Top 30 Marketing Fails

[@WatchMojo]

Which of these campaigns still annoys you? Let us know in the comments! For more content like this, click here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqKaga1obM9loqs Don't forget to play our Live Trivia (www.watchmojo.com/play) games at 3pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!

[@corneliussmit2855]

The fact that no left leaning products, companies or entities are mentioned despite them having as much if not more problematic situations than right leaning companies. Mentioning budweiser but not budlight?

[@manueltapia1859]

The Head On Applying in your forehead Walgreens commercial, Quiznos Munchkies, Dr Pepper real man drink, Pepsi Kendall commercial

[@TimLoyalToWifeHaterFreeZoneA]

Love It WatchMojo.

[@bmortiboys1]

Your wokness stating that everything is offensive based on your liberal politics is what “annoys me”! Humour is subjective, not everyone gets offended or classifies things “offensive” like you do! You are making it miserable for everyone! If you don’t like it, move on! Stop trying to cancel everything that doesn’t fit your political agenda! Funny how Sam Smith or left wing ideology adverts don’t feature in this video!!!

[@kyliethelittlecouragegirl94]

Watchmojo, the only thing that annoys me here is that, do they even check this before putting this marketing crap out in public?

[@natsune09]

Mr T was 100% right about the soccer player faking an injury that soccer is known for. WE ALL AGREE WITH THAT ONE

[@pickleballer1729]

True. I played Soccer in the 1970's and 1980's, before faking an injury was so common. Then in my last game, in the late 80's I shattered my Maniscus and the ref thought I was faking an injury to draw a penalty and play continued for over 2 minutes while I writhed in pain on the field. I don't blame the player who hit me (perfectly legal, just an unfortunate accident) or the ref, who was just trying to keep the pace of play up, but Soccer suffers from a terrible "boy who cried wolf" problem. Fakers have ruined the sport.

[@Ghost80]

As a gay person, I didn’t see anything homophobic. I thought all those ads were hilarious. If I saw someone walking like that, I’d be tempted to throw something at them! Someone always has to scream homophobia or racism. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter what you do. People want to be offended.

[@eviljigglypuff2254]

​@Ghost80 The good old school gays don't. You guys have always been the funnest and are never the ones to pitch a stink. But SOME people have taken things too far.

[@LawAbidingCriminal111]

The gay guy too 😂

[@pickleballer1729]

@@eviljigglypuff2254 True. After my father died, my mother was a bit of a F** H** as they used to say, meaning that she surrounded herself with gay male friends, which was only natural with her interest in theater, music, art, etc. For several years, the main male presences in my life as a teen were gay men, and I never had any bad experiences at all with them. In fact, they were quite good influences, taught me a lot, and never ever did or said anything inappropriate.

[@user-em6ie2be7x]

Pepsi thinking they could End Racism by giving a cop a Pepsi, has to be The Stupidest idea ever conceived. 🤦🏿‍♂️

[@Floymin]

@@kennyboggs3676Using someone who is publically known as an attention-seeker sends the wrong message.

[@Lewis9700]

What's worse is people like you assuming all Cops are racists. Have you ever even spoken with a cop?

[@Hulk2k6]

​@@kennyboggs3676 I'm getting 3rd hand embarrassment

[@nagichampa9866]

It's actually more insulting than stupid. They didn't think it could stop racism, they thought people would believe it could ...

[@andrewblanchard2398]

TRUMP SUPPORTERS think that TRUMP ENDED RACISM TRUMP caused RACISM & HATE CRIMES to RISE to their highest levels

[@stone1andonly]

You apparently forgot about the Pepsi promotion that allowed customers to save up points for various prizes, featuring a Harrier Jump Jet that was rated in millions of points, apparently confident that no one would ever collect that many points... until someone actually managed to scrape together the number of points specified in the commercial. When they failed to honor the advertised product, they were vigorously sued for false marketing.

