After my thrilling discussion on Google map listings in Universal Search as part of the Digital Asset Management panel here at SES London, I was kind of wired from all the applause, love, and admiration I received from the capacity crowd here at the British Design Center in lovely Islington, so I took a walk around to blow off some steam and figure out a way to come up with a really long run on sentence for the beginning of this article…

Anyway, while on the walk, I took some shots of some local ads for the site. As you know, the point of this site is really to make fun of bad advertising, but damn it if I didn’t see any really bad ads around town.

For instance, here’s a great little transit ad for Pizza Hut:

The ad is part of a series of ads that are basically saying you don’t need a real excuse to order Pizza Hut, so things like the kids getting up on time or finding a seat on the bus will do.  Not an earth shattering campaign, but for outdoor, it’s not bad.

What I find funny about this ad is the glass of wine with the meal.  My friend Cindy saw that later when I pointed it out to her and she said, “who drinks wine with pizza, ew!”  Well, I guess you could, it is technically Italian food, but in the US we’re practically programmed to either eat it with beer or a soda, so I guess she’s not totally crazy.

However, my point is that in the US, if people saw a glass of wine with Pizza Hut on any ad, they would promptly freak the fuck out.  I can hear them crying now, “but… kids might see that wine!”, which of course means that Pizza Hut is corrupting American children, there are threats of a boycott, and boom, you’re back a picture of a Pepsi or whatever.

Frankly, I’m just amazed these brands do so well over here.  As I’ve said, despite what you may hear, the food over here is quite good, so you just want to shake people and say, “we’re sending you the cheap shit, go back to the kabab place!”

Anyway, this last photo isn’t really advertising, it’s a product, which given the origin of the character, you would think would be really popular in the US, but I’ve never seen these on the shelves before and I would have because, man, I love me a doughnut…

If you can’t read it, they’re “D’oh! Nuts”…

J.

PS – If you’re reading this at the show, come by the panel I’m moderating at 415 on “Search is the Display OS” and say hello.

Related posts you might enjoy:

1. Dominos sacks up, admits their pizza sucks
2. Mr. T tells the UK to get some nuts (live from #SES London)
3. Burger King UK commercials just as bad as in the US! (Live from #SES London)
4. “I’ve never voted Tory before” ads in UK are ripe for abuse, fun (leftover from #SES London)
5. Six IDEA STARTERS, not things to do, get it?