From tone-deaf Super Bowl spots to controversial marketing fails, we're diving into the most cringe-worthy TV commercials ever made. These ads managed to offend, confuse, or creep out audiences in spectacular fashion. Whether it's inappropriate messaging, racist stereotypes, or just plain bizarre concepts, these commercials left lasting impressions for all the wrong reasons.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down art picks for the most poorly produced,
00:09ill-conceived or even ruinous television ads ever.
00:1720.
00:18Felicia the Goat – Mountain Dew Rapper Tyler the Creator voiced a naughty goat
00:22in a triptych of Mountain Dew ads that he also directed under the credit Wolf Haley.
00:28The saga features Felicia attacking a waitress because the restaurant didn't have Mountain
00:33Dew, getting pulled over with a trunk full of the drink and being identified by said
00:37waitress in a police lineup.
00:39Well, it's less of a saga than an episodic outpouring of noisy sight gags.
00:48Even worse is the flippancy about assault and racial stereotypes.
00:51The backlash prompted PepsiCo to pull the ads and issue an apology, alongside Tyler's
00:56manager.
00:57He himself has defended his creative vision, registering on Instagram with the username
01:01Felicia the Goat.
01:02The public on the other hoof feel he could do better.
01:0619.
01:07Giffing Out – Kmart Don't you hate it when someone gets too
01:13into sending gifts?
01:17Kmart went even more obnoxious with a series of promotions for their 2013 Christmas sales.
01:26In them, the doorbuster deals are so great that customers get stuck in a horrifying loop
01:31of celebration.
01:32But viewers were distracted by this bizarre premise and the actor's repetitive squilling.
01:36Never mind that gifts aren't supposed to have audio, the commercials did indeed go viral,
01:41albeit with decidedly unenthusiastic feedback.
01:44Kmart was already caught in controversy for a Jingle Bells bit that season in a creepy Christmas
01:49ad released three months earlier.
01:51Years later though, the awfulness of the Giffing Out campaign still bears repeating.
01:5518.
01:56Pipe Job – Hyundai The Hyundai iX3's hydrogen fuel cell was a great
02:04innovation that was hard to demonstrate in ads.
02:06The Moto Group's UK division did so in the darkest way.
02:10The ad titled Pipe Job depicts a forlorn man sitting in the car with a pipe plugged into
02:17the exhaust.
02:18Thankfully, he changes his mind after surviving the water emissions over the course of a day.
02:26Of course, the insensitively humored scenario sparked huge controversy.
02:30Pipe Job didn't make it to television before it was pulled by Hyundai, who claimed they didn't
02:35sign off on the marketing firm's final product.
02:37The company's attempt to protect itself merely inspired further criticism of their lack
02:41of oversight with this twisted showcase of a well-intentioned feature.
02:5017.
02:51The Baby – PlayStation 3 Not only does this commercial make absolutely
02:56no sense, but it's incredibly creepy.
03:02The ad is for the PlayStation 3.
03:04It features a baby doll in a room with a console, and we slowly watch it come alive, laugh,
03:09and cry.
03:15We suppose it's crying because of the beauty of the PS3, but if it's not, then we really
03:19have no idea.
03:20This ad was part of a $150 million campaign, and we think that the person in charge of that
03:25money should have been fired immediately.
03:26Or they could at least reimburse us for our therapy bills.
03:2816.
03:29Depression Hurts – Cymbalta
03:30When you're depressed, where do you want to go?
03:31Nowhere.
03:32There are only two countries in the entire world that allow direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical
03:35ads, the United States and New Zealand.
03:37They are often awful, but none more so than this Cymbalta ad.
03:41Cymbalta can help.
03:42Cymbalta is a prescription medication that treats many symptoms of depression.
03:45Cymbalta is a brand name for duloxetine, which is used to combat depression.
03:48Not only is the commercial itself depressing, but the darker material is followed by a full
03:50minute of the narrator listing it's possible.
03:51Nowhere.
03:52There are only two countries in the entire world that allow direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical
03:53ads, the United States and New Zealand.
03:54They are often awful, but none more so than this Cymbalta ad.
03:55Cymbalta can help.
03:56Cymbalta is a prescription medication that treats many symptoms of depression.
03:59Cymbalta is a brand name for duloxetine, which is used to combat depression.