[@andrewblanchard2398]

that guy knew that he'd never get a real HARRIER JET he tried to use his MOMENT of FAME to become a star it didn't work

[@natsune09]

The woman running from the slasher villain was great. I never saw it as a fail, except when it aired during times kids could watch and get scared maybe.

[@tyrellwestbrook9879]

Agreed. I think it's funny and creative. First time seeing it lol

[@Magelog490]

Yeah, the misogynistic comment made me laugh, if people were against a woman actually outrunning a serial killer without tripping every step is bad, what do they think about actual horror movies?

[@mikitz]

I remember when Coca-Cola advertised the drink as containing the original ingredients. I was about to sue them as it turned out it had 0% cocaine in it.

[@andrewblanchard2398]

👃 ☁️

[@Luna_Rafael99]

The Mr. T adds were hilarious, I don't care what the critics say

[@skruffy7847]

I agree. I PITTY THE FOOL WHO CAN'T TAKE A JOKE!! LOL

[@ldonnay]

The "New Coke" thing actually ended pretty well for Coke, as it seemed to remind a lot of people that they liked Classic Coke. Sales of Classic went through the roof, and cemented some brand loyalty that continues. It DOES show how people don't really care about how foods taste (blind taste tests had Pepsi beating Coke) but more about what it might say about their social standing. This is a lesson that marketers have not forgotten.

[@triscuitpower7196]

Classic coke was launched with corn syrup instead of cane sugar. Seems the real goal was to switch to cheaper sugar without any way to taste compare.

[@Eliza.kate.24]

There was a campaign in Australia that might not be suited for KZbin - but was promoting tourism to the Northern Territory or the NT. Their campaign was SEE YOU in the NT Self explanatory when you sound it out

[@sureshmukhi2316]

Oh my.... took me about 2 tries to get it. 😳

[@Beth_Alice_Kaplan]

I had to spell it out because I’m too dang visual. 🤭

[@kryptokrypto702]

Seemed normal, until it gets truncated to C U instead of See You. Anyways...

[@caledunsmore]

Where the Bloody Hell are you!

[@markanthony1004]

I'll admit it took me 5 times and once I considered it's for Australia it hit me

[@charliejoson9145]

This is my favorite Watchmojo topic. Anything that has something to do with "corporate marketing" and "fails".... ... And it's a TOP 30?! Lols

[@MasterOfViewership]

well, why aren't they on here themselves? A lot of their video titles are misleading. Remember the 15 Mysteries we never heard of? I heard of all of them except 1. I guess they assume that it's true that adults never read anymore

[@cweaver4080]

The Nike horror parody was clever and funny. I'll die on this hill.

[@mikitz]

To be fair, the downfall of Ayds was 0% the company's fault.

[@Floymin]

Hiring a clueless advertising agency excuses them?

[@kyliethelittlecouragegirl94]

You sure about that? 🤨 They couldn’t see the future

[@Floymin]

@@kyliethelittlecouragegirl94 If you think loyalty in advertising means something, Larry Tate lied to you.

[@Magelog490]

​@@Floyminfrom my understanding the company existed before aid became known. So no it wasn't the company fault, how could they have known that after they founded their company and it became popular that an STD will be named aid?

[@Floymin]

@@Magelog490 I am assuming that they hired a new advertising agency that same year, and THEY were the clueless ones.

[@Mafed_Graystone]

I am probably not the only one who was reminded by "Susanalbumparty" to SNL's Celebrity Jeoparty. The category "An Album Cover" - Darryl Hammond as Sean Connery: "I'll take Anal Bum Cover for 7000"

[@whocares9033]

I spent five years of my life trying to create an anal bum cover; failing to do so is my greatest regret

[@juancerda-duran1824]

Did they bring up United Way of Cleveland’s Balloonfest ‘86 disaster? (For those who don’t know -Cleveland’s United Way enlisted the help of thousands of volunteers to blow up balloons as part of a fundraising campaign in 1986. The balloons ended up covering a huge swath of Lake Erie and led to the deaths of two fishermen who ended up drowning after their boat capsized and rescuers couldn’t find the two men in time due to all the balloons in that were in the sky).

