Top 5 Most Offensive Commericals We Can Think Of At The Moment

Posted by Brian Fairbanks

We've been so busy renting DVDs from a certain mail order/internet service that we haven't watched television, certainly not television with commercial interruption, for what seems like years now. So it's a very jarring experience to go over Scanner Emily's house, eat casseroles, and watch something from the modern era called The Biggest Loser and stare in mute agony at the barrage of filth and garbage that gets thrown back in our faces. By the advertisers, of course.

This got us thinking about how grateful we are not to see commericals, especially this atrocious fivesome, ever again. Here are five television ads someone hopefully got fired over...

5. "Racist" McDonald's African-themed commercial. 'Nuff said.

4. When the guy gets out of the car in the beginning of this Credit MacDaddy commercial, we were deathly afraid it would be a zombified Rick James.

3. Forget whether the makers and signer-offers of this ad should be fired, they should downright be imprisoned for exploiting our veterans for monetary gain. It's so bad, it'll almost make you forget about the Republican Party's exploitation of 9/11 victims for political gain... naw, not really...

2. This one's just probably offensive to our intelligence. Although we don't even want to think about the possible number of people who actually trusted that guy with their money.

1. The top ad here (Senator Chambliss' ad against then-incumbet Democratic Senator and Vietnam Vet Max Cleland), which famously linked a man who lost limbs for his country to Osama Bin Laden (and succeeded in defeating that man), is easily the most offensive commercial in human history. Here's a bonus... a commercial that's either a) extremely offensive or b) not offensive at all, depending on your point of view. Just staying neutral on this one, we have to admit it's hard to explain why this might be offensive. Maybe it's that it's not effective... or that it turns domestic violence into a Hollywood action sequence... or that it's just plain terrible and a waste of money better spent actually helping victims of spousal abuse.

 

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Comments

jane said:

how about this McDonald's commercial: www.feministing.com/.../011088.html

September 25, 2008 3:41 PM

spoco2 said:

5. Why exactly is the first ad racist? What, is no-one allowed to show anyone having anything to do with their culture in their house now?

I think someone might be being a bit too touchy on that front.

3. Ahh, the old ANZAC day Maccas ad. I am a little in two minds on this one... yeah, it's trying to boost their image off the valor of our diggers (that's what we call the ANZACs), but at the same time it, as an ad, does make the point that they should be thanked... of course... having free coffee refills for ANZACs is a bit bloody lame, at least give them a full McValue meal :P

1. Hmmm, dunno. I tend to think this works because it points out the hypocrisy of spousal abusers, who somehow can justify that it's ok for them to do what they do because it's their wife. Where was this actually aired though; it contains 'fuck'?

September 25, 2008 8:30 PM

Drew said:

3. The fact that it's a maccas ad is totaly redundant .. it is the message portrayed that is the whole heart of that ad. Who really gives a toss about free coffee ... no one, but who of us can actualy say that we dont feel good about the sentiments involved. It was a tacky way for them to get the message accros, but they hit home hard. I still cant watch the ad with out feeling grateful for the sacrifices so many made for our freedom.

October 2, 2008 10:09 AM

About Brian Fairbanks

Brian Fairbanks, the Senior National Political Correspondent for Nerve, is a filmmaker living in Brooklyn or New Orleans, depending on the season. He is a heavily-armed advocate of gun control.

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