04:04Not only is the commercial itself depressing, but the darker material is followed by a full
04:09minute of the narrator listing it's possible side effects, which include fun things like
04:14tremors, seizures and hallucinations.
04:16Dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing.
04:18Side effects include nausea, dry mouth and constipation.
04:21When people think of awful prescription ads, a commercial like this is what immediately
04:26springs to mind.
04:27Ask your doctor.
04:28Depression hurts.
04:29Cymbalta can help.
04:31Number 15.
04:32Sad Robot.
04:33General Motors.
04:34As if automation weren't already an insult to the labor force, General Motors didn't
04:39exactly ingratiate consumers with this Super Bowl promo.
04:46When an assembly line robot is fired over a minor mistake, it struggles to find work elsewhere.
04:51It's just about to jump off of a bridge when the whole thing is revealed to be a dream.
04:56Even when their minds drift off of work, GM's robots consistently deliver high-quality engineering.
05:02But maybe they should have vetted the quality of this ad.
05:05The already disturbing premise was a tasteless parody of the desperate workers these robots
05:09were disenfranchising.
05:11GM apologized for promoting the human cost and removing human error.
05:14But their own with this ad remains infamous.
05:17The GM 100,000 mile warranty.
05:19It's got everyone at GM obsessed with quality.
05:23Number 14.
05:24QR Code.
05:25Coinbase.
05:26Hold your praise for the budgetary pragmatism with this commercial for Super Bowl 56.
05:31Coinbase spent $13 million on a QR code bouncing around the screen for 60 seconds.
05:40When scanned, it unlocked a promo for $15 in Bitcoin and entry into a cash giveaway for new users.
05:46That's a lot of work for this so-called Let's Talk More Bitcoin campaign.
05:55Never mind the sheer lazy oddity in this pricey commercial.
05:58The thing is, it worked.
06:00The Coinbase app crashed from the traffic following the ad.
06:03It's even been cited as an influence on a trend of placing QR codes in commercials.
06:08Curiosity is an effective pressure point.
06:10But Coinbase pressing so brazenly was at least creatively cheap.
06:21Number 13.
06:22I'm the Cashman.
06:23Oliver Jewelry.
06:24Hello!
06:25I'm Russell Oliver and I buy your used jewelry.
06:28Oliver Jewelry is a jewelry company with multiple stores in Ontario, Canada.
06:32And any Canadian in the greater Toronto area that has ever watched cheap daytime TV knows the signature call of Oliver.
06:39I love gold.
06:40Bring me your old gold and I'll give you cash.
06:42His commercials are well known for their horrible cheap quality and for Oliver himself,
06:47who is clearly reading from a script with the least amount of enthusiasm possible.
06:51Couple this with the awful auto-tuned song and you have one of the worst commercials ever.
06:55Meanwhile, his signature catchphrase is just the icing on the awful bitter cake.
07:08Everybody say it with us now.
07:10Oh yeah!
07:11Oh yeah!
07:1212.
07:13The Dead Boy Nationwide.
07:14Nationwide is on your side.
07:16I'll never learn to ride a bike.
07:23Not when you're making depressing commercials like this, they're not.
07:26The commercial aired during the 2015 Super Bowl and as everyone knows,
07:31those commercials are supposed to be fun and adventurous, for the most part.
07:35But then we were treated to this, an ad featuring a young male narrator who turns out to be dead.
07:40I couldn't grow up.
07:41This caused significant backlash among viewers.
07:44Nationwide, the insurance company behind it, even responded, saying that it was meant to
07:48start a conversation.
07:49If that conversation was about how Nationwide scarred everyone, then yes, we suppose it
07:55succeeded.
07:5611.
08:01Pandas.
08:02Sales Genie.
08:03Here we have another Super Bowl commercial.
08:05One that is depressing for different reasons.
08:07Ling Ling!
08:08I am not going back to the zoo!
08:10Then we need a sales miracle!
08:11Sales Genie, which is an online business and consumer-led generation tool, decided that
08:16airing a commercial starring cartoon pandas with stereotypical Chinese accents would be
08:20a good idea.
08:22But they were sadly mistaken.
08:24Thank you, Sales Genie!
08:25The commercial was quickly branded as offensive and racist, so the CEO of Info USA, Sales Genie's
08:31parent company, pulled the ad from the air.
08:33They stated that they never thought anyone would take offense because the pandas themselves
08:38are Chinese.
08:39It makes so much sense now.
08:4210.
