6 Cringeworthy Local Business Ads

1. Ineffective Advertising Strategies for Local Businesses
2. The Problem with Humor in Advertisements
3. Importance of Direct and Clear Marketing Messages
4. The Effectiveness of Non-Humorous Marketing Content
5. The Need for Clear and Respectful Advertising
6. Flawed Marketing Approach in Diamond Company Advertisement
7. Challenges in Name Recognition and Location Identification in Advertising
8. Unintended Ridiculousness in Company Initials
9. Unique Effectiveness in Ridiculous Mall Ad
10. FAQ

Ineffective Advertising Strategies for Local Businesses

Local businesses have a really hard time advertising. They're trying to compete in a market where you have professional marketers for big brands and professional direct response marketers. Like this guy, the local business owners don't have much money to pay for ads, so you end up getting some really terrible [Music].

The Problem with Humor in Advertisements

This first ad is pretty ridiculous. It's pretty bad. Is your lawyer balding? Call this guy instead. I mean, there's absolutely zero connection to balding and wanting to hire a lawyer. Does anybody care if a lawyer is balding or not? No, it just makes no sense. Maybe in the mind of Norman, he somehow thought that hmm, balding means somebody's smart or stupid. I don't know. I don't know if they're saying it's a good thing if a lawyer's balding or it's a bad thing if a lawyer is balding. I mean, I have no idea. Here, this ad just is completely terrible. Other than the fact that they have a phone number pretty large on the ad, it's still not large enough if you ask me because billboards, people are driving by, they don't have much time to focus on the ad. Billboards are generally better for branding purposes. I just, I don't see this ad working at all. Terrible ad.

Importance of Direct and Clear Marketing Messages

This ad is kind of funny. I mean, car wash. We give the best hand job in town. I mean, sort of hilarious, but it makes no connection to me wanting to get my car washed there, right? They're trying to be funny in this case. They think, 'Oh, car wash, hand job, hahaha.' When you're getting a car wash, you don't care if your car wash is funny or not. I'm looking at price, looking, do they get a good job done? Do they also wax and do the interior? Do they handle leather? You know, these are the factors I'm thinking of when I get a car wash. This ad does not address anything. 'Hey, we're funny, like use us instead.' A lot of marketers try to use humor in their advertisements to sell products. And 99% of the time, it makes no sense. It doesn't work. It's not what people are there for.

The Effectiveness of Non-Humorous Marketing Content

I remember early on in the history of this YouTube channel, even I used a lot more humor, especially in my ads. Because most of the time I'm on YouTube, I'm actually paying for ads. I spend thousands of dollars a day. I spend anywhere between two to twenty thousand dollars every single day in buying advertising space on YouTube. And it's very easy for me to see from the data that funny doesn't sell. Because if folks are looking to learn a new business model, if folks are looking to buy most products or get a new job or learn how to work from home, they're not interested in humor. They're interested in effectiveness. They're interested in, 'Can I trust this person? Can he get the job done? Does he have the knowledge to teach me a business model?' Such as affiliate marketing, which is the business model I teach and I teach local marketing as well.

The Need for Clear and Respectful Advertising

People don't care if you're funny. They care if you're going to help them get ahead in life. So my advice to the marketer here is, with many ads, is just stick to the straight and narrow and focus on what you're selling. Don't focus on being funny. Right now, this is creepy, man. I saw this ad. I have two kids, right? I have two beautiful girls that are two and four years old. Mine that child. I mean, that just screams to me like, 'Ah, yeah, I'm going to mind my child and they're not going to get candy from your freaking truck.' It just looks super creepy. It looks like one of those creepy vans. And that where it says, 'Mind the child,' there's like a little door. It's like the size of a child. So is that door for children to go in the back of the van or something? I don't know. This ad freaks me the heck out.

Flawed Marketing Approach in Diamond Company Advertisement

Next, this billboard for a diamond company. I get what they're trying to do here. They're trying to say where babies come from. It comes from marriage and buying a girl a ring. That sort of makes sense, kind of, not really. Because they're trying to say you should buy a ring so you could make babies or have conjugal relationships with a significant other. I don't know. You really have to think about it. And in a billboard, when you're in a car driving by a billboard at high speeds, you're not thinking too hard and making these logical leaps of, 'Oh, if I buy diamond from this jeweler, I'm going to be able to make a baby, and that's what I want, right?' That's not good marketing.

