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40 Epic Advertising Fails That Probably Should Have Gotten Someone Fired (New Pics)
As we can all imagine, coming up with a brilliant ad that resonates with people is quite challenging. It requires a great deal of creativity and other factors in order to create commercials that linger in our minds, logos that we always recognize, soundtracks that will play in our heads, or billboards that complete their surroundings. These can become masterpieces and even part of popular culture themselves, capable of transforming a small business into a successful beast.
On the other hand, there are the ads that leave us indifferent. We've seen them, we acknowledge their existence... and we quickly forget about them. However, there exists another group within the marketing world — ads that have failed miserably. We witness numerous failures in this realm, ranging from unfortunate word choices in slogans, poor graphic design decisions to coincidental ad placements that convey a completely different story than their creators intended.
Today, we have selected a fresh assortment of these gems that have transformed from marketing creations into hilarious memes, injecting a dose of laughter into the regular lives of those who stumble upon them and later share them with a larger audience.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
This Church Has Some Rather Unfortunate Ad Placement For Its Bible Camp
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#2
This Billboard Ad Peeling Off
As mentioned before, there may be plenty of reasons why some advertisements fail. Sometimes it's simply an unfortunate coincidence. The marketing team ensures that the ad is of the best quality, but then the final product ends up in the wrong place, ruining everything the authors worked so hard to convey. In other cases, it's clear from the start that something went wrong, and the ad makes no sense. This category includes slogans with double meanings or tragically selected words.
#5
These Billboard Placements
#6
That's The Best Photo They Could Get Of A Kid Getting A Haircut
We must also distinguish between a design that may be intentionally humorous or provocative and one that is genuinely a design failure or ineffective in its messaging. We all enjoy a bit of dark humor and silly jokes. The truth is, some marketing failures get away with it because no one can believe that anyone would intentionally release something so bad to the public... So maybe it's not bad at all? Maybe it's just creative?
#7
This Pillow Is So Good You'd Rather Use Your Hands To Sleep On
#8
The Girl In This Advertisement Looks Like A Stroke Victim
#9
It Doesn't Look Like It Was Repaired
Now, intentional or not, a bad advertisement doesn't have to be a total failure. How can we call it a failure when it spreads like wildfire across the internet, making the advertised product even more popular than if the promotion had been decent and “okay”? In the end, it doesn't matter what they say; what's important is that they're talking at all! This holds true when it comes to this topic.
#10
This Is Fanta Advertisement, And Something Is Wrong With Her Arm
#11
1 Year Left
John Edginton 1 year ago
Typical right wing social assistant. Soylent to feed the masses via the food banks. Welcome to Tory Britain.
#12
There's An Optometrist Business Near My House That Has This Giant Poster Outside Advertising Colored Contacts. It Seems To Have Aged In A "Is That A Demon?" Way
DooooCrime 2 years ago
This looks like a jump scare demon from an early 2000's youtube prank video you send to your friends.
In conclusion, for better or worse, there will always be some failures in advertising. So, we should all be on alert and look around to capture these gems. They are like real-life memes, adding a little bit of spice to our sometimes grey reality and bringing a smile to our faces on the most exhausting days.
#13
The Head Of This Advertisement Should Probably Be Fired
Caro Caro 2 years ago
THE ITALIAN WHO WENT TO MALTA(Must be read with an Italian accent) One day ima gonna Malta to bigga hotel. Ina morning I go down to eat breakfast. I tella waitress I wanna two pissis toast. She brings me only one p**s. I tella her I want two p**s. She say go to the toilet. I say you no understand, I wanna two p**s onna my plate. She say you better no p**s onna plate, you sonna ma b***h. I don’t even know the lady and she call me sonna ma b***h. Later I go to eat at the bigga restaurant. The waitress brings me a spoon and knife but no fock. I tella her I wanna fock. She tell me everyone wanna fock. I tell her you no understand. I wanna fock on the table. She say you better not fock on the table, you sonna ma b***h. So I go to my room inna hotel and there is no shits onna my bed. Call the manager and tella him I wanna s**t. He tell me to go to the toilet. I say you no understand. I wanna s**t on my bed. He say you better nog s**t onna bed, you sonna ma b***h.
#14
This Bench Advertises That "No Kid Should Ever Have To Sleep On The Streets" And Then Adds Bars So Homeless People Can't Sleep On The Bench
#15
This Ad In My Print Copy Of The New Yorker. I Tried To Click It, And Nothing Happened. Total Scam
#16
This Ad In My Town Scorched Out By The Sun, Looks Like A Poster From A Horror Movie
#17
Keanu Reeves And His New Movie "Jim Nhock 3"
Anagram margana 2 years ago
Well …maybe the employee putting the ad in place has never seen John Wick 1 & 2… or, sadly, can’t read. Yes, I’m feeling generous this morning. My normal response: pathetically hilarious/sad.