[@Beth_Alice_Kaplan]

😮 Wait, what??

[@MaxWeb2599]

0:14 "but not all deforestation are bad" Oh god it's going downhill even without hearing the first one.

[@65erock65]

Where's the Pepsi points campaign with the Harrier Jet as a grand prize?

[@jeremyhelquist]

Surprised the Quiznos ‘sponge monkey’ commercials weren’t on here.

[@nnaproductions]

Loved the parody The Boys did of that Pepsi ad and the SNL skit on the director's panic before the shoot, so at least we got some good laughs out of this stupid stupid ordeal.

[@Vanillastump]

Acclaim should be it’s own entry. Naming your kid “Turok”, the burnout thing, putting the name of a different game on your new dead relatives tomb-stone…. There’s a reason Acclaim went under. And the beer passing by a bunch of dark BEERS would have been better. Like a bunch of lagers.

[@martinboyle9163]

Back in 2000, I was sitting in a coffee shop with my friend who is a 6'+ man of Jamaican descent and a great guitarist and screamer of death metal. Myself, a white-as-the-virgin-snow hip-hop rapper, had a crazy idea for a collaboration that would dispel expectations and perhaps help wear down racial barriers. I had the ill-fated idea to create a duo album with him and call it "Race War." Initially, he was warm to the proposal. When he asked me what we should call our team-up, I said, "I've been toying wjth this idea for a while, I've been thinking maybe, Kids Of The Karaoke Kingdom." He said, "No... No... Too many K's. I try not to get involved with things with too many K's." I laughed my ass off. I still laugh about that to this day. Best to you, Sprout!

[@julianf.wheeler3665]

Right in the middle of the segment on Microsoft, it was interrupted by a Microsoft Copilot ad.

[@markanthony1004]

I loved that Mr. T Snickers Commercial lmao

[@geraldmartin7703]

Years ago a couple co-workers and I had serious discussions about going into business together. We took notice of the then intense format wars between VHS and Beta max consumer video recorders and decided on a shop specializing in selling Sony's technologically superior Beta max machines. For the shop name we selected "Master Beta". The entire scheme was abandoned when someone pointed out the problem with the name.

[@gangsta9181]

“Ayds” 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@D2RCR]

Ah, Ayds. Quite possibly one of the most spectacular downfalls of a product ever. And it actually did contain a drug ingredient - originally benzocaine (an anesthetic), then phenylpropanolamine, an amphetamine derivative ultimately pulled from the market in 2000 because it causes severe hypertension and hemorrhagic stroke.

[@Beth_Alice_Kaplan]

Sadly, undisclosed prescription drugs are still popping up in OTC supplements.

[@D2RCR]

@@Beth_Alice_Kaplan They are.

[@AndreaDoesYoga]

Wow, these fails are truly shocking! 😱🤯

[@h2odivr]

Susan Boyle's "An Album" reminds me of Darrell Hammond's Sean Connery on SNL Celebrity Jeopardy.

[@blackmesacake5361]

I honestly cant believe Red Lobster blew it AGAIN last year with the endless shrimp deal

[@elidagdagan2780]

I haven’t started the video yet but The giant Snapple Popsicle Publicity Stunt better be on this list!

[@lucyhurst2534]

Top 30 marketing fails…..

[@throatwobblermangrove8510]

I was a teenager when New Coke was released, and even at the time, I thought it was a scheme for Coke higher-ups to artificially tank the stock price so they could buy the dip. I knew it wouldn't last and they'd go back to "Classic" with a rebounding of the stock price. I'm still not convinced that wasn't the real reason they did it.

