28 Commercials That Companies Probably Should Have Thought Better Of
Not a good idea, bud!
![28 Commercials That Companies Probably Should Have Thought Better Of](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/8/2/0/858820_320x180.jpg)
Remember commercials? They’re obviously annoying — especially on YouTube and Spotify — but did you know that they can also be tasteless or tone deaf? Who would have guessed that companies, which are mostly focused on just trying to sell you the thing that they make, sometimes take a big swing and stupid miss? Not every example below is offensive, sometimes they’re just mind-numbingly dumb — the kind of ad that worms your way into your brain, and makes you want to do the exact opposite of make a purchase.
Demeter Fragrance
![Demeter Fragrance DEMETER® DEM FRAGRANCE FRAGRANCE LIBRARY •BOST First Response First Respo •BOSTON DO GOOD SMELL GOOD 75% OF SALE DO GOO DONATED TO BOSTON FIRST RESPONDERS FUND Pick-Me-Up Cologno 30ml CRAGKED.COM 1.0 fl oz Demeter's whole thing is fabricating weird stinks that no one would really want on their body. They had already developed a smoke and burning rubber scent that was meant to honor first responders, but when the Boston Marathon bombing happened, their pupils turned into dollar signs.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/8/3/858783.jpg)
Unicef
![UNICEF ICH WARTE AUF DEN LETZTEN SCHULTAG. DIE KINDER IN AFRIKA OCH AUF DEN ERSTE CRACKED.COM In 2007, UNICEF wanted to raise money to build schools in Africa, and they decided to visualize the link between different cultures by slapping some mud on the faces of white kids. Baffled by the backlash, UNICEF insisted their German focus groups hadn't flagged any of this as racist.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/8/2/858782.jpg)
Nantes FC
![28 Commercials That Companies Probably Should Have Thought Better Of](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/8/4/858784.gif)
Xfinity
![28 Commercials That Companies Probably Should Have Thought Better Of](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/8/1/858781.gif)
The European Commission
![28 Commercials That Companies Probably Should Have Thought Better Of](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/8/0/858780.gif)
A UK Terror Hotline
![A terror hotline in the UK TERRORISTS WON'T SUCCEED IF SOMEONE REPORTS SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY FLAT 2 CRACKED.COM In 2010, a whole multimedia ad campaign encouraged Brits to report people who looked suspicious. According to one radio spot, suspicious behavior included paying with cash, and not chitchatting (aka, minding one's own f*ing business).](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/7/9/858779.jpg)
Sony
![Sony PlayStation. Portable White is coming CRACKED.COM Sony's defense of this weirdly vicious billboard was that it was meant to be viewed in Holland, and Americans just don't get it.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/7/8/858778.jpg)
PopChips
![PopChips CRACKED.COM They put Ashton Kutcher in brownface in an attempt at light-hearted parody, perhaps inspired by the box office smash hit The Love Guru?](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/7/7/858777.jpg)
Alicia Keys
![Alicia Keys LAM AFRICAN IA AFRICAN AM AN I AM AFRICA AM CRACKED.COM Lots of celebs are complicit here, but the ads were for Keys' Keep a Child Alive charity. They slapped some vaguely African-looking face paint on some hot people to illustrate the point that humanity originated in Africa, so you should care about African kids.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/7/6/858776.jpg)
Bing
![Bing How you can #SupportJapan - http://binged.it/fEh7iT. For every retweet, @bing will give $1 to Japan quake victims, up to $100K. 11: 45 AM Mar 12th via CoTweet Retweeted by 100+ people CRACKED.COM This thoughtless tweet was essentially begging folks to help create the 3rd most viral tweet of all time, in exchange for .125% of Bing's yearly advertising budget.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/7/5/858775.jpg)
Truth
![28 Commercials That Companies Probably Should Have Thought Better Of](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/7/4/858774.gif)
CPA Canada
![CPA Canada tried to make CPAs look like rock stars. They ran a commercial claiming that, actually, CPAs do cool things like saving the environment and changing music's business model. If that's boring, then call us boring, they dared the viewers. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/7/2/858772.jpg)
Penguin
![Penguin floor cleaner used child prostitution to sell cleaning products. FILTH HAS NOWHERE TO HIDE Their ad shows a businessman with a bulge in his pants paying a schoolgirl - all of which we see only as a reflection on the super-shiny floor. Filth has nowhere to hide, says the tagline, totally not trivializing pedophilia. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/7/1/858771.jpg)
Kraft
![Kraft's Crave brand is the frozen food for wannabe tough guys, apparently. In an ad, a spokesman brags that Crave is here to grab the frozen food aisle by the snowballs. Then he grabs two imaginary, uh, snowballs. Crave isn't just meat, it's bacon, he clarifies, with air quotes around meat. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/7/0/858770.jpg)
American Apparel
