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Two ads for the airline Ryanair have been banned in the UK, on the grounds that their pictures of Ryanair employees in their underwear are offensive. Given how much worse shit exists out there, though, the decision is a little surprising. More »
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If you weren't already icked out by Valentine's Day, PETA's V-day ad should do the trick. Because apparently being fucked into a neck brace is what ladies want out of their dudes? More »
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We're all used to smelling those dastardly perfume samples in magazines, but now it looks like advertisers may have found an even more effective way to torment our senses while trying to trick us into buying something. McCain Foods is using a new kind of scent technology to promote a product called Ready Baked Jackets, which are frozen baked potatoes that are supposed to have the same smell and taste of oven-cooked potatoes but only take five minutes to cook. To advertise this revolution in potato-making, they've outfitted several bus shelters in U.K. cities with posters and a 3D fiberglass model of a Ready Baked Jacket potato. There's a button you can press that turns on a heating element which then releases the scent and fills the whole area with warmth and the delicious smell of baked potato. Naturally, the potato ad also dispenses coupons for the product. More »
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One of the many privileges that Peggy McIntosh identifies in her famous essay on "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" is that, as she writes, "I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented." This statement resounded when I saw the images below from a 2011 Scottish Woolovers catalogue. Further, I was reminded that it's not only a matter of whether we see people of our race widely represented, but also of how the media makes these portrayals. More »
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Women watch the Super Bowl, and also buy shit. Unfortunately, ad agencies don't seem to have gotten this message, if yesterday's outing was any indication — and it is, given that the Super Bowl is when brands and agencies trot out their most treasured pitches. But some efforts missed the mark most spectacularly. Let's give them their due. More »
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Here's something to write your local congressperson about: American advertisers are pushing cats to the fringes of pop culture, starting with a slate of canine-normative Super Bowl commercials. Of the three — three! — major pet commercials, not one will feature a kitty, which might be cause for concern if you're a lunatic or you adopted a legion of cats in the hopes of training them for movies and profiting off of their fame. Americans, it seems, simply prefer dogs because dogs are, well, what is it about a dog? "You can't go wrong with a dog," says cultural anthropologist Robbie "My-Dog-Is-Probably-My-Life-Partner" Blinkoff. "The dogs are idealized versions of ourselves. They aren't dogs — they're us." Except that they're definitely dogs and advertisers probably use them so often for commercials because they're super easy to train. They'll fetch beer, run in happy circles, and even wear shoes — do you know any cats that would stoop to such obsequious antics? To get a cat to cooperate, you pretty much have to corral it like it's some sort of cow or something. They should make a commercial like that... More »
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A Filipino company called Manikako that teaches kids how to make their own dolls out of old clothes and other recycled materials collaborated with Energizer, Revolver, Post Manila and TBWA\SMP to create a WALL-E-esque ad that Adrant describes as "a charming love story," but that I find borderline creepy. Just borderline, though. I guess the ad's message is sweet but is it really productive to tell kids that the only way a sad, lonely robot can find happiness is that if it enters into the marriage contract? (Winston Wu would most certainly not approve.) And what does the doll see in the robot? All the robot does is mope, mope, mope. I don't know, I feel like they'd be just as happy in a civil union, but points to Manikako for celebrating the differences that can draw our alienated robot selves together. More »
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McDonald's latest ads have sparked a minor trend on Twitter and Facebook, so don't be surprised if some tool remarks that you're the "Egg McMuffin" of something. Still confused? Basically if someone calls you the "Egg McMuffin of girlfriends," they mean they crave you mainly when they've been drinking too much and already feel shitty about themselves. And you're greasy. More »
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A new Crystal Light ad makes the specious claim that you should buy the unpalatable beverage because "8% of women meet their husband in the grocery store." This seemed suspiciously high to us, so we decided to investigate. More »
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Ryan has what some folks call an "all-American" look: Blond hair, blue eyes, creamy skin. He also has Down Syndrome. And he's in a Target ad this week — after appearing in a Nordstrom catalog last year. More »
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Sacre bleu. Upscale French chain La Redoute is being figuratively boiled in a creamy sauce after its website featured an image of children frolicking happily on a picturesque beach... and a naked guy, wang languidly flopping against his thighs, in the background. More »
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New ads shot by Terry Richardson have managed to stir up some complaints despite the fact that for the most part, everyone involved in the shoot (including Richardson) remained clothed. The problem is that the campaign is meant to promote the gym Equinox, yet the images portray the women as thin and waify, not particularly strong or fit. More »
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A New Zealand ad for Libra tampons, which shows two people in a bathroom competing to see who's the better woman, is drawing protests because it discriminates against transgender people. "It's extremely offensive because it's pretty much saying the only way you can be a woman is to get your period," says Agender NZ president Cherise Witehira. "That's where a lot of the anger in the community is coming from — it's saying you are not a woman unless you can get your period. Obviously we can't menstruate. However, we identify as female." Some claim the ad isn't offensive because it doesn't show a transgender woman, but a drag queen (according to this theory, gender identity can be determined by the amount of eyeshadow one applies). Either way, the spot has pulled off the impossible: We're now longing to see women riding their bikes in white shorts and frolicking in a meadow. More »
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We've finally learned why there are so many single women in New York, thanks to a coffee wrapper spotted by a Copyranter tipster. You see, anytime you leave your apartment looking like anything less than a dolled-up sex goddess, men immediately pick up stakes and set out for a location where women's primary occupation in life is being hot and sexy all day long (so in other words, Courtney Stodden's front lawn). On the plus side, once we've driven out all the eligible bachelors, leisurewear-sporting angry feminists will be free to rule the city as we see fit. More »
