The worst commercials in TV history..

[blackgold]

How's this for bad commercials? Those NFL players dressed as fairies promoting Directv's NFL Sunday ticket! Comcast says that Directv increases your bill by thousands of dollars. I'll stick with Comcast, because they've got the most live sports of anyone.
"No pixie dust, just pigskin!"

 

[KeithE4]

How's this for bad commercials? Those NFL players dressed as fairies promoting Directv's NFL Sunday ticket! Comcast says that Directv increases your bill by thousands of dollars. I'll stick with Comcast, because they've got the most live sports of anyone.
"No pixie dust, just pigskin!"

Is that what they're supposed to be? I always thought of Deion Sanders as more of an insect. Now excuse me while I go get my can of Raid. ;D

 

[willdav713]

How's this for bad commercials? Those NFL players dressed as fairies promoting Directv's NFL Sunday ticket! Comcast says that Directv increases your bill by thousands of dollars. I'll stick with Comcast, because they've got the most live sports of anyone.
"No pixie dust, just pigskin!"

Is that what they're supposed to be? I always thought of Deion Sanders as more of an insect. Now excuse me while I go get my can of Raid. ;D

Hi, I am Deion Sanders
R-----A----I----D, splat. LOL. ;D

 

[EricStein]

The latest ads from Microsoft's Bing search engine might be the most desperate attempt from them to take market share from Google so far. Throw in the towel and sell it to someone who can change the name and make it work, MS. Admit that Bing has been the worst flop coming from Redmond since the Kin phone and Zune HD MP3 player.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Did someone mention the latest batch from Colon Health Lady?
(she appears to be a permanent fixture on this thread)

 

[KeithE4]

The latest ads from Microsoft's Bing search engine might be the most desperate attempt from them to take market share from Google so far. Throw in the towel and sell it to someone who can change the name and make it work, MS. Admit that Bing has been the worst flop coming from Redmond since the Kin phone and Zune HD MP3 player.

Don't forget Micky$oft's other "classics" over the years: MSDOS 4, Microsoft Bob, Windows Vista, their entire mobile product line, and (more than likely) the soon-to-be-released Windows 8 and their overpriced tablet. ;D

 

[azumanga]

The latest ads from Microsoft's Bing search engine might be the most desperate attempt from them to take market share from Google so far. Throw in the towel and sell it to someone who can change the name and make it work, MS. Admit that Bing has been the worst flop coming from Redmond since the Kin phone and Zune HD MP3 player.

Don't forget Micky$oft's other "classics" over the years: MSDOS 4, Microsoft Bob, Windows Vista, their entire mobile product line, and (more than likely) the soon-to-be-released Windows 8 and their overpriced tablet. ;D

What about Windows Me? That was even more of a stinker than Windows Vista.

 

[KeithE4]

The latest ads from Microsoft's Bing search engine might be the most desperate attempt from them to take market share from Google so far. Throw in the towel and sell it to someone who can change the name and make it work, MS. Admit that Bing has been the worst flop coming from Redmond since the Kin phone and Zune HD MP3 player.

Don't forget Micky$oft's other "classics" over the years: MSDOS 4, Microsoft Bob, Windows Vista, their entire mobile product line, and (more than likely) the soon-to-be-released Windows 8 and their overpriced tablet. ;D

What about Windows Me? That was even more of a stinker than Windows Vista.

Forgot about that one. Fortunately, I never had the "pleasure" of using it. Office 2007 is another disaster that I refuse to use (it's installed on my PC at work - I use LibreOffice).

 

[willdav713]

The latest ads from Microsoft's Bing search engine might be the most desperate attempt from them to take market share from Google so far. Throw in the towel and sell it to someone who can change the name and make it work, MS. Admit that Bing has been the worst flop coming from Redmond since the Kin phone and Zune HD MP3 player.

Don't forget Micky$oft's other "classics" over the years: MSDOS 4, Microsoft Bob, Windows Vista, their entire mobile product line, and (more than likely) the soon-to-be-released Windows 8 and their overpriced tablet. ;D

What about Windows Me? That was even more of a stinker than Windows Vista.

Forgot about that one. Fortunately, I never had the "pleasure" of using it. Office 2007 is another disaster that I refuse to use (it's installed on my PC at work - I use LibreOffice).

I used Windows ME for my Pentium I and Pentium II Laptop. Nothing but 98SE with a huge memory load. Worse than 98SE, Used 2000 Professional instead! I still use 2000 Pro on one of my PC's. When I bought the Netgear EVA-2000 with PlayOn I had to upgrade the others to Windows XP Pro. One of my laptops has Windows XP Pro and Windows 7 installed on it and I am not talking about the comparability mode, either. I still have Windows 95 around here, and MSDOS 6.22

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

The latest ads from Microsoft's Bing search engine might be the most desperate attempt from them to take market share from Google so far. Throw in the towel and sell it to someone who can change the name and make it work, MS. Admit that Bing has been the worst flop coming from Redmond since the Kin phone and Zune HD MP3 player.

Don't forget Micky$oft's other "classics" over the years: MSDOS 4, Microsoft Bob, Windows Vista, their entire mobile product line, and (more than likely) the soon-to-be-released Windows 8 and their overpriced tablet. ;D

What about Windows Me? That was even more of a stinker than Windows Vista.

