Laraque's Octane 7.0 campaign ad

GEORGES LARAQUE VS OCTANE GIRLS from 33mag on Vimeo.

Just amazing. As much as people have complained about the appropriateness of this ad (see here), I must "applaud" the marketing department for creating one of the juiciest examples of the objectification of women, while tapping into as many sexist stereotypes as possible! Well done.

AXE Ad - Spray More, Get More

At first blush, this ad seems to non-originally focus on the sexual depictions of women (although *many* women and half-naked women in motion at that). But the ad does potentially push the boundaries in its take-home message: Use AXE and you will have *tons* of half-naked horny battling women chasing you, trying to have sex with you.

The one thing I *really* liked about this ad, however, is that there are literally over 1,000 women chasing that guy!!! "Spray more, get more", but let's be honest here: How much can you really spray before the women start running *away* from you?

Xenergy Energy Drink ad

Another beauty in the energy drink category. I really "like" this ad because not only does it pull the standard sexual-objectification-of-women card, it uses numerous time-synced fire bomb explosions!!!



By the way, I think the main reason I would be convinced to buy this energy drink is because it is "fortified with vitamins"! Lol.

Banned Blonde Stereotype Ad - by Mercedes

Really not that bad, but still pretty insane. What made them think this would fly with the public (unless they intentionally knew it would be banned, and did it for media attention as a publicity stunt).

Ridiculous Bud Light Ad

Classic. I know the ad was likely intended to be jocular (i.e., a joke), but wouldn't Bud Light be concerned that the ad wouldn't sit well with female customers that drink their beer? I could see this causing some reactance in even the most open-minded non-feminist woman!

What's *Your* Backyard Missing?

Surely not a money-losing lottery ticket! I guess the underlying idea here is (presumably) to get individuals to conjure up images of all the stuff they could buy if they won. The classic emotional-appeal ad, which apparently works quite well in general. I guess not that "half-baked" if it works, but still kind of idiotic in a sense.

Are You Serious?

Wow, it can't really get more "periphal" (i.e., irrelevant) than this. If you asked me to produce an ad that exploits a more irrelevant product attribute, I probably ewouldn't be able to.

Is That Really What That Means?

I find the "blatantness" in this ad fairly amusing. On the one hand, this type of ad could turn off individuals that disagree with the exuberant message. On the other hand, however, it's easy to see how this advertisement could be fairly effective. Passive individuals may interpret the sign holistically and think "warm weather = need new clothes!" In addition, the warm feelings elicited from thinking about summer and new clothes might be sufficient to hijack any kind of sensible thinking.

What about warmer weather meaning more opportunities to spend time outside (closer to nature) and connecting with friends and family?

Do It For The Cancer

Billboard near Talbot and Oxford Street, London, Ontario, Canada.

For real? This sounds too good be true! According to Health Canada strictly speaking it's difficult to actually get tanned and stimulate Vitamin D production from tanning beds. Vitamin D production in the skin is stimulated by a specific spectrum of UVB light, but UVB doesn't tan the skin very much (which is why most tanning salons use bulbs that are 95% UVA and 5% UVB).

Regardless, does the tan of these "actual customers" look healthy? Why do they show only their faces? Couldn't they find a male customer who looked more like a prototypical male-tanning customer?

Wet Kittens

"Choose Widmer Hefeweizen. Because other hefeweizens might have wet kittens in them."

Some people may find this ad amusing. Others, however, maybe actually prefer a hefeweizens WITH a kitten in it. What's more, some people might wonder why this beer company is investing in these kinds of tomfool advertisements instead of decreasing the price of the beer.