Top 10 Most Disturbing Commercials (Because of What We Know Now)
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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