This Week In Bad Advertising

As most readers of Bob Canada's BlogWorld know, I'm a graphic designer by day and have worked in advertising and marketing for most of my adult life.

I dunno how things work elsewhere, but here at my job, when I finish laying out a project, it's only the beginning. Every ad I design is submitted to a veritable army of department heads, supervisors, sales associates and compliance officers, all of whom give it a glance before signing off on it. At least fifteen to twenty people have to approve my work before it's sent off to the printer. There are numerous opportunities to catch mistakes or change the content.

That's why it never ceases to amaze me when I come across a truly bizarre or inappropriate ad. How the hell do so many embarrassing, laughable or downright offensive advertisements get approved on a daily basis?

Like this online ad I saw on Yahoo recently. It's for one of those home DNA testing kits that analyzes your genetic makeup and lists your true ethnicity.

All well and good. But for the love of Thor, can someone tell me what the hell's going on in this ad? "What will your DNA tell you?" I dunno, but this horrifying banner seems to be implying this woman isn't quite as human as she assumed she was all these years!

Let's zoom in for a closer look, shall we? Can anyone explain why the lady in the ad is trying to shove a cow out of the way? Did it wander into the photoshoot and inadvertently stand on her test results? 

Or perhaps the cow ate her readout, and she's positioning herself so she can get a good look into its anal cavity, hoping to spot her DNA report?

What clinically insane art director thought this was a good idea and gave it a pass?

Then there's this one. It's supposed to show a little girl having fun using Elmer's Glue to mix up a batch of slime.

And yet it looks for all the world like she's howling with laughter as she holds up a giant pair of her mom's blue panties! I defy anyone to look at that sheet of slime and NOT see a pair of underpants!

Again, how did the Elmer's corporation let this slip through the cracks, no pun intended?