Business

Is This One of the Worst Commercials You’ve Ever Seen?

Blaze readers:

We regretfully bring you the following wide-awake nightmare (viewer caution advised):

In case you’re confused by the purpose of this ad, here’s an explanation: the “creepily sadistic” little boy scalping women and catapulting cats is part of an advertising campaign for Norway’s 1888 telephone directory/text messaging service, reports Gawker.

If you saw this ad in America, would it convince you to use the product? Probably not–unless, of course, you felt the strange, inexplicable urge to look up either Child Protective Services or a good therapist (or both).

But perhaps this author is overreacting. Perhaps it’s unfair to ask that a foreign ad agency refrain from modeling characters in its commercials after the kid from “The Omen.”

Is This One of the Worst Commercials Youve Ever Seen?Nope. Never mind. That’s a perfectly reasonable request.

The thinking behind this commercial is so incredibly strange that it’s difficult to understand it from an American perspective.

See, whether anyone wants to admit it or not, many Americans love a good commercial. Consider the fact that thousands tune in to the Super Bowl every year in hopes of catching a great TV ad.

Some have been funny:

Is This One of the Worst Commercials Youve Ever Seen?VW’s Mini-Darth Vader

And some have been “heartwarming” (or incredibly corny, depending on your point of view):

Is This One of the Worst Commercials Youve Ever Seen?Focus on the Family’s Tim Tebow Super Bowl Commercial

Commercials can be fun. In fact, they can be so enjoyable that people will share them with family and friends. In the age of Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter, a particularly good commercial will go viral within minutes of its release, generating massive amounts of buzz for a company.

Heck, even some actor’s careers were moved along because of the popularity of their commercials:

All the ads mentioned in the above were successful, widely circulated, and had a positive impact on the organizations that produced them. Can you guess what’s notably absent in all of these commercials?

Is This One of the Worst Commercials Youve Ever Seen?Children who want to eat your soul.

Most of the ads that are well-received in the U.S.–this is an important distinction to make–are generally funny, good-humored, and G-rated. They usually don’t mix dark humor with little creepy devil children.

Moreover, even the American commercials that aren’t funny, good-humored, or G-rated, and there are many, have something that the 1888 commercial appears to lack: a target audience.

And that’s the main problem with this ad. Who is the target audience?

At least U.S. beer commercials featuring blonde supermodels wrestling in vats of Jell-O are clearly marketed towards hormone-driven American males between the ages of 5 and 80. Who in the world is the 1888 ad geared towards? People with Norman Bates-esque tendencies who also happen to hate cats?

Is This One of the Worst Commercials Youve Ever Seen? Customer support better be prepared. He can be a bit clingy.

And that’s why, as an American, it’s difficult to understand the thinking behind this ad. Who are they trying to win over? Is there really a portion of the Norwegian market that responds well to pale, violent boys armed with superglue and projectile cats?

To someone familiar with popular American commercials that have been crafted to appeal to a broad audience, it’s baffling that an advertising agency would produce an ad intended for a similarly sized audience with such unpleasant subject material.

In fact, the 1888 ad is so puzzling that even the quick-witted Gawker was at a loss for words when they tried to categorize it. All they could come come up with was, “My God The Rest of The World Is So Crazy I Love It But This Is Still Kind of Freaking Weirding Me Out.”

Indeed, one certainly feels compelled to agree with their “My God The Rest of The World Is So Crazy.”

[Editor's note: Of course, this entire article is contingent upon the assumption that Norwegians, like Americans, dislike violent devil children. I like to think that a commercial featuring Rosemary's baby circa the 3rd grade would creep anyone out, regardless of cultural barriers. I could be wrong. If I am, this means two things: 1) this article is pointless and it's actually a well-made advertisement and 2) Gawker is spot-on accurate when they write "My God The Rest of The World Is So Crazy."]

Comments (181)

1 2 3 ... 5
  • RejectFalseIcons
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:30am

    Vikings have a weird sense of humor? Such a surprise!

    I <3 Vikings. If only more would move to the US and bring some multicultural drinkin' and burnin'. Every meeting would be a beer summit… or perhaps a mead summit.

    Report Post » RejectFalseIcons  
    • Miami
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 6:14am

      That’s a dark sense of humor

      Report Post » Miami  
    • Mannax
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 6:34am

      Preemptive salvage operations on land and sea.

      Report Post »  
    • 000degrees
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 7:33am

      Only would upset people who have nothing better to do than to b!t0h about something today. Ohhhh the poor kitty…..they didnt really shoot a cat out of the window…they also didn’t scalp a woman sleeping….get some perspective….There are some real issues that scare.