Challenges in Name Recognition and Location Identification in Advertising

First off, this ad is not selling the actual jeweler very well. They're selling diamond. It appears as a marketer, they're trying to sell diamonds, not buying a diamond ring from that particular store. The other problem here is that the actual name of the jeweler is unbelievably hard to read in this crazy cursive font. Now I get they're trying to be fancy. When you're doing marketing, you have to think of the location and the setting that the person reading the ad is in. And in this case, it's a billboard. So the person is in a car going 35 miles an hour on average down the road. They're not going to have the time to really squint and read the name of the jeweler. And furthermore, they don't even say where the jeweler is located. This is horrible advertising. They don't say how to find the jewelry store. They don't say where it's located. There's a big tree below the billboard, so even if the jeweler is right below, it's not clear about that either.

Unintended Ridiculousness in Company Initials

Good ads that do the same sort of thing would be a McDonald's ad. If you've ever seen a McDonald's billboard ad, McDonald's billboard ads are very good. Because they always say next exit, or they'll put a huge image and they just say exit here, turn right. They're very good about that in letting you know exactly where their store is. Because again, they're trying to get people to go into the store. So McDonald's does well, this company horribly. And to round off our final ad here, this is just kind of hilarious because EJC Ltd Building Services, it in this case, do they know that their initials spell out ejaculated? You can't skate, ski. You can't say they said it on the radio, skeet, skeet. It's just kind of funny. I think this was an oversight on the sense of the company but it just spells out ejaculated. I didn't even frankly read what this company did until I saw the van. I don't even know if this is an ad but I thought this was funny.

Unique Effectiveness in Ridiculous Mall Ad

And the final, final ad, I'm just gonna play this for a second. It's a mall ad and in this case, well we just have to watch. Oh, watch a denim, haircut, backpacks, backpacks, come get your backpack. Boots and pants and boots and pants. New [Music]. Get yourself an outfit. Denim. In this case, it's ridiculous. The ad is out of this world ridiculous. I actually think it's done a fairly good job and let me explain why. First off, this ad is so ridiculous, it's sort of like a pattern interrupt. It's almost semi-memorable. But here's what really makes it memorable and effective is that this is a video ad for a mall on TV and again, the setting of the person watching TV in their home. They're seeing ads for all these nationwide concerns, you know, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, stuff that is not necessarily local. And then they get an ad for an extremely local place, you know, this mall center. And it's sort of interesting. The fact that it is so targeted and so local and it's on TV gives you something to talk about. And also, TV ads are often seen, depending on what time this ad aired, which would matter to me, frankly. Oftentimes, TV ads are watched with other people. If this is shown during a sports game or something like that, I think this ad would be very effective because you're with other folks and you would turn to your friend, you say, 'Oh my god, what is this ad? This is ridiculous.' And it'll be almost a talking subject and hopefully get people just talking a little bit about the mall. And what I also like is that they're sticking to the things that are in the mall. They're talking, they're showing real local people from that area and they're showing real stores and all the things you can buy. So I actually think this ad is well done, even though it is unbelievably ridiculous.

FAQ

Q: What are some ineffective advertising strategies for local businesses?
A: Local businesses struggle with effective advertising due to limited budgets and the need to compete with larger brands.
Q: Why is humor sometimes a problem in advertisements?
A: Humor in advertisements can be ineffective if it does not connect with the product or service being offered, as it may not resonate with the target audience.
Q: Why is it important to have direct and clear marketing messages?
A: Clear and direct marketing messages are essential for conveying the value proposition of a product or service to potential customers and gaining their trust.
Q: Can humor be effective in marketing content?
A: While humor can be engaging, it may not always be the most effective approach, especially when the main focus should be on providing valuable information to the audience.
Q: Why is clear and respectful advertising important?
A: Clear and respectful advertising is crucial to gaining the trust of consumers and effectively communicating the benefits of a product or service without resorting to questionable tactics.
Q: What are some challenges in advertising related to name recognition and location identification?
A: Challenges in advertising include ensuring that the name of a business is easily readable, and providing clear information about the location of the business in advertisements.
Q: Why is it important to avoid unintended ridiculousness in marketing campaigns?
A: Unintended ridiculousness in marketing campaigns can reflect poorly on the brand and may cause confusion or negative perceptions among consumers.
Q: How can unique or ridiculous ads be effective in certain contexts?
A: Unique or ridiculous ads can be effective in creating memorable experiences for viewers, especially when they serve as a pattern interrupt and target a specific, local audience.