![American Apparel B Tweet R What Dayse weering - CENDE Cause - If WES on SNOT CRACKED.COM Comedian Fahim Anwar noticed that this spot sure feels like it's treating the Mexican dude as a fashion accessory. AA, for their part, called the controversy contrived. After all, Raul is a family friend and the photos turned out great.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/9/858769.jpg)
Chicago Lake Liquors
![Chicago Lake Liquors CRACKED.COM After evesdropping on a black guy talking on his phone, the whitest man in Minnesota is inspired to dap up the cashier, declare his savings pimp tight, and spontaneously grow a diamond grill. The black guy is visibly uncomfortable, which... is supposed to be the funny part?](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/7/858767.jpg)
Sales Genie
![Salesgenie .com GRACKED.COM This ad features two wildly insensitive caricatures who eat their own inventory while complaining that We have no customers. No sales. We going out of business. It ran during the Super Bowl but was pulled shortly thereafter.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/6/858766.jpg)
The EU
![The European Union CRACKED.COM The EU thought the best way to promote unity was to show a white lady being menaced by a bunch of foreigners martial artists, and ultimately being saved by summoning several more, identical white ladies.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/5/858765.jpg)
Subway
![For Subway, choosing sandwich toppings is as wild as anything. MAKE IT EPIC. Don't adidas either Their Make it what you want ad shows people playing music in the back of a pickup, standing on a moving motorcycle, skating over fire, and way more. All to promote being able to choose what goes in your sandwich. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/8/858758.jpg)
Ferrero
![In Germany, chocolate company Ferrero ran a white-nationalist-like ad. YES WEISS BAN E V Their ad for a new white chocolate spoofed an Obama rally, with the slogan Yes weiss can! (Yes white can!) And the slogan the ad wrapped up with was Germany votes white. Germany having the history it does, this didn't go over too well. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/4/858764.jpg)
Diet Coke
![Coke, somehow, tried to cash in on apathy. Colle - A Diet Coke commercial with Gillian Jacobs has her basically shrugging and saying do whatever. She says that marathons are super hard, and you can go live in a yurt if you want. The takeaway? Drink Diet Coke or something, whatever, not like it matters anyway. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/6/858756.jpg)
Chevy
![To poke Ford about its aluminum cars, Chevy set a grizzly bear loose. In Chevrolet's ad, a grizzly is released into a cement room with test subjects, who are told to get into a steel or aluminum cage. They pick the steel one, always. Then, the announcer reveals the new, steel-built Chevrolet Silverado. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/1/858761.jpg)
Nivea
![Nivea - - NEW! IMPORTANT UN THE - - - OF AND - - ingerseve I entergen NIVEA poor PIN amous - - KING - - - I - SMART commund The - D-CH - - - DE - - OF and DE - - me and NOT NEW Twitt THE up enex BY e - PART . The Happy e PO - - - - POT cone RE-CIVILIZE YOURSELF NIVEA - NIVEA KIA - CRACKED.COM In an attempt to... sell skin cream, somehow... they showed a guy hurling a grimacing, disembodied head and bidding others to follow suit and](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/3/858763.jpg)
Intel
![Intel CRACKED.COM Intel promised to maximize the power of your employees with this portrait of a modern-day plantation owner. They tried to pull the ad, which they admitted was insensitive and insulting, but one publication squeaked it out by accident.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/5/858755.jpg)
Target
![Target associated plus-size women with manatees. add to registry add to list Mossimo® Women s Plus-Size Kimono Maxi Dress - Assorted Colors 12 reviews $22.00 Free shipping when you spend $50 choose color: Manatee Gray quantity: size : 1 Please make a selection Target listed kimono maxi dresses in regular size as dark heather gray. In plus size, they were called manatee gray. Target said that both names are regularly used, and this happened because different teams posted the different dress information. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/9/858759.jpg)
Humo
![Belgian comedy magazine Humo ran a 9/11 ad in 2004. - - - - - - - - Back when the site of the World Trade Center was still an empty lot called Ground Zero, Humo tried to milk comedy from the tragedy. Their ad showed pilots about to crash into the WTC because they were too busy reading Humo. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/4/858754.jpg)
Land Rover
![Land Rover tried to make folding car seats with a phone app look adventurous. RTS ABO To advertise its app for rearranging car seats from anywhere, they had Bear Grylls and a bunch of other guys jump out of a plane and fold up a Land Rover's seats during freefall. Once they landed, they got in and sat down on the raised seats, then drove off. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/6/0/858760.jpg)
Checkers Drive-In
![Checkers Drive-In said its 99c burgers were fuel for human hi-performance. In the '90s, Checkers had an animated campaign with Fast and the Furious-type racers in an apocalyptic wasteland, who murdered each other for Checkers burgers. When they ate one, the hi-performance human fuel gauge in their car would jump to full. CRACKED.COM](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/5/7/858757.jpg)