Forgot about that one. Fortunately, I never had the "pleasure" of using it. Office 2007 is another disaster that I refuse to use (it's installed on my PC at work - I use LibreOffice).

I used Windows ME for my Pentium I and Pentium II Laptop. Nothing but 98SE with a huge memory load. Worse than 98SE, Used 2000 Professional instead! I still use 2000 Pro on one of my PC's. When I bought the Netgear EVA-2000 with PlayOn I had to upgrade the others to Windows XP Pro. One of my laptops has Windows XP Pro and Windows 7 installed on it and I am not talking about the comparability mode, either. I still have Windows 95 around here, and MSDOS 6.22

While staying on the subject of Microsoft but returning to the commercial side, here's a creepy (IMO) commercial for Windows 95--with an animated butterfly turning into a window on the left side of a man's head. Cheesy and kind of made me cringe too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqTXmtICyZk&feature=relmfu

And whoever posted this work of art on YouTube listed it as a "commercial"--but this promo for Windows 95 is bound to be among the worst 8 minutes and 46 seconds you've ever experienced (if you can make it that long). Cheesy and crappy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6z2zfoi16g&feature=related

 

[wrsg915fm]

"The NFL Network" with the bearded guy..."It's SERIOUS FUN!"

 

[firepoint525]

This thread is like the Energizer Bunny. It keeps going and going and going and.......

 

[crainbebo]

And speaking of the Energizer Bunny, remember those ads back in the late '80s where the bunny would hijack ads for wine and CDs? Gosh that was interesting. "...still going!"

-crainbebo

 

[cyberdad]

And speaking of the Energizer Bunny, remember those ads back in the late '80s where the bunny would hijack ads for wine and CDs? Gosh that was interesting. "...still going!"

-crainbebo

Speaking as someone from the sales side, that was a great campaign. If you remember the ad(s) and the product 25 years later, the campaign was a success.

There's a campaign currently (or perhaps recently) running that has some very memorable creative, but research suggests the product...or perhaps more likely the brand...may soon be forgotten. That's the one where the lady without her glasses/contacts inadvertently invites a raccoon into her home. (Sears optical....I think).

Entertaining potential customers without building the brand/increasing sales of the product is a wasted effort.

 

[crainbebo]

Yep-that's a stupid ad. And it is Sears Optical, with the raccoon.

I love all of those cheesy jingles every commercial had in the mid to late 1980s. Wish some could be brought back-but the sales people probably won't let that happen.

-crainbebo

 

[cyberdad]

Yep-that's a stupid ad. And it is Sears Optical, with the raccoon.

I love all of those cheesy jingles every commercial had in the mid to late 1980s. Wish some could be brought back-but the sales people probably won't let that happen.

-crainbebo

Jingles are great. In my years before I moved into radio's parallel universe (b to b print), I used to illustrate the concept of frequency to advertisers (and in talks to college kids) by asking if someone could hum a few bars of the McDonald's (or Coca Cola, Chevrolet, Budweiser, or whatever) jingle. Even if they hadn't heard the jingle in over a week....or even a month....they could always do it.

Then I'd take out a copy of the morning's newspaper, and ask if they'd read it. If they had, I asked them what was the headline was on page 1. I tracked the results. 70% who had read the newspaper....even within the hour...couldn't tell me what the day's headline was. (Full disclosure: I did not use this illustration if there was an especially major news event such as natural disaster, super bowl result, etc.)

In most advertising scenarios, the key to advertising success is repetition. Nothing beats repeating a well-crafted message. And few things "build a franchise in the mind" like a catchy jingle. Particularly one that clearly and unmistakably brings out the product and the benefit.

 

[Silkie]

Whether they are crappy commercials or are just huge predator magnets I don't know, but those online dating commercials for the elderly and Christians, none of whom in their right minds would go there.

Reminds me of those whacked out ads you have heard about, in which someone actually pays to run an ad, "Let's meet", to nobody in particular, except maybe the 27,642 people who drove through an intersection one day in a silver car.

 

[BigDave]

Whether they are crappy commercials or are just huge predator magnets I don't know, but those online dating commercials for the elderly and Christians, none of whom in their right minds would go there.

Reminds me of those whacked out ads you have heard about, in which someone actually pays to run an ad, "Let's meet", to nobody in particular, except maybe the 27,642 people who drove through an intersection one day in a silver car.

Hahaha,I met My soon(hopefully)to be ex-Wife on an online dating site

 

[Silkie]

Well, when you go out to dinner, if you order pasta make sure that they don't buy their product from the prepackaged, precooked pasta company on the Wells Fargo commercial; everyone is wearing their masks, gloves, sanitary clothing to prepare the food, and the queen bee is sticking her face in the huge bed of pasta, breathing on that which is intended for your dinner table.

Again, maybe it isn't the commercial so much as what is going on in the commercial.

Oh, and I recommend a pre-nup.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

The "Lifestyle Lift" ads that have aired in recent months featuring Debby Boone and "You Light Up My Life." The use of that song in that commercial automatically qualifies that ad for this list.