Ten horrifying display ad placements

Ha ha..That's an incredible compilation...

Specially liked the Toyota one .. Perfect ad with perfect timing :)

It can happen offline too. I remember when Boscastle was pretty much washed away in flooding, it was on the front page of the Guardian in the UK, next to an advert for damp-proofing. I wish I'd scanned it.

I laughed out loud at the duck one. Some of the others are terrible though, and to think that these brands are now going to be associated with bad taste by some people because of this.

I agree with Ian the Duck made me laugh too. On a serious note though the others give frightening examples of the real danger of using ad systems that display your ad randomly beside beside on line content. I do love the duck though.....

Jake this is the finest post on Econsultancy to date!

Too funny!

Very amusing (though, of course, with a serious message). Thanks for sharing.

I used to use a screenshot of a Yahoo Group covering Anorexia that used to carry ads for slimming products to make this point. Wish I could still find it to post it here.

Fantastic and worrying all at the same time. Cheers for that Jake. It just shows how even the best targeting technology can't replace an experienced human eye checking copy the old fashioned way.

actually I think #7 works fine. okay, so it is, in effect, using a real father's death to add punch to an ad for life insurance. but that's not poor taste compared to the jokes about Steve Irwin and his family that went the rounds after his death.

This example on the BBC site of a video ad from a few years back was quite shocking. Fortunately, it was taken off the site minutes after I took this screenshot.

Brilliant! This is the first time I look into this site and yours was the first article I have read. I couldnt have started better! Thanks!

The wonders of automation. 

What do you think about astrology advertisements on the BBC Science Page?

I love your pics. It is like an ad for AYDS back in the 80's. It was a diet pill to help people lose weight and then the disease AIDS came. Comedians did the rest. It was too funny. As for your funny finds - I'm McLovin it.

Pesky duck. Follows me everywhere I go

Great stuff, but not confined to the digital age. The real problem is advertising on a news page - online or offline. Nobody knows what the news agenda is going to be or the context that it will provide for your ad. Online, however, at least there's the possibility of content validification as Ross points out.

PS If enough people get spooked by the duck does at what point does the phobia become real?

Dan, don't disillusion me! I've seen the duck one before and had so hoped it was genuine...

Great article, though. 

:-) :-)

Oh dear. Epic fail!

haa haa haa

Hilarious compilation... Hats off to you... Almost all are great. I liked the "Samsung Blast" the most :D 

absolute genius. bravo

Great post Jake!

One of the first I remember was during the coverage of Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 - there was streaming video of the funeral cortege and an ad (I think for IBM) about not putting the horse before the cart.

Say what you like about damage to the brand, for some of these placements I'd argue there's value in the comedy. The very fact we're all tweeting this content must have given them a few thousand more impressions, all of which were unpaid. Sometimes bad placement can be good placement after all ;-)

Wonderful example of where computers don't quite get right. Very amusing selection ofthe thouands that must be out there.

Hahahaaa.

Me likes..!

Hilarious! I think the Duck is my favourite. Please add some more!!

Ha, ha brilliant. Nice to see that the links they make to ads by snooping and picking up words from editorial can actually badly misfire. 

Ah ah!! I like the Greek one!

Loved all of those, toyota, duck and grill have my vote go the keyword identity. needed a laugh

Its Funny..Good one.

happy to make this the most commented post on econsultancy!

That is hilarious! Digital Fail.

Awesome compilation and thank you for making my Monday! :) AS

While an amazing compilation, Brand Safety -- namely in the form of inappropriate content adjacencies -- is one of the biggest issues facing marketing today as they try to reach their consumers online, at scale. Content Rating and Brand Protection services like www.adsafemedia.com allow marketers to leverage new online data and media buying tools, without the risk of their ads ending up on this list!!!

The downside of automated keyword targeting! While you can have a blacklist of words you don't want to associate with, it's hard to imagine every scenario that could arise, especially the more odd ones. Thanks for sharing these!

So funny, drove me to tears!