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British TV regulators are ruining psychic readings by decreeing that TV psychics may no longer actually predict anything. And there are separate rules about crystal balls. More »
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I've got to hand it to MTV: for a network that makes plot points out of their television stars questioning whether or not it's cheating if they were blacked out during sex, their "Sex Is No Accident" campaign is pretty effective (if not a little icky). The spots are short and to the point. More »
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Recently, CoverGirl cosmetics ran an ad for mascara that featured pictorial proof that their mascara was capable of transforming women's eyelashes from anemic to voluptuous. Except the pictorial proof of the makeup's effectiveness was actually just a photoshopped image that sort of represented what the company wanted you to think the makeup could do. CoverGirl willingly pulled the ad after deeming it misleading, and an industry watchdog group applauded the move. Could this be the beginning of the end for hyper airbrushed makeup ads? More »
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A new study shows that celebrity endorsements may be a waste of money. Simply advertising a product on our personal Facebook pages could be enough to convince us we like it. More »
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A men's rights group is protesting a recent anti-domestic violence PSA sponsored by Verizon. And for once, I kind of agree with them. More »
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Recently, some men in Brazil received friend requests from babies who shared their names, with "Jr." tacked on the end. Sounds like a creepy anti-choice tactic, but it was actually a marketing campaign for a condom company. Still pretty creepy though! More »
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At this point, we know that most, if not all, of the commercial, non-news images we see are digitally enhanced. Still, studies show that women — of all sizes — feel bad and/or think negative thoughts about their bodies after viewing pictures of models in magazine ads for just three minutes. And many magazine readers are not yet women; they are girls, with still-developing physiques, self-esteem and brains. Yet extensive Photoshopping persists. But what if you could measure just how much a photograph had been altered? Would it help in countering the effect of these misleading images? We may find out: A proposal for a program is in the works. More »
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Women have made great strides in the last century, but a global preference for male children has never been more dramatic. In spite of vigorous government programs to combat the practice, sex-selective abortion and female infanticide are still disturbingly common, especially in Asia. Among American couples, 54% would prefer a male child over a female one. Now, a new series of ads created for an article called "The Case for Girls" attempts to unstick the stubborn global anti-girl baby bias. More »
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Yesterday L'Oréal Paris celebrated the 40th anniversary of its slogan "Because I'm Worth It" with a star-studded Parisian soiree, but some believe the phrase needs an update. When the line debuted in 1971 it played into the emerging feminist movement, but it's unclear if modern women still need to be convinced that they deserve to treat themselves to drug store beauty products. More »
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The posters for NBC's Grimm depict two men kneeling beside a shrouded body. It's a disturbing image — but not as disturbing as the show's original posters, which are far more sexual. Why did the network decide to switch. More »
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Britain's Ad Standards Authority has banned the web-based ad above, calling it "socially irresponsible." According to the media webisite Campaign, More »
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Amber Rose is the face of Smirnoff fluffed marshmallow flavored vodka. There are many weird things about that sentence, but the words "marshmallow vodka" are perhaps the most stomach-churning. How kid-friendly! The concept brings to mind barfing gently by a campfire. Amber Rose is also the face of Smirnoff whipped cream vodka, which perhaps might be nice in some kind of milkshake if your goal is to experience brain freeze, heart burn and diarrhea simultaneously. The full ads — as seen in Star and Ok! this week — are below. More »
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It's possible that Ashley Madison thought they would actually attract new clients with last week's offensive ad, but with this followup — published in today's New York Metro — we're pretty sure they're just trolling. More »
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The Boy Scouts of America's Atlanta Council has launched a new campaign telling boys that that if they get drunk on squishee and accidentally join the Junior Campers, it won't be the end of the world. The Scouts teaches you to "Be One With The Wild," which will apparently make you the first boy in Fourth Grade with a long, healthy beard. The ads above are aimed at boys, and there's a beardless version for parents who don't want to tinker with their child's development of secondary sex characteristics. More »
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My name is Jacqueline and I am the model seen on the Ashley Madison ad that was recently published in the New York Metro newspaper. More »
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It was certainly never my intention to break new ground in the world of feminine hygiene marketing, and the attention that the work received came as a bit of a shock. However, now that I have the distinction of being the first person to ever put blood on a femcare product ad (for Always, pictured above), I thought I'd take a moment to explain my original idea and how the ad came to be. More »
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An Axe commercial in which lusty angels fall to earth, drawn by the scent of one random dude's body spray, first hit airwaves in February — but now it has been banned in South Africa. AdFreak reports that one guy, a Christian, complained about the ad, and deemed it offensive, "specifically over the idea that angels would forsake their divinity for aerosol cologne." More »
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It seems this 1979 commercial starring Patrick Swayze (and wife Lisa Niemi?) was designed to scare and confuse future generations. Why is Swayze doing Dirty Dancing moves in the middle of a roller rink? How did the hipsters in the background lose the disaffected sneer? And why does the announcer call Pabst "good" at the end? More »
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The South African edition of Marie Claire put together a "body issue," and asked ad agencies to come up with concepts where the thing being advertised is loving your body. An interesting twist from a ladymag — usually such publications are blamed for fostering low-self esteem in women. More »
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A Chapstick ad featuring a woman's butt made some people unhappy. But when they followed Chapstick's instructions to "be heard" on Facebook, they found their comments deleted. More »
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