We have a lot of sympathy for the cause that the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals seek to promote. We don’t have much sympathy for their increasingly goofy attention-seeking antics.
The latest dustup the animal rights nonprofit has created involves their attempt to get NBC to air a completely inappropriate ad during the Super Bowl, and then to complain when the network rejected the softcore porn.
The ad, featuring women in bras and panties getting extremely busy with some vegetables, was rejected after NBC deemed the content too racy, according to an e-mail from NBC that PETA made available to msnbc.com. A network spokesman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
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| PETA |
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We here at Ads of the Weird have generally tried to stay away from political ads during this seemingly endless election cycle, preferring instead to leave the good, the bad and the ugly to our friends in the Politics section.
But this being Ads of the Weird, Election Day edition, we’re making an exception. No, we don’t plan to jump into the minefield of speculating as to whose ad is more effective/negative/misleading. Instead, we’re going to focus on the one thing we hope everyone can agree on: The right to vote.
This year, as in years past, there are a plethora of public service announcements aimed at getting people to the voting booth. And this year, as in years past, they run the gamut from pretty good to pretty embarrassing.
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| declareyourself.com |
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For years, many people regarded environmentalists as earnest and well-intentioned, but more likely to plant a few trees than force Americans to make substantial changes.
That all changed with former vice president Al Gore’s documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," which mixed tough talk with just enough hope to leave people emboldened rather than defeated.
The most recent "we can solve it" ads, sponsored by Gore’s Alliance for Climate Protection, take the same tack, with the same results. Watching them, we couldn’t help but feel a little manipulated, a little scared and a little hopeful. But, they got us thinking every time.
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| wecansolveit.org |
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The makers of Snickers are pulling an ad after it failed to get laughs among gay rights activists who called it homophobic, according to an Associated Press report.
In the commercial, a man is speed-walking down the street when 1980s icon Mr. T comes barreling around the corner, firing candy bars at him and calling him a "disgrace to the man race."
The ad, which aired in the United Kingdom, ends with the tagline "get some nuts."
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| snickers.com |
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In an age when teens are inundated with images of sex and violence, one has to wonder, is anything shocking anymore?
The makers of the “truth” anti-smoking ads, who for years have been trying to scare would-be smokers straight with startling images such as masses of body bags and people posing as “dead” smokers, think they have hit on something: shocking the kids by not being so shocking at all.
The American Legacy Foundation’s latest anti-smoking campaign juxtaposes joyful cartoon characters and upbeat musical numbers with troubling anecdotes about smoking, in the hopes that a little sardonic humor will keep the attention of famously fickle 12- to 17-year-olds.
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| American Legacy Foundation |
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We’re not going to get into a PC vs. Mac debate with anyone. And it’s not just because of the “msn” part of the name of this site.
It’d be silly, though to not acknowledge that the iPod is about a ubiquitous as presidential debates. And, for the most part, about as pleasant.
Overpriced? Probably. Best-of-breed? Arguably. But dangerous … well, we never really thought of it until we saw this print ad for the New South Wales police department.
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| NSW police |
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We’re fond of the maxim “If at first you don’t succeed, lower your standards.” (Actually, we’re not really, boss, on the outside chance you’re reading this.)
It’s unfortunate, however, that in the current geopolitical climate, some elements of our armed forces are being forced to do just that to meet recruitment goals.
And while we endeavor not to be impolitic with Ads of the Weird, or even political at all, we were struck by a recent e-mail pointing out a recruitment ad for the Royal Dutch Army.
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| Royal Dutch Army |
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In general, offers that begin with a “Have you ever wondered?” or “Have you ever wanted to?” make us immediately go “no” and move on.
But we were more than a little intrigued with an ad we stumbled over on the Web asking, “Trying to catch hepatitis C? Not sure where to start?” Not particularly. Wait -- what?
The animated spot features a little doodle of a guy, who evidently is named Dennis. An onscreen narrator asks the question (at the time Dennis -- obviously highly-motivated -- is licking the jagged rim of a tin can) and offers some ... er ... helpful information on ways he could have already caught it. These include, but are not limited to, sharing a razor, getting a tattoo and spending a holiday doing drugs and listening to techno music. (We pause at this point to remind all our readers that if you or someone you care about listens to techno, get help immediately).
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| hepatitisday.info |
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We here at Ads of the Weird like Bob Mould a lot, and as business writers and editors we also are partial to financial news. But we know better than to mix the two.
Apparently the folks at TIAA-CREF don’t agree. The financial services company has decided to use punk music icon Mould’s “See A Little Light” as the cornerstone of an ad campaign touting the benefits “dot-orgs” over “dot-coms.”
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| TIAA-CREF |
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It’s been nearly two years since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the surrounding area, destroying houses and lives and capturing the world’s attention.
By now, however, there’s no question that most people’s thoughts have moved on. The Katrina Foundation for Recovery is hoping to shock people into turning their attention back to the storm-ravaged region.
“Bin Laden would be smart to hide where the U.S. pays the least attention - New Orleans,” reads one of five advertisements prepared for the nonprofit, which raises money to supply clothing, shelter and other services in the area.
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| Katrina Foundation for Recovery |
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