However, by looking at other posts, it seems that opinion is that the ads should only be placed after checking for the context. However, I would've thought that a good way to create some momentum behind your brand is to generate some controversy. Personally, I don't remember ads (especially beer) that don't stand out in some way or the other!

Cheers. 

It always makes me chuckle that when I check the spam mail folder on my gmail account, there is always an automated ad on show promoting recipes for spam the meat!

There is a lot of work to be done on the functioning of keyword activated auto ad systems that's for sure.

Haha this has had the Coasties chuckling this afternoon. Great post Jake.

Back in the 80's a very violent movie was aired on the television about a girl who was stocked and then stabbed over 40 times.  Right after the violent stabbing scene, an ad aired for self-sharpening knives.  The ad showed a large cook's knife being plunged numerous times into the self sharpener.  I could never remember the product's brand name but I never forgot the ad. 

Jake - brilliant way to create segment of Econsultancy customers with somewhat strange sense of humour!!!   Always so much to learn from you guys! ;-)

Cheers

brillant!

I've been trying to keep my own personal collection of these.

adsgonebad.com

Brilliant, I think the Toyota one is the best, it looks like one of those annoying ads that expand out when you move your mouse over them to get to another point on the page. Ads like these can do enough to make people dislike your brand without having unfortunate content on the page

Jake, Oh keyword target advertising, how fickle. Heh. Love Tomatzso with "adsenseless".. brill. I agree with Ian that while the accidental comedy can work for something like the Aflac duck, but I also agree with you that it can be in poor taste, possibly damaging to the brand (or even just a waste of money). FWIW.

I did sell display ads for Yahoo, and to my experience these cases happen often with simple media planning or even run of site campaign. Most of advertisers want to preempt news properties as a quality audience context. There is always a risk for an advertiser to appear alongside to contrary content. Your examples illustrate well your point of view, but I find it incomplete. It would requires to verify in the URL if it's operated by a proprietary or a third part adserver. You might be surprised! It can also be extrapolated to any kind of physical ad placements. Think about airline company that planned a mix media campaign months before, and was displayed at the same time of a massive air crash with number of deaths. They might face some problem to anticipate and withdraw their billboarding or press campaign. Appologies for my english

Yes, thanks to Photoshop...

These examples may be the result of advertisers buying contextually targeted placements on a network. It is a great way to target ads 99% of the time but that 1%, well it looks like the above examples.

Are these all genuine? Remember seeing two billboards once. One on the left headline - "what does it feel like to be raped?" (Rape charity and support) to the right - "You'll never know until you try it" (Brandy)

actually, if you think about it, the 7th one is good placing. The news makes you think about death and then the ad just plays on that with the little kid.

I think the duck wins hands down. I also like the fact that the website in question has a tag for 'duck'. 

Priceless! :)

Excellent work. Top of the class stuff.

Could this actually happen with the automated Google Display Network?!  If yes, then I wouldn't want to risk it. I will have to place the ads myself!

hahaha. i liked the 10th one

The very fact we're all tweeting this content must have given them a few thousand more impressions, all of which were unpaid.

Having a laugh!!!

great and use full sharing, i really appreciated and i am going to forward this link to all my friends on fb

Funny, but I guess that there is no such thing as bad pubblicity anyway.

Funny compilation of ads
Really humorous
are these photoshopped or really orignal?

Hello! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga
group? There's a lot of folks that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Thank you

How much can your Dick grow using a penis extender?

I recently ordered a penis extender because I'm interested in increasing the size of my penis by an inch or two. It should arrive by next week. I was wanting to know if anyone reading this has had any experience in wearing a penis extender. Did it work?. . I've been browsing penis enlargement forums,
a place where lots of men go to talk about their experiences and ask
questions. From what I've read, many of users say it works, but you have to invest a lot of time into wearing the extender and have patience.. Juan: Yes, I did see your other post. I'll check out that site.
Thanks..

I love nr3. Haha. Dinner for two :D Seriously, I almost peed myself. That's hilarious!

Yes these are some annoying factors and I strongly dislike to place ads like this.

I was surprised how many examples of this were able to find - Just goes to show how important placement of ads can be!

its cool and hilarious,i am surprised too funny