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Infuriating Ad Just Makes You Hate Cell Phone Yakkers More

When you see some random guy walking down a crowded street talking on his cell phone, lost in his own world, you probably think to yourself: there is a man I would like to smash right in the face. If a cell phone company were to find some way to successfully incorporate that feeling into its marketing plan, it would be genius. Instead, US Cellular goes and makes what is, by critical consensus, the most asinine cell phone ad of the year. That's because its premise is that that same man walking along yakking obliviously into his cell would actually make the entire world around him happy. Which just makes you want to smash him even more: More »

12:54 PM on Thu Jun 26 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
4,421 views, 43 comments

Latest by GoodGod: I cried more »

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9/11 Ads Are Just A Bad Idea

You'd think at some point, in a creative review meeting, some advertising exec would stand up and say, "Maybe the 9-11 picture's not such a good idea." Such a simple sentence. But no! The latest example of incorporating a nationally traumatic terrorist mass murder into an ad: this spot for SABC Radio [via AdScam], with the tagline "There's More To See On Radio." Such as the Twin Towers burning. So hey, listen to the radio! Click through for a larger image, and pictures of the five worst 9-11 ads we've covered in the past: More »

12:41 PM on Mon Apr 21 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
11,135 views, 40 comments

Latest by bridgeburner: The two guys I know who narrowly survived the WTC attack totally started smoking afterwards. You choose to smoke, but you don't neccessarily choose to get blown up during the crappy early morning meeting. more »

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Ads For This Medicine Are Hurting Kittens!

A tipster in Hell's Kitchen writes in to say that marketers for allergy medicine Zyrtec have been tearing down fliers in her neighborhood and replacing them with fake guerilla-style advertisements for their product. The worst part? "Yesterday there was a flyer for a missing kitten here, apparently they took it down and put this ad up." They are endangering kittens in order to make money. Simply despicable. Below, a picture of the fiendish ad—do not be taken in by its similarity to a flier offering guitar lessons. More »

11:38 AM on Tue Apr 15 2008
By Hamilton Nolan
8,663 views, 25 comments

Latest by n/a: Don't forget that the generic over the counter version is out too! Cetirizine is waaaay cheaper and comes without the kitten genocide. more »