The 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of the Month
Goodbye February, hello March. Here’s all the news that wasn’t fit to print from last month:
- Clear Channel takes down a bus shelter; political crisis ensues
Malmesbury, England, is livid at the loss of their advertising hoarding. Town councillor Martyn Snell said: “I’m absolutely brassed off with it, there are people standing out there in all sorts of winds and weathers. Elderly people from the west of the town use the bus stop to do their shopping.” Blanket coverage. - Gimmick-based ad agency Wexley School for Girls claims it doesn’t do advertising
Gyro-esque Seattle shop prefers threatening clients to wooing them. - British Glade ads are obsessed with “poo”
TV spots for Touch n Fresh air fresheners seem to be heavily focused on toilet-based situations. - Bud Light ad mirrors suicide of DDB exec
The agency of the late creative director makes a TV spot that recalls his death. Why? - JWT Manila creates video of everyone in the agency doing nothing
This will be the most boring 2 minutes 34 seconds of your life: “We need to create worth that people choose to spend time with” the video says. Music? Mad Men theme. Original! - Black history month grocery ad features collard greens and fried chicken
Supermarket defends its targeting of blacks with sterotyped food offers. - Dunkin Donuts builds worm farm
In conjunction with a local worm farmer, a Dunkin Donuts in Florida will tip its used coffee grounds into a giant vat of worms The worms will turn the brew into pesticide and fertilizer. - JWT starts blog devoted to depressing recession news
Where do I sign up? Items about $1,300 facial cream and why the Lebanese think they’re immune from the crisis. - Bra-maker’s all-girl band contractually obligated to perform in lingerie
Bra manufacturer Vanity Fair has created an all-girl band who are contractually obligated to perform topless except for their bras. The Vassarettes have only one song. - Giant billboard falls off bingo hall, crushing cars
Text, photos and video of advertising disaster in which no one was hurt. CBS Outdoor declines to comment.
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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