[@bobdale7042]

Those snickers ads was funny 😂

[@tarbhnathrac]

Notice that on one of these, the commenter noted that the campaign went through FIVE levels of management approval before being released?! To any student, teacher, or creator of advertising/marketing campaigns 1. It should be drummed into the heads of any creator or approver, at any/all levels, that before ANY release, the question that should be asked AND ANSWERED - AT ALL LEVELS: WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG? 2. Makes obvious why MARKET RESEARCH is SO IMPORTANT. Think of the BILLIONS of dollars funding the marketing GENIUSES that came up with these schemes. ONE average Joe or Jane on the street could have pointed out these issues before they ever got released.

[@Norm100ful]

Bud Light? Why am I not surprised. Their latest ad with a trans is the same. My guess the top management tell their mkt director “make me an ad campaign that no one will ever forget.” Well, they delivered totally and, of course, got fired.

[@aydenkelly6274]

I had to wonder whether any of those five levels contained a woman, cos the implication was glaringly obvious...

[@pdpaxpv]

Imagine banning brass knuckles for being dangerous, but handing people, including kids, assault rifles...

[@andrewblanchard2398]

RIGHT WING NO VALUES are DESTROYING AMERICA

[@Glowria_Explorez]

As a marketing major yeah I can agree to this some are so bad.

[@jonygotgame4782]

Marketing major also🫡😂. I have to belive some where purposely bad because how can someone be so stupid 😅

[@georgeh6856]

Two more: 1. Pepsi's Madonna "Like a Prayer" commercial. 2. McDonald's rigged Monopoly game promotion.

[@andrewblanchard2398]

McDONALD'S MONOPOLY game I've WON : FREE FRIES 🍟 FREE McFLURRIES 🍦 FREE BURGERS 🍔 FREE DRINKS 🥤 FREE MCNUGGETS 🥔 ( that's the closest emoji I have to McNUGGETS ) you just need to know when to buy food at McDONALD'S during the game time NEVER BUY during peak hours 9am to 4pm that's when worthless pieces are put into the orders usually just low ranking spots on the MONOPOLY game board I went in at 5pm one day I ordered & I ended up with 5 free food items the cashier let me get all 5 at once by getting back in line 5 times instead of making me come back 5 different times

[@sourpatchkid394]

The Olympic winner running from the masked man with a chainsaw.. I think that’s pretty funny!

[@otakubancho6655]

What,no Crystal Pepsi!?🤣🤣🤣

[@ldonnay]

Don't forget Clear Beer! Or I guess everybody did....

[@otakubancho6655]

@@ldonnay or the chocolate cream soda craze

[@williamcrowe2576]

NYPD: Post photos of us and the public. Victims of Police Brutality: Gladly!

[@cliffcorson4000]

The Red Lobster item It was actually the 3rd time they did that and took massive financial hit

[@Hulk2k6]

If you ain't learned your lesson the third time... boy...

[@kathleensmith8336]

I remember when New Coke came out, and a guy was so disturbed by its taste that he went on national news and boasted he could tell the difference between the original Coke and New Coke. He failed the test.

[@janeteggleston6978]

What about the whole Pepsi points failure the kid had to take him to court because there was a jet in the ad that wasn't available with the points

[@Jeremiah_Rivers76]

“Oil on our beaches.” Not so smooth, Spirit. Have they no shame?

[@markanthony1004]

If it's Spirit then no no they do not

[@taveonhurd8152]

Some of these advert writers forgot they dont work for SNL

[@stevie-ray2020]

Wonder whether some of those advertising writers come up with total 💩 just because they've come to hate their jobs, & their stupid bosses even more!

[@Robbnnswan]

Went to a Skippers all you can eat fish and chips with my dad and brother. I ate one, Dad two, and Tommy was on his 8th helping when the manager came out to cut him off. My dad said, "But it's all you can eat!" and the manager said, "Yes, and that's all you can eat." :)

[@kevinhutchins4222]

What? You left out the Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light fiasco? 😂😂😂

[@fifaexpert9753]

I’m 100% sure of these ‘blunders’ are deliberate, just to gain some publicity

[@CandiceVidito]

Kids watching The Olympics? They don't have a long enough attention span to watch it! 🤣😂

[@jensonkiin3678]

I'm sorry, but those Snickers adverts were brilliant (although don't remember the homophobic one being shown in the UK at all). They were gems, well loved and ran for years.

