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Entertainment

Adelė Davidonytė

“Can’t Stop Laughing At It”: 50 Hilariously Bad Advertising Fails (New Pics)

Advertising is meant to grab attention—just not like this. From signs with unfortunate typos to digital screens frozen on the computer's Windows desktop, these blunders prove even the biggest brands can make a fool of themselves. Of course, not every failure comes from poor judgment or inexperience. Some are simply the result of bad luck. But when you're addressing the public, it's your responsibility to ensure that the message lands as intended. If it doesn’t... Well, that one's on you.

#1 Your Business Does What?

Image credits: karvup

#2 Whoever Edited This Advertisement Never Saw A Human Foot

Image credits: victim80

Thirteen experts from the Forbes Agency Council identify confusing and annoying content as the number one reason why advertising campaigns fail.

According to them, when messages feel scattered or dishonest, audiences quickly lose patience and trust.

Other major pitfalls include delivering campaigns in antagonistic environments that diminish user experience, attempting to exploit tragedies or political trends without careful thought, and relying on clickbait.

#3 Please Donate Your Bloob

Image credits: RandoTrom

#4 Accepting Resume

Image credits: DoTal

#5 At My Local Optometrist

Image credits: the_QT

But internet ads have become especially irritating. It seems it's no longer possible to watch an online video or read an article without being interrupted every few seconds.

According to a survey from user-first media platform Picnic, in partnership with global public opinion company YouGov, two-thirds of people (70%) find digital advertising annoying and unpleasant, and 72% say that bad advertising experiences have negatively affected their perception of a brand.

#6 Spotted In The UK

Image credits: Gibsy92

#7 The Poster People Didn't Really Think This Through

Image credits: imgur.com

#8 Poor Cat

Image credits: imgur.com

#9 I Stood There Pointing And Laughing Until I Realized There Were People Behind The Window

Image credits: imgur.com

When the respondents were asked to identify the most annoying user experience, most of them said it was "too many ads" (28%) and "blocked screen content" (28%), followed by accidental clicks (18%), slow loading speeds (12%), unstable page content (7%), and other (7%).

#10 Pole Sign "Ads"

Image credits: I_need_rest

#11 The Rewards Of Hypnotherapy

Image credits: goobzilla91

#12 Win A Dream Holiday

Image credits: soralan

#13 "Challenge Accepted"

Image credits: paddypower

Other key findings from the survey include:

66% say annoying or intrusive ad experiences reduce their trust in the brand advertising;
71% agree that annoying or intrusive ad experiences make them less likely to purchase from that brand in the future;
86% of people agree that too many ads on a webpage makes them feel overwhelmed and more likely to ignore the adverts;
71% of people agree they’d have a more positive perspective of digital ads if they loaded quickly and didn’t force clicks or block content.

#14 Maybe Not The Best Two Billboards Right Next To Each Other... Just Sayin

Image credits: imgur.com

#15 I Bought A Billboard To Promote My Business And They Screwed Up The Formatting

Image credits: bencahn

#16 That's A Lot Of Legs For Three Women

Image credits: werschaf

#17 Whoever Designed This Flyer Had No Concept Of Before And After

Image credits: Huckleberry_Sin

Some industry insiders are trying to shake off the blame. "With regulations limiting first-party data and platforms promoting broad targeting, many advertisers are forced to rely on poor-quality, unverified third-party data sources," says Anil Malhotra, CMO & co-founder of Bango, a technology company that specializes in helping businesses monetize digital content and services.

"This leaves them taking a spray and pray approach in hopes of connecting with new audiences."

#18 Design Fail Or Design Win?

Image credits: GallowBoob

#19 Found This In A Local Ad Flyer, Can't Stop Laughing At It

Image credits: Minky_Dave_the_Giant

#20 Someone Took The “D” Of The Mountain Dew Sign

Image credits: pizza_crusty

#21 Ad For Chocolate Milk

Image credits: IAmTjums

But Malhotra agrees there has to be a better way. "Advertising must get adventurous again—trialling new innovations and targeting methods for their ads. The rewards for advertisers—and the brands they work for—will pay dividends in the form of increased customer loyalty."

Once you're done scrolling through this list, you can continue learning about ad fails by firing up our previous publications 40 Epic Advertising Fails That Probably Should Have Gotten Someone Fired and 50 Hilarious Advertising Fails You Might Find Hard To Believe Were Actually Approved.