14 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
14 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Advertising gone bad? (What were they thinking?)

by Michael Oksa
10 replies
  • OFF TOPIC
    • |
Hi Warriors,

I was just reading a news story at the Daily Express website and came across an ad that seemed to be completely out of place.




(I added the red underlining beneath the ad text)

For those that can't quite read the small type, it's basically a story about planes blowing up, and the ad is about winning an airline flight!



My guess is that an editor never looks at the ads within a story and that they are inserted automatically, but it still looks bad in my opinion.

It also made me wonder about the ads all of us put out there. We may be able to write the ad, byt we can't always control the context when those ads are placed on a third party site.

All the best,
Michael
#advertising #bad #thinking
  • Profile picture of the author Leslie B
    Yeah, it sure doesn't make me want to click the ad, it's just bad taste, but as you say, those ads are likely being implemented automatically, like adsense ads. Still, there is a way to block ads on certain pages/sites/channels, whatever. I think that would have been appropriate here. I wonder how many people would mail them angry about their bad taste, not knowing how those ads work.

    Leslie
    Signature
    Taking it one day at a time!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2801657].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author mikemcmillan
      In light of Juan Williams firing from NPR over his airline safety comments my attorney has advised me against commenting on this thread :rolleyes:.

      I guess this would be like someone posting an article in the main forum with the title: Is FaceBook the new Google? And then--having an AdWords Riches title in their sig file.

      Nice catch Michael. --Mike
      Signature

      I'll help you create a reputation-building evergreen product in any niche and launch it successfully!
      Check it out here.

      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2801715].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
    Originally Posted by Michael Oksa View Post

    I was just reading a news story at the Daily Express website and came across an ad that seemed to be completely out of place.
    Alternately, head over to The Art of Trolling: Yahoo Answers, Chatroullette, Omegle and look at all the ads for Rapala fishing lures that show up as you browse the site.
    Signature
    "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2801673].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author JasonValens
      Signature
      If in doubt, follow the Russian guy selling pills...
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2801692].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author JasonValens
        Signature
        If in doubt, follow the Russian guy selling pills...
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2801716].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        The less-obvious fail on the "anatidaephobia" page is that the term was invented by Gary Larson for a Far Side cartoon.

        Anatidaephobia - Neologisms

        The article is complete BS. There's no such phobia.
        Signature
        "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2801760].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author JasonValens
          The article is complete BS. There's no such phobia.
          You can say that, but I've lost track of the number of times I've laid awake at night waiting for a quack to come from under my bed or the rustle of feathers in the darkness. Trembling. Such long, restless nights...
          Signature
          If in doubt, follow the Russian guy selling pills...
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2801777].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    You NEVER know what people might be afraid of. HECK, when I was a kid, they used to say "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite." I thought it was just a little rhyme. NOW, a LOT of people are afraid of BED BUGS! GO FIGURE!

    One thing is for sure. As I said DECADES ago, and it is STILL true! You can NOT reliably program a computer to properly understand complex context. Those ads were probably INTENTIONALLY put there because the articles hit a key word.

    BTW Apparently, it IS a real phobia. Frankly, I don't care! If animals are staring at me, I figure they might be curious, etc... What do I care?

    Steve
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2801819].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author KenThompson
    A relevant story for you.

    About 3 or 4 years ago I had a similar encounter with Google, and it
    was all about ads in very poor taste.

    I had read an article about child abduction/sex slavery, and it mentioned
    some organizations that were trying to help find kidnapped children, etc.
    So I googled something like 'child sex slavery' to try and find some orgs
    because I wanted to make a donation or whatever.

    Well, the adwords ads on the right featured several ads that said something
    like: Find child sex slavery at 'big store name.' I think another was, Looking for child
    sex slavery at 'big store name?'

    I sent Google a scathing letter via a feedback form I found. It was hard to
    find, but I found it. I ripped them a severe one.

    I was curious to see if they would do anything about it. About two days
    later the ads were gone - almost. One of them was gone, but the other
    one was on page two of the ppc ads.


    Ken
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[2801896].message }}

Trending Topics