Top 10 Worst Advertising Gimmicks

Advertisements are annoying. They interrupt the shows we love or, perhaps, cut you off during that ITV movie.

To make matters worse, there are certain tactics used in ads that only increase the irritation. These two-minute blocks of content can sometimes feel like pure nonsense.
The Top Ten
Singing Mascot

The Go Compare guy is the worst. Also, those annoying old confused.com ads.

Referencing Social Media

That Domino's advert.
"Def going on my Insta!"
Just... just no.

Annoying Catchphrases

I used to watch this ad when I was a kid about a bulldog who had a frequent habit of saying Oh Yes. Oh yes, there's a corpse on the floor. Oh yes, kids should drink alcohol. I don't remember what the ad was about, but the dog was really annoying.

SIMPLZ *CLICK CLICK*

Animation

All the animation is ugly. Most of them look like cardboard cutouts.

Making the Advert Unnecessarily Dark

Oh, you want to make an advert against drunk driving? That's completely fine, but you didn't really have to include kids in the vehicle and then kill them off in a brutal way. To add insult to injury, they make it all happy at the start, but then the father opens a beer at a pit stop and they all die.

Trying to Be Funny

Cringe to the extreme.

LOOKING AT YOU, TESCO.

Making It Look Like Only a Certain Demographic Can Have the Product

"Stupid Rabbit, Trix are for kids."
Well, you stupid kids, why? Why can only kids have this cereal?

Crappy Sales

Steam sales are the best sales, but meanwhile, is DFS really making a £399 sofa a measly £395?

Pathetic.

Trying to Be Modern

To truly be "modern," the gimmick has to have 3020 vision.

UGH, MOM AND DAD ARE SO BORING, BETTER HAVE SOME OF MY COOL KIDZ CEREAL!

FOR THE REAL EXTREMISTS.

Catchy Jingles
The Contenders
Emotional Angles
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