Bad Image.

 I just saw an online ad that I was almost going to use as a Mocking The Clickbait entry, but the actual ad isn't intended as clickbait.  It's an ad for the Canadian Armed Forces, who are looking for aerospace control operators.  Except the picture that goes along with the ad is a US Air Force enlisted man in his dress blues, standing in front of an American flag.  Oops!  I don't know how those ads are designed, but hopefully the Forces didn't pay much for this one.

Definitely The Wrong Target.

I just saw a video ad for "KPop training."  I am definitely not the right target for that.  Any company producing KPop would laugh their heads off at the idea of me as a KPop singer.  I'm several decades too old for the job.

Google Will Get You For That.

Recently one of the candidates for the People's Party of Canada put up some campaign signs in a local park.  This morning I took at look at them.  They're for Guto Penteado.  The Guto on the signs is presented in a font similar to one Google has occasionally used, and the letters are in several colours, again reminiscent of Google.  Seems to me that crossing paths with Google like that is not a good idea.  It's unlikely Google will have a chance to take action before the campaign ends, but why take the risk?

As for the PPC it will interesting to see if they're around this time next year.  To date they've remained under the 5 percent range in the polls.

Saying No.

I recently posted about a campaign billboard I saw in Saskatoon for the People's Party of Canada.  Now the company that has been hosting the signs is pulling them, after complaints the signs are anti-immigrant.  Pattison Outdoor Advertising initially said the billboards would remain up, but yesterday changed their mind, and will remove the billboards as soon as possible.  Interestingly the ads weren't actually paid for by the PPC, but do reflect the party's policy that immigration should be greatly reduced.  Canada currently takes in about 350 thousand immigrants a year.

Didn't Expect That One.

I just had YouTube show me an ad for the Israeli military manufacturer Rafael.  I wouldn't have thought people watching rock music videos would be a demographic they'd think to advertise to.  I'm certainly not in the market for antitank or surface to air missiles.

"Do not take if you are allergic to..."

This is a line that's increasingly heard in US drug ads.  How does that work, exactly?  Do doctors have some sort of allergy test for such drugs?  Are people asking their doctors to prescribe drugs they already know they're allergic to?  Or is it just a general legal CYA for the drug companies in case people are hurt by such allergic reactions?  "Hey, we warned you not to take Zigsergon if you're allergic to it."

"Please!"

I just went to look at a website I regularly visit, and got a bit of a surprise.  It was a Sears Canada ad, advertising shopping for the upcoming school year. As is the case with its American counterpart Sears Canada is in major trouble, suffering from changes in the Canadian consumer market.  In June it was announced that 59 stores would close after the company was granted protection from its creditors.  This included 4 stores in Saskatchewan, although this didn't include the store in Saskatoon's Midtown Plaza.  So of course they`re really hoping that you`ll shop at the stores that are left.  But it seems their online advertising efforts hadn`t been reaching me until now.

The Midtown Plaza store is a large 2 storey outlet, so losing it would be a big hit for Midtown Plaza.  It`s hard to think of something that might replace it, as potential tenants who`d want a space that size have tended to build in Saskatoon`s `big box` areas.  So Sears Canada isn`t the only company hoping you`ll visit, it`s all the companies that have Sears as a tenant as well.

Not For Me.

It's amusing the product ads advertising algorithms sometimes produce.  For some reason I ended up seeing an ad today for Swimtails swimmable mermaid tails.  Yep, a company actually makes mermaid tails, and I wouldn't be surprised if there are others.  But it's an odd product to try to sell me.  I don't swim.  I don't have a thing for mermaids.  And the webpage I was looking at has nothing to do with mermaids, swimming, or anything else water related.  So it seems their algorithm needs some fine tuning.

Too Late Or Too Early?

On a webpage I'm looking at there's an ad for Long and McQuade's free guitar setup day, giving the date as October 15th.  Of course I found myself wondering if that was an ad for last month's edition, or if it's for next year's edition.  Clicking on the ad brings up a page that says the event has expired.  Too late is it is then.  L&M might want to get in touch with their ad provider since it's presenting out of date content.

The Big Money Rolls In.

Serisouly, I'm going to be rich soon.  Yesterday I made a whole one cent from advertising on the blog.  With revenue like that I'll soon be rolling in it.

Seriously though, if you're thinking blogging is the way to massive riches, it isn't.

That Jose Cuervo Ad.

I don't know where else it airs, but you've probably seen it multiple times if you watch Canadian TV.  It revolves around the Rolling Stones' 1972 tour.  The music in the ad?  "Miss You."

Which was released in 1978, on the album Some Girls.

