Ridiculous Advertising #2

And now the time has come for another post about ridiculous advertising!

1) "What part of chicken is nugget?" KFC

I was watching TBS yesterday, and I saw this commercial about a billion times. KFC makes a good point... what part of the chicken is nugget? But KFC, what part of chicken is popcorn? Even after viewing the commercial for the 23rd time, their argument still didn't make much sense to me. Nice try, KFC, but really?

2) "Just Bitten" by Revlon

"Have you ever been bitten?" Who the heck came up with that line? And how did it ever make it off the concept boards and onto TV?

You know, I have been bitten. A Great Dane bit my arm once... not fun. I've also been bitten by mosquitoes on many, many occasions. Those bites are particularly annoying because they itch for a few days. And...just a few weeks ago, my roommate was bitten by at least one cat. She really didn't seem to enjoy the experience one bit!

So Revlon, what exactly are you trying to say about your product? That it will make my lips red, itchy and swollen? (Or is the correct word "plump?") I don't see how associating your product with a negative experience will help sell it... but okay, Revlon.

3) Manhattan Mini Storage

I was with two friends on the subway when I first saw this ad. We put our three brains together and none of us could figure out what the line had to do with storage.

It's an interesting approach—I guess Manhattan Mini Storage determined that their brand's visual language was well established enough that their copy no longer needed to actually promote their service. People will see their ads and immediately recognize them as belonging to "the company that runs the blue (and yellow, if we're talking about color) ads." If they're lucky, their audience might even realize that they're looking an advertisement for a storage company... and not some kid's Twitter account that took a wrong turn and somehow made it's way out of the intertubes and onto a billboard.

I'm just saying... it seems a bit odd to put an unrelated political view on an ad instead of a promotional message. Imagine if McDonald's put out billboards that said "Abortion stops a beating heart." Well yes, that's true, it does...

...but so does a Big Mac.