With context, these commercials are hard to watch. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the worst advertisements that aged like milk.
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00:00But I know it's just the holiday spirit coursing through my body and into my heart and up into my red and green brain!
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo!
00:09And today we're counting down our picks for the worst advertisements that aged like milk.
00:15I used to fly around quite a bit, you know. I took a lot of unnecessary chances.
00:20Number 10. Lance Armstrong ad. Nike.
00:24This is my body. And I can do whatever I want to it.
00:28Accusations surrounding Lance Armstrong's use of performance-enhancing drugs began as early as 1999,
00:35with European papers questioning the cyclist's ability to complete the tour to France so effortlessly.
00:41America largely dismissed these accusations, however,
00:44with many companies publicly standing by the Texan-born athlete.
00:48The critics say I'm arrogant.
00:54A doper.
00:55This included Nike, who spotlighted Armstrong in their advertising throughout the 2000s.
01:01Some of these ads even directly referenced the ongoing scandal,
01:05with Armstrong retaliating against these allegations.
01:08It's hard not to cringe at the sarcasm now that we know exactly what else the athlete was on.
01:15One of Lance Armstrong's closest teammates, Tyler Hamilton,
01:18who was on the U.S. Postal team that won the tour to France,
01:20now claims there was an extensive doping program designed to keep Armstrong winning.
01:26More doctors smoke camels.
01:29Camel.
01:3010 out of 10 modern doctors probably agree this camel ad campaign was a bad idea.
01:37Time out for many men of medicine usually means just long enough to enjoy a cigarette.
01:42The series of print and television advertisements were made at a time
01:46when health experts were still on the fence about the negative impacts of cigarettes.
01:51But their message has now aged so poorly that it may as well have been from another reality.
01:57I'd walk a mile for a camel.
01:58Even at the time of airing, the ads were, at best, morally dubious,
02:03as it's been alleged that Camel may have provided the doctors
02:06featured with free cigarettes prior to polling them.
02:09Unfortunately, pro-smoking ads like these used to be the norm.
02:13So much so that even Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble
02:16once acted as spokesmen for the deadly vice.
02:20I got a better idea. Let's take a Winston break.
02:23Number 8. Maria Bamford Christmas Ads. Target.
02:27We all know there is no I in team, but there is an I in win and in Christmas.
02:34Many celebrities cut their teeth in the industry by appearing in commercials.
02:38As a young boy, Leonardo DiCaprio could once be seen selling bubble yum,
02:43while Courtney Cox featured in an 80s commercial for Tampax.
02:47This is a chunk of super soft bubble yum bubble gum.
02:50This is a loud thumping, team pumping boom bop.
02:52In 2009, Maria Bamford joined the ranks in a series of ads for Target's Christmas sale.
02:58Although the actress had been working in the comedy scene for a decade prior,
03:02the ads helped to introduce her name and face to the average American.
03:06The Target two-day sale starts soon and I feel like I have OCD.
03:10Obsessive Christmas Disorder.
03:13This fame turned out to be a double-edged sword,
03:15as Bamford grew to regret performing in such an aggressively consumerist ad campaign.
03:21She would even go on to feature the situation and its impact on her mental health
03:26in her autobiographical series, Lady Dynamite.
03:29Don't you love shopping for dog supplies at Checklist?
03:32Me too.
03:33Number 7. The Noid. Domino's.
03:37Here's some news the Noid won't like.
03:40New Domino's pan pizza.
03:42In an effort to set themselves apart from other pizza chains,
03:46Domino's invented the Noid, a claymation supervillain bent on destroying pizza.
03:51They claimed that you could avoid the Noid, or anything bad that could happen to your pizza,
03:56by ordering from their restaurant.
03:58You ever been frustrated because the Noid ruined your pizza?
04:02The slogan, while clever, got under the skin of Kenneth Lamar Noid in Georgia,
04:08who erroneously believed the ad campaign was about him.
04:11In Chamblee, Georgia, on January 30th, 1989,
04:15he held two Domino's employees hostage for over five hours,
04:19demanding $100,000 from the restaurant chain's headquarters.
04:23A man with the last name Noid took a Domino's hostage,
04:26believing the Noid was created to mock him.
04:29His demands? Free pizza, a white limo, and the end of the Noid in Domino's advertising.
04:34The pizza chain claims that the situation had no impact on the ad campaign,
04:38but nowadays, it's hard to see the character and not think of the alarming crime it unintentionally inspired.
04:45Number 6. The Pole Vaulter, AT&T
04:49Imagine a world where you could do anything.
04:52Back in 1996, no one could have dreamed this then innocuous AT&T ad for the Summer Olympics
05:00would one day be controversial.
05:02Sure, it doesn't quite make sense that a commercial highlighting an event happening in Georgia
05:07is set in New York, but the concept itself is an interesting one.
05:12Some athletes are born great.
05:14A pole vaulter runs up to a collection of tall buildings and then vaults between the Twin Towers.
05:21You can probably see where this is going.
05:23Not every pre-911 depiction of the Twin Towers is so disturbing,
05:27but the visual of the vaulter falling here ends up being a little too reminiscent of the imagery
05:33that would be front page news just five years later.
05:36And some athletes are forced into greatness by 50,000 screaming maniacs.
