Top 10 Persuasive TV AdsCongratulations to our Steve Straub, 2nd place winner in our Top 10 List Writing Contest. Not long after the television was invented, commercials were invented; soon to be followed by their bigger brother, the infomercial. Since then, our favorite television shows have transformed into a morphine drip of short intervals of satisfaction, followed by a seemingly greater span of watching TV ads about 1952 die cast Chevy Pickups, and ultra absorbent maxi pads. Some are good, however, and some are funny; some even make you want to reach for your wallet. What follows, then, is my top ten list of persuasive TV ads. Some are commercials and some are Infomercials, but all are compelling in their own way…Enjoy! 10. ProactivFounded by two dermatologists, Proactiv began selling its products through the infomercial medium in 1994, and have since moved to mall kiosks and online websites. Claiming up to 10 million customers, this acne treatment has exploded onto the skin care market with the help of a number of high profile spokespeople including, to name a few, Vanessa Williams, Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan and P. Diddy. Who knew P. Diddy had acne? 10 Great RivalriesThis top 10 list is from a Top Tenz reader name Darius. I love getting submissions and I think this one is particularly entertaining. And while these rivalries may not be your top 10 they certainly are 10 interesting to read about. Thanks for the submission, Darius. I look forward to the discussions this may create. 10. PC vs. MacIn reality this is not even a rivalry being as virtually the whole world uses a PC. It’s like saying Oscar de la Hoya vs. Mike Tyson, yeah Oscar maybe prettier, more technically adept and have his fans but we all know Tyson would kill him. Plus the fact that Mac users are all geeks who think they are really cool and wear trainers/sneakers in bright colours to show how ‘original’ they are. At least PC geeks have the good grace to shut up and play ‘World of Warcraft’ while locked away in their bedrooms. PC wins this, merely for the fact that they have a right mouse button. The Mac, being “original’, doesn’t have a right mouse button, meaning that you have to do some weird combination of Alt-Ctrl-two fingers pressed down on the cursor while holding your breath maneuver. (It may interest readers to know that not only am I using a Mac right now, but this is the third Mac that I have owned. I’m also wearing garish trainers and looking for an exciting ‘World of Warcraft’ group to join) Top 10 Outrageous Comic Book AdvertisementsFrom many of the comic book lists on this site you can tell I am a big fan of comics. In today’s comic books you don’t see the advertisements you used to - no ads with outrageous promises to be taller or more muscular. No advertisements to own a nuclear sub or army tank can be found nowadays. But if you look in older comic books you’ll see a treasure trove of sneaky ads, over promises and outright lies. We’ve tried to bring you the worst of the bunch. Here are 10 of the most outrageous comic book advertisements ever. Read on, true believer! 10. Sea Monkeys
A bowl full of happiness: How many of us were suckered into purchasing these aquatic miracles of life? An entire humanoid-looking family of pets for our amusement. This was great and surely the pictures would never lie. Heck, they might even be able to speak. After all they have mouths and sparkling white teeth. And look at the size of the shadows in the fish bowl! They are enormous. I do like the way the father (male) has his tail strategically placed over his crotch. The Truth: They were just above microscopic size and certainly didn’t look anything like a human or a mermaid. They were usually dead within a week. Next time buy a gold fish. Top 10 Worst Olympic MascotsA good Mascot is a symbol of the spirit of the Olympics in general; while, at the same time, teaching the world something about the country where the event is taking place. I also feel that mascots should exude a positive and focused energy and enthusiasm for the games as well as the city, country and culture they represent. 10. MukMuk (2010, Vancouver Winter Games) |
