The Worst Ads of 2008 in Indian Media

Economic Times' Brand Equity section carries a regular feature on best and bekaar ads. I loved the one they did on scam ads this week featuring the worst ads of December 2008. The comments were quite hilarious. My favorite picks:

Brand : Astron Kitchenware

We stared at this ad for Astron knives so long, we’re still seeing its afterimage . Not that any of that staring helped — we still haven’t a clue what that lump on that plate actually is. In a delightful piece of irony that would have made the Greeks proud, the brand’s baseline says ‘Nothing’s hard enough’ . Though our guess is hunting for the brand in the market might just prove to be even harder...

Brand : Ambuja Cement

It took us infinite patience to figure out how this ad reinforced the brand’s ‘Giant compressive strength’ proposition. Eventually we realized that this campaign stands scam-ad logic on its head — by not displaying the brand and its benefit in the ad! Now we wonder if award juries will end up banging their heads against doors — instead of walls — over this idea.

The print version had pictures accompanying the text which made for a more interesting reading.