#18
This Advertisement Was In A Parenting Magazine, And It Was For Yogurt
#19
I Don't Even Know What Is This
David Wambold 2 years ago
Ok, but why are you a dog? And is that a megalodon or a model sub? So many questions.
#20
A New Movie Coming Out: "Lemen The Gent" Directed By The Guy
#21
That Could've Been A Nice Ad For Linux Or Something
#22
They Should've Tried A Little Bit More With This Ad
#23
I Got This Ad On A Snapchat. Just Look At This Cat
DooooCrime 2 years ago
One of the notorious trash cat gang, which also includes masked cat with tiny hands and stinky striped cat. Still a 10/10 cat.
#24
They Had One Job
Tiggy Darling 2 years ago
One 'accidental' boo boo and it'll get shown across the world for free.
#25
People Are Going Crazy Over This Hardee's Ad In Pakistan
#26
This Ad On Facebook For Permanent Makeup
#27
Advertising Placement Is Everything
#28
This Advertisement's Placement
Collin Lyle 2 years ago
I'm not sure it would be an improvement if the window was in the right place
Rebecca Gunder 2 years ago
Ad placement over a moving window certainly attacts peoples' attention.
Hilary Mol 2 years ago
Hmm. Great side gig for either the guy from Hannibal Rising, or the clown from the remake of It without his makeup on.
#29
This NYC Subway Ad With Six Hands
#30
Whatever The Hell This Advertisement Is
#31
Vote For Me
Double the trouble 2 years ago
He is so smart his face shrunk and his head got bigger. Maga mind 😂
#32
This Bus Ad That Will Catch Your Attention
#33
Sandwich Board Advertising Seniors Day But Because Of This Fastener Placement, It Looks Creepy
#34
Finally, A Deal That Suits My Acquired Taste
Tom Hardeveld 2 years ago
I always eat kids for free, people just leave them around in parks and such, finders keepers. Goes great with fries
#35
Face That's Too Handsome So It Doesn't Need A Mask On
#36
The Placement Of This Baby's Head
#37
A Very Vague Billboard
#38
This Unfortunate Placement Of A Handle
#39
Stop Putting Images Of People On The Stairs
#40
What Does It Mean?
#41
In This Advertisement, Not A Single Person Is Wearing Earphones
#42
This Ad For A New Pizza Place Showed Up Today. I Really Don't Understand The Message They're Trying To Send
Cat Palmer 2 years ago
I think the message is pretty obvious: if you're having a bad day, get pizza to make it better. Give the cat a slice as a bribe to stop being a PITA.
#43
That Chimney Looked Better Before Than After
Ryan Winters 2 years ago
I don't live in a war zone but I want my chimney to look like I do, you got it buddy
#44
They're Just A Bit Careless With Their Wording
#45
Part Of This Charity Advertisement Has Unfortunately Peeled Off To Reveal The Previous Advertisement Underneath
#46
Someone Forgot To Put The Information
#47
This Adidas Billboard In Beijing
#48
Is This The Giant's Treadmill?
Dylan Stadler 2 years ago
glad to see they're giving little people a shot in the advertising industry
#49
Billboard Fail. I Wonder If There's A Way To Connect Remotely So That I Can Put My Own Stuff On There
#50
New Billboard By The Freeway I Use Every Day. I Have Never Seen One As Bright As This. It's Extremely Distracting, And You Literally Cannot Look Directly At It While Driving
#51
These Fake Glasses On The Ad In My Town
#52
I Saw An Interesting Van Coming Home From School
#53
It's Election Season In My City, And This Is The Mayor's Reelection Campaign
#54
What Is Happening On This Billboard?
#55
When You Don't Know What Strawberries Are When Making An Advertisement
#56
A Well Crafted Advertisement
#57
This Ad Is For Dental Care. It Fails To Show The Teeth In The Before Picture
#58
Unrealistic Beauty Standards
#60
An Advertisement For Medicine On A Supermarket In France
DooooCrime 2 years ago
Side effects include head separation and wearing of sad, beige clothing.
#61
This Ad Of A Kid Holding A Nerf Gun The Wrong Way
#62
Another One On A Bus
#63
I Don't Think The Marketing Team Behind The Hobbit Thought This Ad Placement Through
#64
A Political Party Banner In Romania
#65
Advertising A BTS Concert, You Can't Go To
#66
I Saw This Billboard With The Computer File Still On It
#67
I Found This Ad With A Very Long Thumb
#68
This Unreadable Ad
#69
MG Is A Chinese Company Now, And That Would Explain The Spelling Mistakes
#71
Don't Have Hep C? Get Some
The Original Bruno 2 years ago
In the 1990s, Boston had several different ad campaigns that seemed like they were telling people to get hepatitus! Another one was "Hep C: Get Hip!" Another one was just simply people dancing intimately with a lot of blue and orange lighting, captioned simply, "Got Hep?" This was the 1990s. "Got Milk?" was at the time the most legendary, heavily promoted billboard ad campaign of all time.