08:43Ashton Kutcher's Dating Video, Pop Chips.
08:45Ashton Kutcher lovers must have felt punked by him looking for love with Pop Chips.
08:49The company hired him as a marketing consultant for and the star of a series of mock dating
08:54videos.
08:55Kutcher's stereotypical bachelors include a Bollywood producer, an American biker, a British
08:59hippie, and a Karl Lagerfeld spoof.
09:02Oh yeah.
09:03So, who am I?
09:04I am Don.
09:05And Pop Chips barely pop up.
09:06It was an embarrassing vanity project even without the outrage over Kutcher's exaggerated
09:11brown face, including from Indian American celebrities.
09:14Okay, look.
09:15Maybe Pop Chips consciously didn't want to offend minorities, but subconsciously they knew they
09:20could get away with clowning Indians and Asians.
09:22Pop Chips naturally pulled the ad, but Kutcher has never publicly spoken about it or the
09:27controversy.
09:28If anything, that has only made the misguided campaign more of a stain on Kutcher and Pop
09:32Chips' brands.
09:33Life is short.
09:35Strike a match.
09:36Number 9.
09:37Bar Raffaele and Walter.
09:39GoDaddy.
09:40There are two sides to GoDaddy.
09:41The web domain registrar GoDaddy was infamous for his randomly racy ads.
09:46The most notorious, produced for Super Bowl XLIII, attempted to explain their logic.
09:50There's the sexy side represented by Bar Raffaele.
09:53And the smart side that creates a killer website for your small business represented
09:57by Walter.
09:58Motorsports star Danica Patrick presents supermodel Bar Raffaele to represent the company's
10:03sex appeal.
10:04And the most generic looking of nerds to represent tech savviness.
10:07The two very different mascots then share a passionate kiss seen round the world.
10:12The commercial ultimately says little about GoDaddy as a service.
10:19Audiences simply saw it as a tawdry stunt that both objectified Raffaele and insulted
10:24background actor Jesse Heyman's stereotyped appearance.
10:27At least the latter's career was bolstered by the viral sensation.
10:30It also boosted GoDaddy, though the backlash still convinced them to abandon salacious marketing.
10:35Get your domain and website at GoDaddy.com
10:388.
10:39Spong Monkeys
10:43We have no idea what Quiznos was thinking when they decided to take on the Spong Monkeys.
10:52These annoying singing primates first appeared on the web singing a song called We Like The
10:56Moon in a video that went viral.
10:58Quiznos apparently thought that video was absolutely hilarious as the Spong Monkeys appeared in
11:04another ad to sing We Love The Subs.
11:06They got a pepper bar!
11:08It was quickly removed after countless complaints about its irritating nature and how unfunny it
11:13was.
11:14We're thinking they may have also gotten some complaints about how people wanted to scream
11:18as well every time the ad came on TV.
11:267.
11:27There you are, Chanel No. 5
11:32We're not sure how Chanel managed to mess up a commercial starring Brad Pitt.
11:37Pitt may be the first man you want to promote your perfume on television, but he also did
11:41a terrible job of it.
11:43Plans disappear, dreams take over.
11:46The commercial is needlessly dramatic as the whole thing is in black and white with Pitt
11:51talking to the camera like he's trying out for his new Oscar bait role.
11:54My luck, my fate.
11:56It's way too over the top for a simple perfume ad and the dialogue tries far too hard to be
12:02poetic, so naturally it was parodied and mocked for years.
12:05Chanel No. 5
12:07Inevitable
12:096.
12:10Tibet
12:12Groupon
12:13The plight and cultural repression of the Tibetan people is worth promoting to Americans.
12:17This is Timothy Hutton.
12:18The people of Tibet are in trouble.
12:20Of course, Groupon wanted to hype their money-saving services during Super Bowl 45.
12:25They did so with actor Timothy Hutton narrating serene images of Tibet before appearing in a
12:30restaurant to discuss the deals he got on the local cuisine.
12:33We're each getting $30 worth of Tibetan food for just $15 at Himalayan restaurant in Chicago.
12:38This was part of Groupon's controversial campaign to spoof celebrity activism, which
12:43features similar ads about welling and deforestation.
12:45Many saw the Tibet ad as a satire of Westerners' ignorance of Eastern cultures.
12:50Many more felt that its comic belittlement exemplified such ignorance.
