Embarrassing Moments In Online Advertising
10.29.2007
Thanks to my colleague Lester Lee for adding these images to my file on contextually-targeted ads gone bad. First, Google-served text ads for Days Inn alongside a CNN article on lawsuits against Days Inn for alleged price gouging following a recent hurricane.
Then newspaper-industry ads pitching the merits of newspaper ads over online — since newspapers are “a destination not a distraction” — alongside a Mediapost headline calling the revenue picture for newspapers “deeply depressing, ad business shifting to online.”
Oops.
I love these clips! Please start a blog with just a running collection of these. This is so Jay Leno material. -Hash
Hash–I’m sure you saw the Ann Coulter situation a few months back (here’s the link, http://chasnote.com/2007/03/07/verizon-and-sallie-mae-pull-ads-from-ann-coulter-site/). Another favorite: Wal-Mart and Micorosoft ads running on Pirate Bay (link, http://chasnote.com/2007/01/14/the-trouble-with-contextual-ad-bots/). And one I came across earlier this week, Hotels.com TVs leading in to an unfortunate news story on Hotels.com, courtesy of YouTube, http://youtube.com/watch?v=KKF52Rea01M.