Super Bowl ad flops
Super Bowl ads cost upwards of $4 million this year. It’s a lot of money, especially if what you’re selling flops.
Remember Crystal Pepsi?
Twenty years ago, an ad introduced the clear cola to the world, but it was soon a has-been.
“Sometimes they introduce strange stuff that doesn’t always make it,” says Brian Steinberg, television editor at Advertising Age.
The Super Bowl is often where companies try to get name recognition, but that can quickly backfire. Steinberg remembered this ad for Just For Feet in 1999.
“It’s an African American runner being chased by white people. It did not go over well, and the company is no longer around,” Steinberg says.
It’s one of many dotcom era flops.
In 2000, there was an ad for Epidemic.com, a horrible idea with a horrible ad. In short: a service that would pay you to send spam emails to your friends. The ad equated this to getting paid to go to the bathroom.
If you’re interested, Epidemic.com’s domain name is up for sale.
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