Advertising is meant to grab attention—just not like this. From signs with unfortunate typos to digital screens frozen on the computer’s Windows desktop, these blunders prove even the biggest brands can make a fool of themselves. Of course, not every failure comes from poor judgment or inexperience. Some are simply the result of bad luck. But when you’re addressing the public, it’s your responsibility to ensure that the message lands as intended. If it doesn’t… Well, that one’s on you.
#1 Your Business Does What?
#2 Whoever Edited This Advertisement Never Saw A Human Foot
Thirteen experts from the Forbes Agency Council identify confusing and annoying content as the number one reason why advertising campaigns fail.
According to them, when messages feel scattered or dishonest, audiences quickly lose patience and trust.
Other major pitfalls include delivering campaigns in antagonistic environments that diminish user experience, attempting to exploit tragedies or political trends without careful thought, and relying on clickbait.
#3 Please Donate Your Bloob
#4 At My Local Optometrist
#5 Spotted In The UK
But internet ads have become especially irritating. It seems it’s no longer possible to watch an online video or read an article without being interrupted every few seconds.
According to a survey from user-first media platform Picnic, in partnership with global public opinion company YouGov, two-thirds of people (70%) find digital advertising annoying and unpleasant, and 72% say that bad advertising experiences have negatively affected their perception of a brand.
#6 “Challenge Accepted”
#7 Accepting Resume
#8 Maybe Not The Best Two Billboards Right Next To Each Other… Just Sayin
#9 The Poster People Didn’t Really Think This Through
When the respondents were asked to identify the most annoying user experience, most of them said it was “too many ads” (28%) and “blocked screen content” (28%), followed by accidental clicks (18%), slow loading speeds (12%), unstable page content (7%), and other (7%).
#10 Win A Dream Holiday
#11 I Stood There Pointing And Laughing Until I Realized There Were People Behind The Window
#12 Found This In A Local Ad Flyer, Can’t Stop Laughing At It
#13 Whoever Designed This Flyer Had No Concept Of Before And After
Other key findings from the survey include:
66% say annoying or intrusive ad experiences reduce their trust in the brand advertising;71% agree that annoying or intrusive ad experiences make them less likely to purchase from that brand in the future;86% of people agree that too many ads on a webpage makes them feel overwhelmed and more likely to ignore the adverts;71% of people agree they’d have a more positive perspective of digital ads if they loaded quickly and didn’t force clicks or block content. #14 That’s A Lot Of Legs For Three Women
#15 Poor Cat
#16 I Bought A Billboard To Promote My Business And They Screwed Up The Formatting
#17 Ad For Chocolate Milk
Some industry insiders are trying to shake off the blame. “With regulations limiting first-party data and platforms promoting broad targeting, many advertisers are forced to rely on poor-quality, unverified third-party data sources,” says Anil Malhotra, CMO & co-founder of Bango, a technology company that specializes in helping businesses monetize digital content and services.
“This leaves them taking a spray and pray approach in hopes of connecting with new audiences.”
#18 “AI Will Take Over The World” My Youtube Home Ad
#19 The Rewards Of Hypnotherapy
#20 Someone Took The “D” Of The Mountain Dew Sign
#21 Pole Sign “Ads”
But Malhotra agrees there has to be a better way. “Advertising must get adventurous again—trialling new innovations and targeting methods for their ads. The rewards for advertisers—and the brands they work for—will pay dividends in the form of increased customer loyalty.”
Once you’re done scrolling through this list, you can continue learning about ad fails by firing up our previous publications 40 Epic Advertising Fails That Probably Should Have Gotten Someone Fired and 50 Hilarious Advertising Fails You Might Find Hard To Believe Were Actually Approved.
#22 Design Fail Or Design Win?
#23 Saw An Awesome Bus Advertisement For An Optometrist
#24 This Poster In A Mall. This Guy Is The Only True Fanboy
#25 Another Unattainable Body Portrayed In Advertising
#26 To Make A Serious Ad Campaign. Harold Is There For You During The Crisis
#27 The Ad On This Bus
#28 I Live In Ghana. This Billboard Is On A Highway Near My House
#29 Get Divorced?
#30 She Might Want To Get A Second Opinion
#31 Go Back To Marketing School, Lexus
#32 It Looks Like Pete Davidson And Steve Buscemi Had A Baby
#33 The Real Estate Agent Is Always Watching
#34 “I Put Up The Ad Boss”
#35 A Costly But Funny Mistake
#36 This Billboard Having A System Reboot
#37 How Bad Is It To Work At Homedepot
#38 Saw This Will On Vacation In Lima. I Guess Transport Companies Don’t Learn
#39 It Says “The Same Text But In Arabic”
#40 If It Doesnt Fit, Cut It
#41 Electronic Billboard This Morning Gave The Creepiest “Before” Pic I’ve Seen In A While
#42 Choose Asia. Choose Wrong. Spotted In Finland
#43 Nair Commercial, Lady Is Squeezing It Out But The Lid Is Still On
#44 This Digital Billboard That’s In Troubleshooting Mode
#45 Left: How It Should Be Right: How They Did It
#46 This Billboard With A Backwards Thumb Has Been Haunting Me For Months On My Daily Commute
#47 Where Is That Chocolate Coming From?
#48 Apostrophe Placement On This Yoga Ad, Intentional Or Not?
#49 Made Myself Giggle At This One
#50 When You Can’t Afford The Full Billboard
#51 Billboard Showing The Wrong Person For The Documentary Being Advertised. She Does Look A Bit Like Him
#52 Saw This Sign By A Church I Was Passing
#53 Wonky Eye
#54 Ironic Marketing
#55 Great Marketing (Maybe It Worked Since It Makes People Look)
#56 To Advertise With A Qr Code At The Airport
#57 Star Wars Poster At An Indian Theatre
#58 No One Listened To Giofilms
#59 This Is On A Window In London. It’s Supposed To Promote Some Weight Loss/Diet Thing The Image Of The Woman Was Just Stretched In Photoshop
#60 Our Marketing Is Not The Problem, Its That Our Target Customer’s Necks Are Not Crooked Enough
#61 What Kind Of Advertising Is This?
#62 This Billboard In My Hometown Is Glitched Like This Since This Summer
#63 Standing Too Close To This Poster Ad
#64 NY Subway Adverts For The Northman Have Appeared… Without The Title
#65 Ad On The Subway Stairs In NYC
#66 His Face Seems A Bit Odd… Might Just Be Me Though
#67 The Infamous Digital Billboards Run Windows
#68 I Was Literally Going Out To Buy Chocolate Chip Cookies When I Saw This Abomination
#69 Saw This Today
#70 I Thought This Guy From A Nike Ad Was Pointing A Gun At Me
#71 Giant Billboard On Las Vegas Strip Falls Victim To Blue Screen
#72 Pregnant Attorney’s Ad, Not A Great Photo
#73 This Billboard Confuses Me
