The Worst Marketing Campaigns of 2011

However, some involve terrible acting, offensive jokes, and ineffective campaigns. Every year people discuss the latest crop of terrible advertisements and 2011 is no different. 

 

It has been said that any publicity is good publicity, but the following ads had consumers gnashing their teeth, changing channels, and tuning out. This doesn’t mean the companies are unsuccessful in general, however, but just that these campaigns might not live up to their name.

 

 

Mucinex is a cold medication intended to clear your sinuses for easier breathing when you experience congestion. The medication may work very well, but all anyone can remember from the commercial is the disgusting anthropomorphic snot family that has taken up residence inside the body. 

 

They are green, slimy, and rude bacterial squatters that leak green sticky fluid onto the “floor” and ‘walls” of their new abode. They even have bizarre phlegm-sized furniture to rest in. Perhaps the worst part of the commercial is the pos- ingestion animation of Mucinex, which results in the booger family getting forcefully ejected through the throat. Do not try to eat dinner during one of these commercials, or you will find yourself forcefully ejecting your mashed potatoes.

 

 

Many elements have to come together to make a great commercial, and sometimes when even one detail is missing the whole concept falls apart.

 

This is the case with Magnum ice cream. The company hired Karl Lagerfeld to direct and Rachel Bilson to star in three commercials promoting a chocolate covered ice cream treat. Unfortunately, with a name like Magnum, it seems they have a beautiful actress obsessing about the delicious flavor of a chocolate colored phallus.

 

Not helping the situation is the tagline written across the box, “For Pleasure Seekers”. Perhaps if this Dutch company had done their research they would have stumbled across Trojan’s Magnum condoms for the well endowed, and opted for a less provocative brand name.

 

 

It is hard to advertise a product that concerns such a delicate subject matter, but it is safe to say that Summer’s Eve’s interpretation was not a success.

 

Aside from the commercial and critical backlash, the advertisement as a whole is awkward, offensive, and embarrassing, and not because they are talking about cleaning a woman’s nether regions, more so because they are trying to be hip while simultaneously being racist and sexist. 

 

The slogan is “Hail to the V”, and the offensively ethnic-oriented commercial suggests that the power of a woman’s lady bits is strong enough to make men kill each other for it (unless, of course, the strength comes from the odor emanating from it). This horrifying ad attempts to pair an offensive product with a female-powered tagline and ends up with total failure.

 

The lesson here is that disgusting and perverse concepts rarely encourage consumers to purchase products. If people are embarrassed to buy your brand, they will not. Here is hoping next year’s campaigns are listening.