kinda defeats the point of a boot) and fuzz(which would get soggy because of the holes).
Agreed. Should've just been called "weird ads" or something like that
Load More Replies...As an Australian, I am sorry for the few random ads from us up there. BUT I'M NOT SORRY ABOUT PLATYPUS BANK!
Never apologize for the platypus bank! It is amazing and I want one.
Load More Replies...Agreed. Should've just been called "weird ads" or something like that
Load More Replies...As an Australian, I am sorry for the few random ads from us up there. BUT I'M NOT SORRY ABOUT PLATYPUS BANK!
Never apologize for the platypus bank! It is amazing and I want one.
Load More Replies...
