The five steps to badland infamy*
1. You can't come up with a concept to sell State Fair Corn Dogs.
2. You see an Extra Gum commercial and dig the idea.
3. You rip the idea.
4. Extra's agency renews gum ad for another 13 weeks.
5. Your corn dog spot runs immediately after gum spot during commercial break.

"Read more" to view the ensuing 45 seconds of mirth and doppelgänger mayhem (if you're a super adgunt, that is).

If you are ever given the gig to do a THX cinema sound trailer, please, pretty please with sugar on top hand it over to whomever created this so that I may go to the movie theatre and experience this at full impressive THX blast. Kthxbye!

Those who don't know their history are condemned to repeat it.

But repeat it this well? This is a carbon-copy of the idea - with herring instead of meatballs.

Two quicktime films are waiting for you to click "read more.."

I'm glad that I'm not the only one wondering what on earth that "HeadOn" stuff which ye shall "apply directly to forehead" does - seems everyone has been hypnotized with the ads that are so bad they cause migraines.

Slate's Seth Stevenson confirms that the mystery stuff is for headaches - see: The mesmerizing ad for headache gel. So was the idea here to cause headaches, prompting me to rush out and buy the headon gel and apply directly to forehead? Devilishly clever!

HeadOn green version

HeadOn blue version

HeadOn's ActivOn

HeadOn's FREEdHEM

Clayton found this lovely article about some clever posters written in Braille with the theme of equal treatment for the blind.

Only problem - the posters had no other headline than the braille, so the seeing could not read them, also they were placed behind protective glass, so the blind could not read them. So the equal treatment message fell on deaf ears. *bada-bing-tssck!*

"Unfortunately, no one knows what it says because it has been put inside a display case with a glass front," the magazine noted in its feedback section, a regular feature about life's ironies and tidbits from around the world.

Every so often you stumble onto a really bad brand names, some universially so, like Soma® the codeine-based pain reliever. It makes us think of Brave New World's happy pills, or An intoxicating or hallucinogenic beverage, used as an offering to the Hindu gods like the dictionary says.
Still, It can't hold a candle to the candybar in Sweden called Plopp which makes all the UK'ers laugh, just like the Danish candy Spunk does. Thanks to Sisil.net we have photographic evidence of what we think might be the worst brand name ever....

Over the last couple of years, America has taken a fascination with the hitherto relatively unknown world of Japanese commercials starring Western celebrities. Thanks to the Internet, we've gained access to plenty of the Nipponese spots, but we've remained mostly blind to the stories behind them. That is, until now.

From within the hallowed halls of AdLand's AdList (our semi-secret society), we met Michael Deane, Executive Producer of Modern Times Film Company. Along with documentaries, an IMAX film and music videos for the likes of They Might Be Giants and Dr. John, he has over 200 commercials under his belt, including plenty involving the magic Japan+Hollywood combination.

This is his story, so far.

(And a few of his favorite spots.)

Alrighty folks, here's the last of the Adland Roundup. Enjoy.

Bad Ads: go stand in the corner and think about what you've done:

And the Most Obnoxious and Worst Ad of the Year goes to: HeadOn - but what does it do except give me a splitting headache?

Worst Lip Service:

Ford-New Challenges(2006) :30 (USA)
Ford-Teenagers Ford had massive layoffs and plant closures during the early part of last year then stuck their Chairman on TV to talk about all the good things the company was doing, like Hybrid cars. Ads were more like political spots than advertisements, or PR containment. ;)

Absolut Disappointment: Absolut Vodka- The Absolute

After years of such an iconic campaign, what happened? True the prior campaign was hard to top, but this was just disappointing.

In order to launch the TV series Prison Break on the Portuguese FOX Channel, a multi-phased advertising campaign was performed in Lisbon by Torke Stunt:

1) Street Campaign-Prisoners: A team of 7 people (5 prisoners and 2 policemen) walked throughout the city of Lisbon distributing flyers containing info about the series.

This year's Art Director Club's Call for Entries poster addresses the turbulence of our era and where we seem to be heading, as well as the desire by those in the industry to win a Cube. "The ADC Cube is the award that every creative wants to win at least once before they die," says TBWAChiatDay co-creative director Ian Reichenthal, who guided the effort along with co-CD Scott Vitrone. "And the clock is ticking."

"There were lots of disasters and apocalyptic trends that deserved mentioning," Reichenthal adds, "but we scaled it down to our favorite 20 or so. Our choices were based on which ones lent themselves to being illustrated in an interesting way."

The TBWAChiatDay creative team that worked on the assignment reports that, as they researched the history of Armageddon, they turned to medieval woodcuts for inspiration and received a "sign" that they were pointed in the right direction. "In one we saw what looked like the Art Directors Club logo," explains art director Matt Sorrell. "We thought, is this a message?" (Actually, the original logo of the Art Directors Club was inspired by Albrecht Dürer's signature initials. A German Renaissance artist, Dürer is known for his engravings, particularly his Apocalypse series, which dates to the late 1400s. )