05:43Number 5. I'm Batman, Snickers
05:47I'm Batman.
05:50Head trauma is no laughing matter.
05:53Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, has been studied extensively in athletes,
05:59particularly football players, and can cause everything from deafness to dementia.
06:05Unfortunately, it seems Snickers didn't get the memo.
06:08In the 90s, before the average person had become aware of the serious nature of CTE,
06:13the candy company ran an ad in which a football player gets hit in the head and starts to believe he's Batman.
06:19I'm Batman.
06:20Sit down.
06:21You don't understand, I'm Batman.
06:22I do, I do.
06:22He eats a Snickers, but it doesn't seem to help, as the ad ends with him heading off to the Batcave.
06:28It's admittedly a silly premise once thought ideal for a Super Bowl commercial,
06:32but watching it today, it's a little harder to laugh along.
06:37I am vengeance. I am the night. I am Batman.
06:44Number 4. James Dean Driving PSA
06:48We asked Jimmy over today because he's a racing man himself. A real one, not a crazy one.
06:52In order to promote upcoming films, Warner Brothers decided to bring their biggest stars to the small screen,
06:58having frank and personal discussions with host Gig Young,
07:02one of these segments saw James Dean promoting Giant and Rebel Without a Cause
07:07while talking about the dangers inherent in drag racing.
07:10People say racing is dangerous, but I'll take my chances on the track any day than on a highway.
07:17He discusses his own history with racing as a legitimate sport, saying he'll take his chances any day,
07:22as long as it's on a track and not a highway.
07:26The segment ends with the star looking at the camera, telling audiences to drive safely,
07:31because one of the lives they could save might be his.
07:34Take it easy driving. The life you might save might be mine.
07:38Shortly thereafter, Dean lost his life in a fatal highway car crash.
07:43Number 3. Debunking Opioid Myths, Purdue Pharma
07:47Some old commercials make you cringe. This one set its company up for lawsuits.
07:52Some patients may be afraid of taking opioids because they're perceived as too strong or addictive,
08:00but that is far from actual fact.
08:02In 1998, Purdue Pharma boldly told Americans not to be afraid of opioids,
08:08claiming that less than 1% of patients developed substance use disorder on the drug.
08:13They also downplayed its adverse effects.
08:15A new study out shows there may be gross under-reporting of opioid-related deaths,
08:20meaning the opioid crisis may be far worse than initially thought.
08:23Much of the clip is, at best, misinformed, and at worst, deceitful.
08:27At high doses, opioids can slow your breathing and heart rate to the point of death,
08:32and the sensations felt while taking them have been known to kick-start dependency in many individuals.
08:38The word epidemic gets used a lot these days,
08:41but it may be the case that that word is not strong enough
08:44to describe this country's recent surge in opioid addiction.
08:48Number 2. Fogle Goes to Court, Subway
08:52Hi, I'm Jared the Subway Guy, and this is my story.
08:55Tying your brand to any one person always has the potential for disaster,
08:59whether they're a pre-established celebrity or an average Joe.
09:03Nonetheless, Subway took a risk with Jared Fogle,
09:06a man who rose to prominence after an article in Men's Health
09:09detailed his significant weight loss while eating their food.
09:13Here is Jared Fogle. You may have seen him on the news.
09:16What initially seemed like an advertising match made in heaven,
09:19slowly devolved into a PR nightmare
09:22when the spokesman was arrested for possession of illegal materials involving minors.
09:27Mr. Fogle, no denying your body's changed over the years.
09:31Yes.
09:31Sir, this committee must know, did you ingest anything that helped create this change in your physique?
09:37Of the many ads Fogle made with the company,
09:39the worst aged by far is one that sees the Indiana native being questioned in a courtroom.
09:45Suffice it to say, you don't want customers thinking about the real reason
09:49Fogle eventually faced a judge.
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10:08Number 1. Steve Irwin's Anti-Venom, FedEx
10:12Known for his uniquely entertaining animal series, The Crocodile Hunter,
10:17Steve Irwin was a big name for any wildlife lover growing up in the late 90s and early 2000s.
10:23So it hit hard when the Australian zookeeper ultimately met an early end doing what he loved best.
10:30I realized that the passion, the enthusiasm, the excited love of his subject, Australian wildlife,
10:36none of it was an act.
10:38When the cameras stopped rolling, Steve didn't.
10:41In 2006, while filming an educational segment in the Great Barrier Reef,
10:45Irwin was fatally struck by the barb of a stingray.
10:48People ask me, how come my Toyotas can take so much of a beating and just keep bouncing back?
10:54Just six years prior, he had made a commercial with FedEx,
10:58which could now be read as an eerily prescient warning.
11:02The dark ad depicts Irwin being bitten by what he calls the most venomous snake in the world,
11:07and then collapsing when an anti-venom is not delivered in time.
11:11Luckily, we've had the anti-venom sent from America via FedEx in my line of work.
11:15If you're not absolutely sure, you're absolutely dead.
11:20Oh, crikey!
11:21Did we miss any advertisements that have become hard to watch with hindsight?
11:26Let us know in the comments.
11:27Doctors in all branches of medicine, doctors in all parts of the country were asked,
11:33what cigarette do you smoke, doctor?
11:35Did you enjoy this video?
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