In general, we find advertisements to be annoyances, interruptions in our flow of entertainment, and so forth. What tends to bother me, however, is when the methods, products or the advertisements are particularly sleazy or ineffective. Here are a few examples.
Marathon ad, television: This advertises a credit card which proudly sports a 10% rebate on gas for 60 days, and 5% after. The catch is you have to pay interest on the card (I would not be surprised if this was well over 15%), and that you have to buy gas from Marathon solely to qualify, Then there’s the word “rebate.” This means you won’t see the money back for quite a while. The ad is goofy, gimmicky with some imaginary guy inside a screen at a gas pump. The idea behind that is to divert the viewer from how this advertisement is essentially trying to lure you into throwing your money away for a rather basic and unnecessary service that isn’t worth the fees. I don’t know how people in this business sleep at night.
CNN.com - “Powered by Yahoo! Search” What’s the first thing you think of when you think Yahoo! Search? “Adequate?” It may as well be “powered by” Tropicana orange juice. My point is that in the eyes of most internet users, if it’s not Google, it’s blatant advertisement, not a mark of quality for a search engine.
Enzyte ad, television - This ad was on during every single commercial break for the span of a top film on basic cable, during relatively peak hours. It’s loud, and borderline inappropriate considering its subject matter (most ED ads are pretty bad, but this takes the cake). This combined with the repeat, bang-it-in-your-head treatment really makes me wonder what the hell these people were thinking buying up all these slots considering most people actually sit and watch the film most of the way through.
Local car dealership ad (Tampa Bay area), radio - Yeah, I know, most local car dealership ads are pretty bad, but whenever this one came on the radio, I would just be amazed by what a waste of air time it was. Perhaps this only affected me–or my little niche of sonophiles–since
whenever music is playing and it’s got a melody, I have a hard time focusing on the lyrics (or spoken word). The ad plays the background riffs for Smash Mouth’s “Walking on the Sun,” no doubt chosen for its easy recognition. The thing is, the background is played at high volume while the ad is mixed over it, in a spirited yet monotone voice. I must have heard the ad a hundred times, and to this day I couldn’t tell you what brand of car was being sold, what the deal was, anything. Ineffective!