Top 25 Craziest Advertising Campaigns That Actually Worked

Company: Folgers
Location: New York City, New York
Year: 2006

Manholes are undoubtedly one of the least attractive parts of New York City and are sadly unavoidable if you want to explore the bright lights and excitement of areas such as Times Square. However, this marketing campaign came up with a simple but unique form of advertising that turned manholes into an attraction.

Cup Of Coffee @maryjbyun / Pinterest.com

Putting a creative spin on advertising their range of coffee, Folgers had vinyl stickers of cups of coffee printed and stuck to manhole covers all over New York. They left out ventilation holes for the steam to escape through, giving the effect of a steaming cup of coffee. It didn’t smell quite as good, but this inventive use of manholes definitely caught the attention of passersby.

Company: CBS
Location: Your Fridge
Year: 2006

CBS is the home of so many well-loved TV shows that you’d think they wouldn’t feel the need to take any drastic advertising measures. Well, this marketing campaign was so original that it resulted in the creation of a new word: “egg-vertizing.” To promote the upcoming seasons of some of their most popular shows, CBS printed advertisements on over 30 million individual eggs.

While some thought this was funny, albeit a little over the top, many people took issue with this method of advertising. A lot of people complained that having their literal food containing advertisements felt invasive, and the campaign ended after a single run. However, it was talked about enough to still be remembered to this day.

Company: Colgate
Location: French Pizza Boxes
Year: 2011

Although intentions for this campaign were pure, the imagery it created fuelled nightmares for pizza lovers for months. To advertise their new Colgate Max Night, Colgate partnered with pizza box manufacturers to release their product to the masses. Instead of just printing a simple advertisement on the box, they took things a step further by printing a full, detailed image of a mouth on the inside of the box.

Inside A Mouth @xuannelgonzali / Pinterest.com

This meant when the boxes were opened, it looked like your delicious pizza was sitting on someone’s tongue. Not the most appetizing thing in the world, to say the least. Although this definitely got people talking about Colgate, it’s hard to say if it was for the right reasons.

Company: Bic
Location: Japan
Year: 2008

This Bic promotion from Japan is a prime example of how guerilla marketing is done. Guerilla marketing is a type of advertisement designed to surprise the public by using unconventional design and placement. It’s a less common method of marketing, as it usually requires more work than the average billboard and can cost three times as much.

Razor @makai / Pinterest.com

Bic carefully scouted their location for this billboard and committed to maintaining the streak of short grass for several months to maintain the effect of the advertisement. They were praised for their creative take on razor advertisement, a market that often struggles with unique marketing concepts.

Company: McDonald’s
Location: USA
Year: 2011

You never have to look far to find a McDonald’s advertisement, whether it be a billboard or even sportswear. Despite being the biggest fast-food empire in the world, McDonald’s is still known to put effort into its marketing campaigns to maintain its image as a family-friendly restaurant.

Clock @SnowyPinterest / PInterest.com

However, a large portion of their customer breaks are adults on the go, often traveling huge distances at insane hours. When McDonald’s introduced their 24-hour restaurants, they made sure to market to the people who needed them most. This billboard, placed by a highway, was the perfect tool to convince late-night and early-morning drivers they needed a coffee or a breakfast muffin.

Company: Fame Adlabs
Location: Mumbai, India
Year: 2004

The 2004 science-fiction disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow was one of the biggest movies of the year, attracting attention with its worryingly plausible plot, all-star cast, and clever marketing. The movie tells the tale of several people across the world surviving a new Ice Age as a result of global warming. 

Submerged Billboard @printsinmysoul / PInterest.com

One of the most impacted regions is New York City, which is hit by a giant tsunami, leaving a large portion of the city underwater. Fame Adlabs was hired to create this guerilla marketing piece for the film by placing a giant billboard just off the coast of a beach, playing to the themes of a city being submerged underwater. 

Company: Cadbury
Location: UK
Year: 2006

After their “Gorilla” TV advertisement went viral across the world, Cadbury had a hard time trying to pull off another marketing scheme that would be just as successful. As well as producing other TV adverts, such as “Eyebrows,” Cadbury decided to expand their marketing ideas to interactive billboards.

Giant Chocolate Billboard @zigzagpenguin / Pinterest.com

In the UK’s biggest cities, billboards were adorned with giant bars of their iconic Cadbury Milk Chocolate Bars. But that wasn’t all, as every day, the foil on the 3D billboard would be pulled back a little further, and a piece of the fake chocolate would appear bitten off until the billboard eventually disappeared. This garnered national attention, especially from those who passed the billboard daily and saw the gradual change, which many found amusing and on-brand with Cadbury’s comedic marketing schemes.

