Most of us are bombarded with ads wherever we look. They pop up persistently while we’re scrolling, sneak into our takeout orders, or interrupt our sports viewing mid-play. Most of the time, they’re at least a little annoying—unwelcome bids for our attention (and hard-earned money). But every so often, we’re blessed with an ad that’s truly masterful. I’m talking about the kinds of ads that are so brilliantly (and seemingly effortlessly) executed that we don’t mind giving them our attention. Often, they stick with us long after the fact, too.
The ads featured here certainly aren’t ones we’ll forget in a hurry. But they didn’t earn that distinction through witty copy or clever creative. It’s their placement or some other unfortunate decision that does the work, landing somewhere so wrong it loops back around to feeling hilariously and sometimes painfully right—so much so that you can’t tell if it’s an HR headache or the smartest PR move a brand ever made.
