Funny Ad Fail Lessons

Ad fails are a great source of amusement. But their value isn’t just comedic. There are lessons to learn, or at least remind ourselves of. Here are just a few.

The Chevy Doesn’t Go

You may have heard of this one, as it’s one of the most famous parables about marketing gone awry. The legend goes that the Chevy Nova tanked in Latin America because “No Va” in Spanish means “Doesn’t Go.”

The story turns out to be a bit of an urban legend. While no va (two words) does indeed mean doesn’t go, nova (one word) means the same thing in Spanish as it does in English, and the car actually sold well in Mexico and Venezuela.  Regardless, there is a valuable lesson to be learned.

Lesson: Know your audience

Selling isn’t about the product or service you’re offering. It’s about the person you’re selling to. To successfully engage your prospects, you have to speak to their needs, wants and pain points — in their language.

Oh, look. There’s a picture with this story

Lesson: Ad placement counts

This example shows how the context of its environment can affect the way people perceive your ad. To be fair, it’s hard to fault the advertiser for this blunder, who was most likely just the victim of an unfortunate circumstance. That doesn’t make it any less funny though.

Do what now?

Lesson: Don’t let layout get in the way of readability

Headlines—in fact, all the words in an ad—are not merely design elements. So when you manipulate them with effects such as the reflection on the water above, you have to be careful not to obfuscate the message.

This is actually a pretty effective ad … for private schools

Lesson: Proofread!

It’s hard to find a more embarrassing typo. It’s on a billboard, so the type is big, for all to see. And the advertiser is a school system. How can you trust them to teach children spelling if they can’t even do it themselves? Not everyone can catch everything, but if you have a clear process where multiple people proofread your work, you greatly reduce the chances of a blunder like this.

Got any to add to the list? Share them in the comments section below