Advertising doing the opposite of what's intended

[CAwasinNJ]

I mentioned in the 'new homes' thread that I'm reluctant to deal with Ivory. The reason is because I really hate their latest ad campaign. They've taken the Beatles classic "Getting Better" and bastardized it to try to sell houses. That's just wrong on so many levels. First off, no pop song should EVER be used to sell something. That's not what the art of music is about people! Second, that particular track is doubly wrong because it was part of the iconic Sergeant Pepper album, arguably the greatest album of all time. Third, I don't think the (apparently) pimply 20-somethings on Madison Ave have any clue what that song is even about. Do they really want to be thought of as men who had a habit of beating up their girlfriends? Really?

But this is a larger issue than just the Ivory spots. They aren't the first company I've had a strong desire to avoid after seeing a radio/TV/print ad, and they probably won't be the last. I know of one person (name withheld to protect the innocent) who won't go to Carl's Jr because their commercials are offensive. Personally they don't bother me that much. Kinda stupid, but not offensive. But even having a few people put off by the ads is not something the company wants.

So what about you? How often does seeing an ad have the opposite effect from what the ad agency intended and you're less inclined to buy from them after being exposed to advertising?

[dxstuboy]

Working in radio I hear the same commercials basically every day and I have become so desensitized by it all that I just tune them out now... mostly. The average radio listener wouldn't be the same as me in that situation. I have no experience with Ivory other than knowing what they do but I agree CA, wrong choice for a song.

I don't go to Carl's Jr. because I got sick once from their chicken fingers, plus their food isn't that good to begin with.

The point of certain ads is to beat the name into your head and associate that song with the product. Wendys for example has the "You know when its real" ads. I take that with a grain of salt because I've had very hit/miss experience with them. It obviously worked though because if I were to hear that song I would know it was for Wendys. McDonalds has I'm Lovin it and the bah bah bah Bah BAH tune. Arg! Annoying.