#72
This Movie Poster
#73
If You Put Up An LED Sign, It Will Help Attract Business
#74
This Digital Billboard At The Airport. Yes, Every Advertisement Was Like This
#75
Advertisement For A New Children's Hospital Opening Soon
#76
This Local Beauty Salon's Ad
René Sauer 2 years ago
Where is the problem? it ´s two different shots of a womans face. Or do some of you see it as one picture?
#77
This Advertisement Makes No Sense
#78
I Found This Ad For Lemonade While Shopping
Shankshaw Redeemer 2 years ago
That's a better job of lining her face up than I've seen on here...
#79
This Upside Down Billboard
#80
This Sign Is Upside Down
#81
I Was Staring At This Sticker For So Long, Trying To Figure Out What It Was Advertising
#82
Earphone Adapter Advertisement On The Phone That Already Has An Earphone Jack
Steve D 2 years ago (edited)
That's actually a DAC (digital-to-analog converter), aka external sound card, not an adapter. It can provide better sound fidelity compared to the phone's built-in DAC (which is what you get when you plug headphones in directly). The clue is in the specs: "32 bit, 384 kHz" is higher resolution audio processing than most phones provide onboard. Typically they would top out at 24 bit, 192 kHz.
#83
This Billboard. You're Supposed To Read This While Driving
#85
They Really Like Putting Ads On A Car Windows
#86
I Saw This Cheese Ad In My Country, New Zealand
#88
This Inverted Image On An Advertisement Flyer
#89
This Advertisement I Found In Bulgaria
#90
Disclaimer On Ad Is Unreadable Unless You Stand Next To It With Binoculars
#91
This Advertisement
#92
Every Small Town In Texas Is Just A Highway Intersection And Five Of These Billboards
#93
I Guess They Don't Care How The Advertisement Looks As Long As It's Put Up
#94
All Of It Just Feels Off
#95
Billboarders Of Maidstone - You Had One Job
#96
I Thought This Was A Headstone At First. It's An Ad For A Hair Salon
#97
They Thought It Was A Good Idea To Use This Guy's Head As A Letter "A" For This Bus Stop Bench Ad
#98
In A German Train Station
TotallyNOTaFox 2 years ago
To be fair, it captures the competence of the German Railways perfectly...
#99
This Mistake In The Ad
Lakota Wolf 2 years ago (edited)
Oops, someone left the "lorem ipsum" faux-Latin placeholder text in XD
#100
This Very Uneven "Watermelon Freeze" Sign
#101
The Idea Is There Just An Awful Execution. Before/After Written On Her Forehead
#102
A Photo That Was Put On A Car. It's A Lot Funnier Seeing This In Person
#103
This Is A Tarp Billboard That A Team Of Workers Probably Spent An Hour Or Two Putting Up, Only To Notice The Mistake And Say: "Screw It"
Sour Cherry Candy 2 years ago
This one might be intentional. But if it's not, the irony is great (because it is limited).
#104
Billboard Right Next To The School Of Graphics And Design
#105
This Is An Advertisement For A Bank In Poland
Add New Image
What do you think ?
DC 2 years ago
Scrolled through after I left the computer for an hour or so ... didn't see any, maybe I scrolled over the few that were there, but it's definately not 106, there's 100 missing at least. What a rip-off!
Load More Replies...
Helen Thomas 2 years ago
Unpopular opinion: I'd love to see advertising regulated to only show the product, no airbrushing, and information about that product. The world would be a better place.
Heberth Alvarez 2 years ago
Bud light Anyone? Oh wait since Alissa Heinerscheid got the boot I guess Bud Light is not eligible, or maybe BP filtered it.
Johnathon11 2 years ago
Hey, My name is Johnathon Dave I am reading your artical it was amazing i think you should write more article just like that i am waiting for your next blog. Best Regards: Johnathon Dave Online Medical Books Store
DC 2 years ago
Scrolled through after I left the computer for an hour or so ... didn't see any, maybe I scrolled over the few that were there, but it's definately not 106, there's 100 missing at least. What a rip-off!
Load More Replies... Helen Thomas 2 years ago
Unpopular opinion: I'd love to see advertising regulated to only show the product, no airbrushing, and information about that product. The world would be a better place.
Heberth Alvarez 2 years ago
Bud light Anyone? Oh wait since Alissa Heinerscheid got the boot I guess Bud Light is not eligible, or maybe BP filtered it.
Johnathon11 2 years ago
Hey, My name is Johnathon Dave I am reading your artical it was amazing i think you should write more article just like that i am waiting for your next blog. Best Regards: Johnathon Dave Online Medical Books Store
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