I find that annoying.  If you can get the rights to a Stones tune why wouldn't you use one heard in 1972?  Apparently the ad agency that created it, McCann, figured one '70s Stones tune was as good as another. 

I doubt Mick and Keith care, since they'll get paid for it.  But I personally find it kind of annoying.

Our Definitions Vary.

During my travels today I noticed an ad on the electronic signboard at 33rd Street and Idylwyld.  It congratulated Stephen Harper for "Ten Years of Excellence."  A quick check indicates the same sign has been seen in Edmonton and Calgary.  Apparently whoever is behind the sign has a different definition of excellence than I do.  The signs give no indication who had them put up, but I wonder if it might be Jim Pattison, since they appeared on electronic signs owned by his advertising company.

Redundant Adjective.

This morning I looked at an ad for Dennys Restaurants hamburgers, which mentioned "melty cheeses."  I've  seen that combination in other ads.  It seems a bit odd to me, as I'm pretty sure all cheeses melt, especially when you put them on top of a hamburger fresh off the grill.  I suppose if you used a thick enough hunk of cheese it might not melt much.

Guess They've Never Met Any.

I had to roll my eyes at a clickbait ad I just saw.  It's one of those "Do this weird thing to avoid X!" type of ads, and the headline claimed Chinese men never go bald.  Sounds like someone needs to get out of their office for a bit. Chinese men are less likely to bald than white men, but many do. 

It Won't Work.

For some reason I've seen a lot of ads online today for the latest season of Mr. D.  Sorry, CBC, but I won't be watching.  Seriously, does anyone actually think Gerry Dee is funny?  I guess someone does, or CBC wouldn't have given him a TV show.

Gone Except For The Ads.

In the past I've mentioned Blip, a webcomic by Sage Leaves, a couple of times.  Unfortunately Sage Leaves stopped updating, and a few months ago the webcomic itself disappeared when its account was suspended.  But oddly enough it's still being advertised online.  You'd think word would have gotten back to whoever runs the advertising to stop the ads.  Wherever Sage Leaves has vanished to they apparently haven't been in a position to do so, but you'd think the Rampage Network, which had been hosting Blip, would let them know.  Then again they still have Blip listed as one of their member webcomics.

It makes you wonder how many other ads for things that no longer exist are floating around the web.  Not that some of the advertising providers probably care, as they presumably have already been paid for the advertising.

Localise,Please.

I was just looking at CKOM's  website, and they have an animated ad for saskatoojobshop.ca, an online job site.  "Free job postings are worth every cent!" it flashes, with the "are worth every cent!" bit accompanied by an image of a couple of pennies.  But whoops, not only are they pennies, which are no longer produced and circulated in Canada, they're American pennies.  If you're going to use obsolete money, at least use an image of obsolete Canadian money.

Hey, YouTube!

Stop playing those stupid Alexander Keith ads!  They're really annoying.

Et Tu, Hugh?

I just had an ad pop up on the blog for Playboy Energy Drink.  My first thought was that it's a bit late in the day to be jumping on that trend.  Then I thought about how no one should be all that surprised there is such a thing.  Hugh Hefner has always been good about keeping his name and the Playboy brand in the public consciousness.(Although these days I doubt he has much direct involvement with any of the big business decisions.)

As for energy drinks, I've never consumed one, and have no desire to.  Personally I think they're just a good way for beverage companies to make even more money than they do on soft drinks given the higher prices.  You're likely to get the same effect from drinking some coffee or a caffeinated soft drink, which are cheaper.  Of course it's still not as big of a ripoff as the bottled water market, where the product is often local tap water with some filtering.

Narrow Target.

Over the weekend the local paper carried an ad flyer from easyhome, a rent to own home furnishing and electronics company.  The headline on the flyer says "We're Pulling The Goalie So You Can Score!"  Said "goalie" is a young woman wearing goalie pads, a goalie mask on top of her head, blue panties, and a t shirt that ends just below her breasts.

Who is the target this ad, exactly?  It would seem to be horny teenage boys given the scantily clad and vaguely, if I may use a potentially offensive term, jailbaitish model.  Or perhaps it's horny male university freshmen, since we're just a couple of weeks into the school year and a lot of university students may have come to town with little furniture.  The "so you can score" bit of the headline strengthens my suspicion that is the case, the implication being fairly obvious that if you get stuff for your place at easyhone you're more likely to get some hot girl to hook up with you.

I have no idea what the demographics of the typical easyhome customer are.  But you'd think they'd be a bit more conscious, here in the second decade of the 21st Century, that a T&A style ad like this might turn off some sorts of potential customers.  And any business wants as many customers as possible.