Top 10 Worst Commercials of All Time
films, television, worst commercials, advertisements, worst advertisements, trivago, playstation 3, oliver jewellery, cymbalta, nationwide, salesgenie, quiznos, love's, head on, chanel no.5, rockstar, top 10, watchmojo,
Script written by Nathan Sharp
And they wonder why cord cutting is becoming so popular. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Worst Commercials of All Time.
For this list, we’re looking at those commercials that received ridicule and derision after airing due to their low quality, lack of substance, annoying content, or anything in between that generally irritated viewers.
#10: The Trivago Guy
While some may think he’s attractive, we can’t help but think that he’s a little dirty and creepy. We’re of course referring to Tim Williams, the man in the Trivago commercials who stares viewers down with what looks like malicious intent and talks like he wants to murder us in our sleep. He controls the screen like Tony Stark in the hopes of looking futuristic, or cool, but it falls flat due to his creepy performance. Sorry Trivago, we don’t actually know what you are because we’re too creeped out to watch this commercial any longer. Plus, why isn’t he clean-shaven or wearing a belt? It seriously looks like they just pulled him off the street! Well, at least they got the message and cleaned him up a bit.
#9: The Baby
Not only does this commercial make absolutely no sense, but it’s even creepier than the one with the Trivago guy - by a mile. The ad is for the PlayStation 3 and features a baby doll in a room with the console, and we slowly watch it come alive, laugh, and cry. We suppose it’s crying because of the beauty of the PS3, but if it’s not, then we really have no idea. This ad was part of a $150 million campaign, and we think that the person in charge of that money should be fired immediately. Or they could at least reimburse us for our therapy bills.
#8: Depression Hurts
There are only two countries in the entire world that allow direct-to-consumer ads promoting drugs: the United States and New Zealand. They’re always awful, but none more so than this Cymbalta ad. Cymbalta is a brand name for duloxetine, a drug used to combat depression. Not only is the commercial itself depressing, but the darker material is followed by a full minute of the narrator listing its possible side effects, which include “fun” things like tremors, seizures, and hallucinations. When people think of awful prescription ads, a commercial like this is what immediately springs to mind. Ask your doctor.
#7: I’m the Cash Man
Oliver Jewellery is a jewellery company with multiple stores in Ontario, Canada. And any Canadian in the Greater Toronto Area that has ever watched cheap daytime TV knows the signature call of Oliver. His commercials are well known for their horrible, cheap quality, and for Oliver himself, who is clearly reading from a script with the least amount of enthusiasm possible. Couple this with the awful auto-tuned song, and you have one of the worst commercials ever. Meanwhile, his signature catchphrase is just the icing on the awful, bitter cake. Everybody say it with us now: ohhh yeah!
#6: Make Safe Happen
“Nationwide is on your side.” Not when they’re making depressing commercials like this, they’re not! This commercial aired during the 2015 Super Bowl, and as everyone knows, those commercials are supposed to be fun and adventurous (for the most part). But then we were treated to this, an ad featuring a young male narrator who turns out to be dead, and it caused significant backlash among viewers. Nationwide, the insurance company behind it, even responded, saying that it was meant “to start a conversation.” If that conversation was about how Nationwide scarred everyone, then yes, we suppose it succeeded.
#5: Pandas
Here we have another Super Bowl commercial, and while it isn’t depressing, that doesn’t mean it’s good. Salesgenie, which is an online business and consumer lead generation tool, decided that airing a commercial starring pandas with stereotypical Asian accents would be a good idea, but they were sadly mistaken. The commercial was quickly branded as offensive and racist, so the CEO of InfoUSA, Salesgenie’s parent company, pulled the ad from the air, stating that they never thought anyone would take offense because the pandas themselves are Chinese… it makes so much sense now!
