DailyDirt: Duh... Ads Are Supposed To Change People's Minds

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Ads can be controversial sometimes -- designed to attract attention. Most ads catch your eye with attractive people or shocking images, but the "best" ads also stick in your mind and remind you who the actual sponsor was. We're always interested in "good" ads (not the ads that get attention for how hated they are). So here, we've found some interesting ad-related articles and videos that demonstrate how ads can be entertaining.
  • The BBC picks 6 ads that it thinks changed the world. Don't worry: "Apply directly to the forehead" didn't make the cut. [url]
  • If you could save an online banner ad for later, would you? This sounds like a really bad copy of Instapaper.... [url]
  • LEGO has made a couple interesting short films. But still, I always forget that it's not Legos. [url]
  • Can any kind of internet meme effectively sell a mobile phone? If so, let loose the CaTz of advertising. [url]
  • Hide this

    Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

    Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

    While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

    –The Techdirt Team

    Filed Under: ads, advertisements


    Reader Comments

    Subscribe: RSS

    View by: Time | Thread


    1. icon
      Hephaestus (profile), 5 Jan 2011 @ 5:15pm

      a 20 year old joke .... based on McDonalds

      A man took a new job as a bus driver and was given a bus with a Sesame Street advertisement on the side. At his first stop he picked up two fat Irish women who�s names both happened to be Pattie. At his next stop he picked up a man named Ross. This man felt highly of himself and insisted that everyone call him Special Ross. At the next stop was a biker who didn�t have a name, but he said he usually goes by his nickname, Lester T.

      During the ride, Lester T sat in the back picking at his feet while the others looked at him with disgust.

      When the bus driver finished his route, he was asked how his day was by one of his co-workers.

      �It reminded me of McDonalds� said the bus driver. Two obese Patties, Special Ross, Lester T pickin� his bunyons on a Sesame Street bus.

      link to this | view in thread ]

    2. icon
      Chris in Utah (profile), 5 Jan 2011 @ 8:57pm

      Related posts:

      1. Decline and Fall of Global Media
      2. More myths of Social Media marketing.

      Laughed my ass off hitting the second link.

      link to this | view in thread ]

    3. identicon
      Aaron deOliveira, 5 Jan 2011 @ 9:01pm

      adkeeper

      for the adkeeper. ads are just content.

      link to this | view in thread ]

    4. identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 6 Jan 2011 @ 6:17am

      Many advertisers followed suit. Perhaps most notably Avis rental cars, whose We Try Harder campaign made a virtue out of their second place position in the US market.


      I know what people thought on that one.

      If only some industries tried harder LoL

      link to this | view in thread ]

    5. icon
      Michael Ho (profile), 6 Jan 2011 @ 1:14pm

      Re: adkeeper

      Agreed. If only advertisers thought the same way... then ads wouldn't be so annoying -- and people might actually *want* to see them.

      link to this | view in thread ]

    6. icon
      Angry Puppy (profile), 7 Jan 2011 @ 5:57pm

      Re: a 20 year old joke .... based on McDonalds - Mine's Worse

      A frog hops into a bank and asks for a meeting with a loans officer. The officer, Patricia Whack, meets the frog with some surprise and asks what she and the bank could do for him. The frog replies: "I have some outstanding debts and a cash flow crisis that requires a $10,000 overdraft to meet my sort term business obligations." "Very well.", replies Miss Whack. "Do you have a guarantor?" "Yes." says the frog, "I am the adopted son of Mick Jagger and he will cosign." Not really believing this Patricia asks, "And what do you have as collateral?" "This!", says the frog, proudly holding up an inexpensive ceramic duck. Patti (her usual name used around the office) states, "I'm sorry Mr. Frog, I do not believe we can provide you with any lending services"

      The bank manager overhears the conversation in his office next store and being a huge Stones fan realizes that the frog was indeed the one adopted by Mr. Jagger as described in an article he had read in a fan magazine and hears the loan officer's increasingly unimpressed tone and steps in to head off a potentially embarrassing media event. Calling her into his office she enters with the ceramic duck she was given and when confronted with the manager's question as to why she would not loan money to the frog Patti provides an obvious list of reasonable points as to why the frog does not qualify for a $10,000 overdraft. Finishing with a flourish she holds up the duck concluding, "And what the heck is this?"

      The manager replies: "It's a nick-knack Patti Whack, give the frog a loan, his old man's a Rolling Stone."

      link to this | view in thread ]


    Follow Techdirt
    Essential Reading
    Techdirt Deals
    Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
    Techdirt Insider Discord

    The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

    Loading...
    Recent Stories

    This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
    Close

    Email This

    This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.