Company: Salvation Army
Location: USA
Year: 2004

Winter is one of the hardest times of year for homeless individuals across the world, many of whom lose their lives due to freezing temperatures and a lack of warm, dry shelter. In 2004, Salvation Army released this marketing campaign that doubled as protection against the weather for the homeless.

@David Berman/Flikr

These posters doubled as blankets and passersby were encouraged to remove the blankets and give them to people struggling to stay warm as winter approached. Although this was designed to benefit the homeless, Salvation Army did receive some backlash for essentially using a necessity to keep homeless people alive as an opportunity to promote themselves.

Company: Lead Pencil Studio
Location: Vancouver, BC Border
Year: 2010

It’s difficult to say if this billboard can even be considered an advertisement, rather a work of art. Created by Lead Pencil Studio of Seattle, “Non-Sign II” was constructed over several months at the border between the US and Canada. Constructed out of stainless steel rods, this empty-space billboard was designed to promote the landscape of Peach Arch Land Port, a stark contrast to the dozens of promotional billboards in the area.

Clean Air @fastcodesign / Pinterest.com

The billboard designers wanted people to do a double-take and capture their genuine interest rather than promote a product or service to them in passing. Their main focus was promoting clean air and examining how disruptive advertising can be to such beautiful landscapes.

Company: Disney & Alaska Airlines
Location: Plane
Year: 2015

It’s unsurprising that an empire as huge as Disney would choose to promote its own brand on its own aircraft. Created in partnership with Alaska Airlines, the Spirit of Disneyland II aircraft was designed to bring Disney magic to the first leg of the journey to one of their Disneyland Resorts. 

Alaska Airlines @AlaskaAir/Twitter.com

Adorned with images of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and other iconic Disney characters, the bright and bold design of this Boeing 737-900 aircraft is more than enough to get young families excited for their Disneyland vacations, as well as promote to other passengers at airports headed to different destinations.

Company: Mr. Kipling
Location: London, UK
Year: 2014

In a world-first, the marketing team at Mr. Kipling created a fully edible billboard made of over 13,000 iconic cakes and treats from the brand. Constructed outside the Westfield Shopping Centre in London, food artist Michelle Kibowo was hired to design and construct the billboard, which was created overnight with a huge team on hand.

Cake Billboard @Michelle Sugar Art / Youtube.com

The billboard was designed to be temporary so that the food attached to it could actually be served to members of the public. While a fun idea, many passersby were hesitant to partake as the cake had been sitting on the side of a busy London road all day. Despite that, the artistic integrity of the board was highly praised, and it’s still considered a marketing marvel to this day.

Company: Carlsberg
Location: London, UK
Year: 2015

As one of the best-loved beer brands in the UK, Carlsberg doesn’t have to work hard to keep its customers loyal. In 2015, they spent an estimated £12 million on this 3D interactive billboard in East London, a popular area for tourists exploring the city. This billboard was actually filled with Carlsberg beer and served to visitors through a tap, like the kind you’d find in a real pub.

©PA Images/Alamy

Carlsberg staff manned the billboard 24 hours a day to ensure no one had more beer than they could handle and confirm that all their patrons were at least 18 years old. On a sunny day in England, it became one of the most popular spots in London, attracting thousands of visitors looking to test the spectacle for themselves.

Company: Tylenol
Location: Toronto, Canada
Year: 2008

There is any number of ways to describe a headache or migraine, and Tylenol has been a savior for years when it comes to quickly relieving pain like this. However, over the years, as popularity has started to sway more towards holistic healthcare, even Johnson & Johnson has had to change their marketing campaigns.

@Tylenol/Twitter.com

This billboard constructed in Toronto perfectly describes the kind of a headache where a Tylenol would be necessary. Cleverly,  the billboard was made 3D by using a real crane and wrecking ball, attracting passersby with its comedic and dramatic effect. 

Company: Ponds
Location: Philippines
Year: 2007

Acne and skin conditions plague millions of people worldwide, from spotty teenagers to adults suffering from a spontaneous burst of acne once they hit their 30s. Ponds is a well-established brand in the skincare world, their products highly acclaimed and trusted in the industry.

Pimples? @brandresearch / Instagram.com

This billboard for their pore scrub brilliantly demonstrates how it feels to need a solution to an acne outbreak: feeling like you’re on display and just wanting to hide from the world. The design of this billboard is simple yet effective, perfectly addressing the issue they aim to solve with their product.