#4: Spongmonkeys
We have no idea what Quiznos was thinking when they decided to take on the Spongmonkeys. These annoying singing primates first appeared on the web singing a song called “We Like the Moon,” in a video that went viral. Quiznos apparently thought that the video was absolutely hilarious, as the Spongmonkeys appeared in their ad singing “We Love the Subs.” It was quickly removed after countless complaints about its irritating nature, and how unfunny it is. We’re thinking they may have also gotten some complaints about how people wanted to gouge their eyes out every time the ad came on TV…
#3: There You Are
We’re not sure how Chanel managed to mess up a commercial starring Brad Pitt. Pitt may be the first man to promote the perfume on television, but he also did a terrible job of it. The commercial is needlessly dramatic, as the whole thing is in black and white, and Pitt talks to the camera like he’s trying out for his new Oscar baiting role. It’s way too over-the-top for a simple perfume ad, and the dialogue tries far too hard to be poetic, so naturally, it was parodied and mocked for years.
#2: Apply Directly to the Forehead
One of the most notorious commercials ever, HeadOn’s cheap and annoying ad got the attention of millions and started an Internet phenomenon. The commercial simply consists of the lines “HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead!” with a model doing just that. Not only is it painfully annoying, but no other information is given about the product, leaving viewers both irritated and confused. The ad soon became famous online, was referenced in “Disaster Movie,” and the company itself even acknowledged how bad it was in subsequent commercials.
Before we annoy you with our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Baby Secret
Mattel
- It’s Not for Women
Dr. Pepper Ten
- Giffing Out
Kmart
- Justin & Selena
Jamster
- Rockstar
DFS
#1: Baby Soft
For this commercial, we’re going all the way back to the mid-’70s, when ads seemed to be wildly inappropriate all the time. In this ad, the company Love’s is advertising their fragrance called Baby Soft, which was meant to give adults the scent of a baby because “innocence is sexy.” If that wasn’t odd enough, we’re also treated to a full-grown woman seductively licking a lollipop. This commercial is wrong on so many levels, but mostly in how it implies that men find smelling babies sexy. Let’s just never speak of this again, Love’s.
Do you agree with our list? What do you think is the worst commercial ever conceived? For more hilarious top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
Top 10 Worst Commercials of All Time
And they wonder why cord cutting is becoming so popular. Join http://www.WatchMojo.com as we count down our picks for the Top 10 Worst Commercials of All Time.
For this list, we’re looking at those commercials that received ridicule and derision after airing due to their low quality, lack of substance, annoying content, or anything in between that generally irritated viewers.
#10: The Trivago Guy
Trivago
While some may think he’s attractive, we can’t help but think that he’s a little dirty and creepy. We’re of course referring to Tim Williams, the man in the Trivago commercials who stares viewers down with what looks like malicious intent and talks like he wants to murder us in our sleep. He controls the screen like Tony Stark in the hopes of looking futuristic, or cool, but it falls flat due to his creepy performance. Sorry Trivago, we don’t actually know what you are because we’re too creeped out to watch this commercial any longer. Plus, why isn’t he clean-shaven or wearing a belt? It seriously looks like they just pulled him off the street! Well, at least they got the message and cleaned him up a bit. #9: The Baby
PlayStation 3
Not only does this commercial make absolutely no sense, but it’s even creepier than the one with the Trivago guy - by a mile. The ad is for the PlayStation 3 and features a baby doll in a room with the console, and we slowly watch it come alive, laugh, and cry. We suppose it’s crying because of the beauty of the PS3, but if it’s not, then we really have no idea. This ad was part of a $150 million campaign, and we think that the person in charge of that money should be fired immediately. Or they could at least reimburse us for our therapy bills. #8: Depression Hurts
Cymbalta
There are only two countries in the entire world that allow direct-to-consumer ads promoting drugs: the United States and New Zealand. They’re always awful, but none more so than this Cymbalta ad. Cymbalta is a brand name for duloxetine, a drug used to combat depression. Not only is the commercial itself depressing, but the darker material is followed by a full minute of the narrator listing its possible side effects, which include “fun” things like tremors, seizures, and hallucinations. When people think of awful prescription ads, a commercial like this is what immediately springs to mind. Ask your doctor. #7: I’m the Cash Man
