Worst TV ads of 2008

Campaign magazine yesterday released their top 10 advertising ‘turkeys’ and what gobblers some of them are!

1. Gilette
Roger Federer, Tiger Woods and Thierry Henry apply a thick layer of cheese trying to imply that their performance is all about the razor they use. Nothing to do with hours and hours of practice and dedication then? I guess we should be luck the three are still strong enough in their chosen sports to not try a stint as an actor (a la Vinnie Jones!)

2. Specsavers
I’ve only recently seen the Edith Piaf biographical film, La Vie En Rose, prior to that I had this ad. Little did I know that she was should a troubled woman with a life full of slaps in the face. So I can see what Specsavers were getting to:  years of torment are yours if you don’t go to Specsavers! On the up side, I wonder if this ad had a positive effect on sales of her music in the UK?

3. Renault
Argh! We’re a victim of euro recycling! This advertising equivilant of Badly Dubbed Porn has a woman getting really shocked about receiving a cash back cheque. Didn’t she see the adverts before buying one?

4. Warburtons
A bloke on a trip overseas finds that everyone is named Warburton. Woo. Spooky!

5. Country Life
Anarchist, boyfrend of Viviene Westwood and now front man for butter?! I felt slightly uncomfortable watching it.

6. Kellogg
Poor Dame Kelly Holmes. She won loads of gold medals in some Olympic (I think it was 2004) and now she’s trying to tell us that we need to start the day off with a good breakfast but has the persuasion and style of a physics teacher!

7. Orangina
I wouldn’t call this a turkey, as such, just plain bloody freaky! Animals perform sexy dances and a dear simukates sex wth a bear. I’ve not had a sip of the fizzy orange juice since seeing this one!

8. Premier Inn
I grew up watching Lennie Henry. He used to be quite funny, I think. I’ve no idea what happened here. “Hey I found something small time, the bill!” No no no nooooo.

9. Samsung
Sportsmen do not a good advertisment make! They’ve bunged a few Chelsea players into a TV and asked a woman to swish around. This is why my HD TV is Panasonic!

10. DFS
They’ve already had quite a bit of wrap over this advert, in fact it’s banned, due to the fact 21 people complained to the ASA as the ad used a production technique to make the sofas look larger than they actually were. The idea is that if you get a DFS sofa, you can live like a rockstar. Eh?

Source: Campaign

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