[@DomDomTheFirst]

Weren't Pepsi also responsible for the Harrier Jump Jet scandal in the UK? They didn't think someone would collect enough points but someone did, and they refused to pay out.

[@khancolman8565]

Re: the Panasonic “Woody Woodpecker” campaign . . . I live in Japan, speak Japanese fluently, didn‘t know about this, and it’s drop-dead HILARIOUS! It hearkens to advice given to people who get tattoos in Japanese, Chinese, etc . . . GET A NATIVE SPEAKER TO PROOFREAD!! 😂

[@Beth_Alice_Kaplan]

Oddly, I missed the Mr. T Snickers ads here, and only saw a couple of them one year later in Ireland. A just assumed they weren’t allowed even to appear on US television?

[@WarriorsWay780]

What about the one for domino’s pizza for Russia, where someone came up with the idea… “ hey! Why not have people tattoo our logo on their bodies in exchange for free pizza for life?” Needless to say, that went well… just saying. Sorry.

[@TreatPeopleWithRespect]

Aye yo that holiday inn ad is wild!! 😂 I’ve never seen that before. #mynypd is still hilarious to me. I remember watching and waiting for it to go down hill. Didn’t take long 😂 the audacity of the nypd. Only thing that would’ve been worse is if the lapd did it with their extra corrupt selves 😂. Also the Pepsi parodies live rent free in my head 😂 not mlk saying tell Jessie to grab a 6pack and meet me at Selma 😂. All these ads except for ayds are just proof as to why you need diversity at the top of each corporation. How did Heineken even get that off the idea board? 🤦🏾‍♀️

[@Demisable_Warth]

Come on! Some of these were hilarious.

[@bonnie_clyde70]

The Nike ad is hysterical. Where are all the people crying when they keep making movies with misogynistic violence? But a commercial gets them all riled up.. I think it's funny when Michael starts running. 😊

[@Jch-e5u]

What about the Pepsi jet giveaway?

[@Kleavers]

Why is there no footage of a lot of these? What is the point of showing random stock footage?

[@lauragroenendaal8615]

I mean... It's my first time watching that horror sport ads and that's actually pretty good.. old mate horror rip-off couldn't keep up 😂

[@UnethicalLogic]

Misogynistic Violence? The fart, lame-oes?? It's a horror trope. 😂

[@DanTube01]

I love people who get upset by an ad on TV 🤦

[@adamlach6572]

Holiday Inn add was hilarious xd

[@FleaRHCP97]

The only conspiracy theory I believe in is the one surrounding New Coke

[@Floymin]

Lesson: If your country exercises extreme moralism in a time of advertising gluttony, any attempt by any company in that country to "fit in" will be a social disaster. I'm talking to you, England.

[@simonsvensson7599]

Bud light has a newer and more costly marketing disaster…

[@MPF-80]

Forgot the Cosby Memes. lol.

[@kyliethelittlecouragegirl94]

Another episode of “corporate makes me want to facepalm” 🤦‍♀️

[@nosickl]

Why instead of pulling AYDS off the market, didn't they just change the name of the product? PS: Why are there no McDonalds blunders on the list?

[@nick6var]

You referred to Coke with the phrase, "If it ain't broke..." but then admit that it was "broke", facing dwindling sales and increased competition. Thanks for correcting yourself seconds later. That honesty is appreciated, but why not just be honest from the beginning?

[@nick6var]

And New Coke was still made throughout the 1980s in the USA. It wasn't dropped completely in mere months.

[@monicaderenan3484]

Omfg not lighter is better. 😂😂😂

[@edwardleemiller-eo8jp]

Actually, New Coke was popular, and was rated higher by test trials than both original Coca Cola AND Pepsi. The backlash came from the fact that Coca-Cola Co. wanted to completely phase out the original in favor of the new.

