Which Industry Makes the Most Misleading Ads?

My vote is for the companies that design closets. The photos in their ads routinely show closets that are drenched in sunlight while the owners of those closets always seem to possess exactly three pairs of (identical and very clean) pants or skirts but not a single accordion, hockey stick, papier-mache dragon, or any of the other stuff that actually lives in closets.

On the other end of the spectrum, here’s a funny ad campaign from Ocean City, Md., urging tourists to get to its beaches before the ocean evaporates. This is the cleverest repurposing I have seen yet of climate-change panic.

Who gets your vote for most misleading ads?

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COMMENTS: 91

  1. Joel says:

    Political campaign ads, both positive and negative, are by far the most misleading.

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  2. Frank Schmitt says:

    Menu photographs of fast food products are notoriously flattering when compared with the actual product.

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  3. janpi says:

    In Italy there aren’t a political campaign ads on the web
    http://www.theitalianbanker.blogspot.com

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  4. Camden says:

    Tobacco and alcohol companies. They advertise suggesting no impact on health.

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  5. frankenduf says:

    the viagra commercial where a bunch of men are hanging out- giggling and singing the viagra jingle- trust me, no man is happy when the forklift is down

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  6. Kurt says:

    Starz is advertising “I Know Who Killed Me” as a Razzie-Award winner (Worst Picture and Worst Actress for Lindsay Lohan, twice) and highlighting negative reviews. I guess their going for the so-bad-you-have-to-see-it-to-believe-it audience.

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  7. Kurt says:

    The closets at our apartment complex were labeled “drive-in” on the floor plan, which I found humorous, if a bit misleading.

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  8. Kairee says:

    I’m with you on the closets. 90% of the ‘closet organizers’ out there don’t actually FIT in my closet, or take up too much of the already minimal space in there. And really, where am I going to put my hockey sticks, dragon and accordion once my closet is organized anyway?

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