12:54Either way, Groupon was prompted to finally pull their lazy and tasteless ad campaign, whose
12:59misguidance is still being studied.
13:02Save the money.
13:03Unlock great deals in your town.
13:05Groupon.com
13:07The sportswear retailer Just For Feet exploded throughout the 1990s.
13:14What should have been a triumphant promo during Super Bowl 33 ultimately caused an implosion.
13:19The sloppily edited commercial features a group of white hunters who track an athletic
13:23runner in the Kenyan savannah.
13:26They sedate him and force him to wear Nike shoes.
13:30The premise is too confusing, especially with the distraction of racist and xenophobic overtones.
13:35Just For Feet blamed the advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi, which had full creative control
13:40in the commercial's production.
13:41Such a gross oversight didn't exactly save the company's tattered reputation going into the 2000s.
13:47Their malpractice suit against Saatchi & Saatchi fell through after Just For Feet declared bankruptcy
13:52before being sold to Footstar Inc.
13:56Number 4. Apply directly to the forehead. Head On.
13:59Head On. Apply directly to the forehead. Head On. Apply directly to the forehead.
14:03One of the most notorious commercials ever, Head On's cheap and annoying ad, got the intention
14:08of millions and started an internet phenomenon.
14:11Head On. Apply directly to the forehead. Head On. Apply directly to the forehead.
14:15The commercial simply consists of the lines, Head On. Apply directly to the forehead.
14:19With the model doing just that.
14:21Not only is it painfully annoying, but no other information is given about the product,
14:25leaving viewers both irritated and confused. Head On. Apply directly to the forehead. Head On.
14:31The ad soon became famous online and was referenced in a disaster movie.
14:35The company itself even acknowledged how bad it was in subsequent commercials.
14:39Head On. I hate your commercial, but I love your product.
14:43Number 3. Live For Now. Pepsi. The American political climate in 2017 could drive anyone to drink.
14:50Everyone may as well drink PepsiCo. Apparently.
14:53Some said never, but they never done come.
14:57Their Live For Now film features a diverse ensemble of young people drinking Pepsi and protesting police brutality.
15:03When celebrity socialite Kylie Jenner joins the demonstration, she convinces police to join the Pepsi party.
15:08It was the mother of all misguided virtual signal commercials, which is really saying something.
15:13The company's attempt to reach politically minded youths was seen as a trivialization complete with an homage to the 2016 photograph taking a stand in Baton Rouge.
15:27The commercial was itself met with much parody on top of historic online backlash.
15:32PepsiCo pulled Live For Now after one day, but may never live it down.
15:36Number 2. Making Some Changes. Holiday Inn.
15:40It's already tasteless to compare Holiday Inn's luxury renovations to a woman's plastic surgery.
15:46Lips, $3,000. New chest, $8,000.
15:52Never mind that when she approaches an old friend at their high school reunion, he recognizes her as Bob Johnson.
15:58When this ad aired during Super Bowl 31, the criticism was not only of the budget hotel brand's crudely humored methods for sexing up their brand.
16:06It's amazing the changes you can make for a few thousand dollars.
16:08Holiday Inn pulled the ad in response to transphobic protests.
16:12It holds a more mixed legacy in the trans community, especially as the actress Karen Dior was trans.
16:17Hi, Tom.
16:18The majority who deemed the commercial objectifying at best and transphobic at worst see it as timelessly offensive.
16:24But those who embraced the beautifying fantasy affirmed the ineffectiveness of the misguided product pitch.
16:29Holiday Inn, on the way.
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16:47Number one, Baby Salt, Loves.
16:50There's one person nobody can resist.
16:52For this commercial, we're going all the way back to the mid-70s when ads seem to be wildly inappropriate all the time.
16:59In this ad, the company Loves is advertising their fragrance called Baby Salt, which was meant to give adults the scent of a baby because innocence is sexy.
17:09I'm foaming bath, body lotion, body powder, and body mist.
17:12If that wasn't odd enough, we're also treated to a full-grown woman seductively licking a lollipop.
17:18This commercial is wrong on so many levels, but mostly in how it implies that men are into the smell of babies.
17:24Let's just never speak of this again, Loves.
17:26For your baby at Christmas.
17:28What are some other commercials that stuck with you in all the wrong ways?
17:33Promote them in the comments down below.
17:35You can find them at the market.
17:37We talking about flea market.
17:39Montgomery.
17:40It's just like, it's just like a mini mall.
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