[@alyzu4755]

I still think the Nike ad is hilarious. ☺️

[@gbear2253]

I sported Nike gear as a teen and young adult! I was obsessed with athletic wear with the Nike logo. I love it

[@manueltapia1859]

Am I the only one who felt a Deja Vuh with this list??? I think I saw it before 😅

[@winniebae4alwayyz963]

*I had the same feeling.* 😐

[@robertbarnabas3152]

I watch all watchmojo videos just to hear your voice 🥰 I think I am in love ❤

[@jeffmiller5982]

All this shows is that people are getting too sensitive in the last few decades. A woman is commiclly outrunning a killer? Yeah, that's clearly sexism...

[@chazzwozzio]

Somehow i feel like you would get upset by a 🏳️‍🌈

[@ianrangers]

This is a great list. People were actually paid for their ideas to promote these products 😂. However I disagree with the snickers advert footballers in the British league act this way and the ad was great! I don’t like snickers but wanted to buy 1 after seeing it 😂

[@vinauttv7167]

The Mr. T commercials were clever.

[@MrManueleh]

The fake admirer letter was in an I Love Lucy episode.

[@carld3218]

Is it wrong that I find several of these ads entertaining?

[@mortophobegaming6454]

in the netherlands there is an actual award (made of lead) for the most annoying/irritating TV ad of the year. sadly though, some year's winners were happy and thrilled to see they won, as annoyance is a marker of efficacy of their campaign

[@maximumjesus]

Wait, so THAT is the bud lite commercial you put on the list? Not the one that JUST happened that caused a massive boycott that almost tanked the whole company?

[@h2odivr]

Because it was a trans actress? So what? Grow up. The one they showed was about something more dangerous. Crawl back under your rock.

[@kennethaldred6659]

new coke was a scam. they knew it would fail. but they changed the formula of their "classic coke" but by getting everyone drinking new coke we didn't notice the change in "coke classic"

[@rightlydivided]

Dylan Mukvaney/Bud light should have been here. Fear?

[@BobPagani]

The only fear involved was on the part of the transphobic assholes who got all bent out of shape by it.

[@wojtek1765]

Sorry but the mr t adds where iconic

[@digitalcurrents]

This is clearly a very old list that hasn't been updated. When people think of a Budweiser marketing failure, the clip in the video is NOT what comes to mind.

[@msn64man1]

It’s a John fisher scam guaranteed

[@CRPerformance1]

It annoys me that people with no sense of humor are so influential.

[@bombercountyblues]

Don't know if you keep up with british news at all, but im sure the post office now longs for the days when a logo was the height of its problems!

[@bradh6926]

How did Mojo miss the M&M turning down the candy placement in E.T. ?

[@Bo_D_Hansen]

Never ever change the Coke flavour again because it testes exactly like a Coca-Cola should teste right now 🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤

[@GeeEm1313]

I wouldn't say that New Coke was better than Coke, but it IS delicious.

[@familyguyshorts3506]

Nothing is offensive about these ads

[@bazzer124]

Regarding number 20 - I always bring a cooler filled with Pepsi when protesting! The premise here is even more stupid than the ad. Cheers....

[@scubasteveop3594]

……. Really….. we gonna pretend like the Bud Light Dylan Mulvany fiasco didn’t happen? Or even the Target one? We pretending that they didn’t get damaged from horrible marketing?

[@davinp]

Since Windows 98 was based on DOS, plug-in play didn't always work. It is joked to be called Plug and Pray

[@erenkuzu]

No problem with snickers and mr t

[@y69j1]

lol the U.S. of America - where they ban kinder eggs and brass knucks but guns are OK 😂

[@Beth_Alice_Kaplan]

Oh one can purchase brass knuckles online quite legally. Just don’t ever get caught with them. 🙄

[@Greenyguy]

Wheres Burger Kings infamous tweet from 2021?

[@cheripiez67]

ah man i was hoping to find the woody woodpecker pc commercial

[@nathanirvine3007]

You left out the fighter jet Pepsi give away?