Oliver Jewellery
Oliver Jewellery is a jewellery company with multiple stores in Ontario, Canada. And any Canadian in the Greater Toronto Area that has ever watched cheap daytime TV knows the signature call of Oliver. His commercials are well known for their horrible, cheap quality, and for Oliver himself, who is clearly reading from a script with the least amount of enthusiasm possible. Couple this with the awful auto-tuned song, and you have one of the worst commercials ever. Meanwhile, his signature catchphrase is just the icing on the awful, bitter cake. Everybody say it with us now: ohhh yeah! #6: Make Safe Happen
Nationwide
“Nationwide is on your side.” Not when they’re making depressing commercials like this, they’re not! This commercial aired during the 2015 Super Bowl, and as everyone knows, those commercials are supposed to be fun and adventurous (for the most part). But then we were treated to this, an ad featuring a young male narrator who turns out to be dead, and it caused significant backlash among viewers. Nationwide, the insurance company behind it, even responded, saying that it was meant “to start a conversation.” If that conversation was about how Nationwide scarred everyone, then yes, we suppose it succeeded. #5: Pandas
Salesgenie
Here we have another Super Bowl commercial, and while it isn’t depressing, that doesn’t mean it’s good. Salesgenie, which is an online business and consumer lead generation tool, decided that airing a commercial starring pandas with stereotypical Asian accents would be a good idea, but they were sadly mistaken. The commercial was quickly branded as offensive and racist, so the CEO of InfoUSA, Salesgenie’s parent company, pulled the ad from the air, stating that they never thought anyone would take offense because the pandas themselves are Chinese… it makes so much sense now! #4: Spongmonkeys
Quiznos
We have no idea what Quiznos was thinking when they decided to take on the Spongmonkeys. These annoying singing primates first appeared on the web singing a song called “We Like the Moon,” in a video that went viral. Quiznos apparently thought that the video was absolutely hilarious, as the Spongmonkeys appeared in their ad singing “We Love the Subs.” It was quickly removed after countless complaints about its irritating nature, and how unfunny it is. We’re thinking they may have also gotten some complaints about how people wanted to gouge their eyes out every time the ad came on TV… #3: There You Are
Chanel No. 5
We’re not sure how Chanel managed to mess up a commercial starring Brad Pitt. Pitt may be the first man to promote the perfume on television, but he also did a terrible job of it. The commercial is needlessly dramatic, as the whole thing is in black and white, and Pitt talks to the camera like he’s trying out for his new Oscar baiting role. It’s way too over-the-top for a simple perfume ad, and the dialogue tries far too hard to be poetic, so naturally, it was parodied and mocked for years. #2: Apply Directly to the Forehead
HeadOn
One of the most notorious commercials ever, HeadOn’s cheap and annoying ad got the attention of millions and started an Internet phenomenon. The commercial simply consists of the lines “HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead!” with a model doing just that. Not only is it painfully annoying, but no other information is given about the product, leaving viewers both irritated and confused. The ad soon became famous online, was referenced in “Disaster Movie,” and the company itself even acknowledged how bad it was in subsequent commercials.Before we annoy you with our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Baby Secret
Mattel
- It’s Not for Women
Dr. Pepper Ten
- Giffing Out
Kmart
- Justin & Selena
Jamster
- Rockstar
DFS
#1: Baby Soft
Love’s
For this commercial, we’re going all the way back to the mid-’70s, when ads seemed to be wildly inappropriate all the time. In this ad, the company Love’s is advertising their fragrance called Baby Soft, which was meant to give adults the scent of a baby because “innocence is sexy.” If that wasn’t odd enough, we’re also treated to a full-grown woman seductively licking a lollipop. This commercial is wrong on so many levels, but mostly in how it implies that men find smelling babies sexy. Let’s just never speak of this again, Love’s.Do you agree with our list? What do you think is the worst commercial ever conceived? For more hilarious top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
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