When adverts/commercials miss the point - My top "Oops adverts"

Advertising is something that companies spend millions of dollars on for one main reason; the right advert can literally decide whether your product makes it or not. A simple but effective advert can be the only major tool a company needs to see sales, and thus profits, skyrocket in a matter of hours! This is one area that, increasingly, companies can not afford to get wrong. In today's global market with the various broadcasting tools (the televisions, Internet, word-of-mouth, newspapers) capable of reaching masses of potential customers in a matter of seconds, the advertising world has become even more important. However, like anything else in life, there are times when despite the efforts of companies to create an advert that will give them the 'edge' over their rivals, mistakes occur. Indeed some adverts makes you wonder what the actual point of the product is, or why did that company pay for such a daft advert? Here are some of such adverts, which I like to call the "Oops adverts": the adverts that simply do not work.

1) Injury lawyers 4U (Featuring Bill Murray): 

This advert originally aired in the summer of 2010. It featured Billy Murray, who is a well known actor in the soap world. He has a long career in the small screen and is largely remembered as Johnny Allen, a mafia/gangsta like character in the popular Eastenders drama. Actors are paid to support many products and appear in various adverts, this is nothing new. However, this advert misses the point when Billy Murray starts of by claiming that "he is an injury lawyer!" Of course he is not, he is an actor! He goes on to talk, about how they (him included) as part of this injury lawyers' group can help you if you have had an injury that wasn't your fault. I find this aspect of the advert incredulous. Why didn't the company (injury lawyers for you) decide to have Mr. Murray speak in a third party content rather than referring himself as a lawyer? This sort of advertising can be seen as misleading. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) the advert was later replaced by a version that has Mr. Murray referring to those in the firm as lawyers and not himself. I am guessing someone must have spotted the hilarity of the first 'Oops' version of this advert.                             

                                                 Version 1 (the 'Oops advert)

                                                 After the change (version 2)

2) DSF Sofa

Good old DSF, they never seize to make the most of us scratch our heads in wonder and sometimes amusement. DSF have been known for less than flattering tactics when it comes to selling their furniture. It seems that nothing will dampen their spirits nor hinder their never-ending sales despite drawing the attention of Watchdog (a powerful program aimed at investigating companies and individuals mistreating consumers in any way). Admittedly, this is not the topic for this article so we shall leave the ethics, or lack thereof, regarding DFS's advertising tactics for another article. 

So then, back to the topic at hand, what 'Oops advert' could I be referring to here? Well, do you remember when a customer's frustration with his Apple computer back in the late 90s, lead him to filmed the dissatisfying response he was receiving over the phone from Apple customer services? Do you remember the YouTube video he posted of the last frustrating conversation he had with the customer service that pushed his patience to the limit and had him smash the laptop to tiny pieces? If you don't, it doesn't matter. My point here is that, the simple act of this man smashing an Apple laptop and the resulting volume of people who clicked to watch that video was powerful enough to get Apple's head office to act. They contacted the man in question promptly solved his problem and apologised profusely for his mistreatment. They also gave him a free brand new laptop and asked him to remove the video, which he did. 

The point to note is that, the act of someone smashing a product like that devalued the product and the brand, something that no company in their right minds would wish to happen. So then, what on earth were the folks at DSF sofas thinking when they commissioned an advert to promote, yet another one of their 'sales' in which, the actors/models used are seeing cutting the sofas in half with chainsaws! We got the message that the sofas were then 'half price' but did they have to literally slash the sofas in half? It's mind-boggling to see such a powerful act that succeeds in devaluing the product deliberately used by a company to actually promote their products! 

This list will undoubtably grow as more Oops ads appear. I will try to update those that catch my eye. Do you have a favourite "Oops" ad to share?