      Report Post »  
    • Sleazy Hippo
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:51am

      I love the commercial- I find this apple cheeked laddy to be strangely evocative of a young lord Newton Leroy Gingrich roving through Europe castle to castle in his childhood!

      He displays pure spirit and determination – not to mention raw intelligence.

      Report Post » Sleazy Hippo  
    • DimmuBorgir
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 9:24am

      seemed fine to me

      Report Post » DimmuBorgir  
    • MONICNE
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:03am

      That creepy kid reminds me of the Right Wing Shooter Anders Behring Breivik.

      Norway is a socialist country with an elaborate liberty-killing welfare system that causes good Christians to snap. Ramming socialism down people’s throats is a cause of job killing massacres (however, a boon to law enforcement, legal and prison industries).

      TEA

      MONICNE  
    • Ari Ben TZion
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:27am

      Creepy kid – looks like a trailer for a horror flick.

      Report Post » Ari Ben TZion  
    • ChiefGeorge
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:03am

      Commercials are a reflection of their viewership or they would not be made in such a manner because they would not make any sense and more no one to their product but away from it. Commercials have become sadistic and idiotic and especially love to portry White men and yes white women as imbecciles. Only minorities appear to have a brain and common sense and almost never are they subjected to insults on the short segments. Think its not so? Watch commercials for just a couple hours and ask if the producers would have used a minority in that same role.

      Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
    • Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:09am

      @MONICNE. You’re a dimtwit. the shooter wasn’t right wing. he was a psychopathic Nazi. get it straight. maybe this kid reminds you of the “left wing” guy who shot up the white house…think before you right…

      Report Post » Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death  
    • teamarcheson
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:29am

      We need to target several of our ICBMs for Norway. Someone should tell Obama that we do not want to become like Europe.

      Report Post »  
    • jdm39
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:44am

      This is so funny, I’ve never laughed so hard over a commercial in a long time. I just don’t know what they were trying to sell

      Report Post »  
    • db321
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:20pm

      The Democrats want this TV removed in Texas – A must see Video.

      http://thehayride.com/2011/08/the-donkey-whisperer/

      Report Post » db321  
    • JRook
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 2:11pm

      Very European, medium funny. Not something that anyone would take seriously.

      Report Post »  
    • ashestoashes
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 2:26pm

      Hated this commercial..This would encourage children to do this and for what? Visiting their hairdresser? If someone really did this…it would pull the hair out by the roots…and one could only hope and pray that it grew back…because a hairdresser would be unable to help you.

      Report Post »  
    • MONICNE
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 4:38pm

      @Give Me Newt Or ….

      Hey, thanks for the shout out!

      I guess i was mistaken in reading that Sir Anders Behring Breivik.was attempting to eliminate a generation of potential Norwegian Left Wingers by methodically slaying progressives at a secluded island campground. He is a true progressive slayer as some posers around here here claim to be.

      BTW, your newt-ie avatar photo does indeed resemble the creepy kid’s face, so I might be way off base with the Brevick thing. I agree with Sleazy now. It’s more like a Baby Newt thing.

      TEA

      Report Post » MONICNE  
    • Cesium
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 4:59pm

      Seriously Blaze?

      Report Post »  
    • A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 5:33pm

      Nokia commercial. LOL

      cat jumps on ceiling fan
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrI7mHVHlEc

      Report Post »  
  • Old_Warrior
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:23am

    Dear Becket Adams – the author of this article… I can help you. Not in a sarcastic or talking down way. In a common-sense manner that I will aspire not to offend you with.

    You see, Norwegian … and that was the key. Their sense of humor will be lost on an American… sometimes to the creept factor, because theirs is a different culture. Take an example of “English” humour versus “American” humor. (Notice the spelling of humour vs humor? Differences abound) Both have a different concept of what is acceptable and/or funny. In old Tibet, before China took them in one gooble back in the late 50′s, to show a Rimpoche respect for his beliefs and faith, you would approach him with your tongue sticking out. That is their culture. But if you sit so they can see the bottom of your feet, there can be no greater insult. Now over here in the United States, sticking out your tongue is considered rude and the bottom of your feet while sitting has no significance what so ever. So please, the next time you critique a foreign commercial, do so knowing their culture first. Then some things may become more clear in the end. ^_^

    Report Post » Old_Warrior  
    • TheWholeTruth
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 3:46am

      I agree with you Old Warrior. After living in Australia for a while, I found the commercial quite funny. It does take the ‘knowledge’ of another culture sometimes to understand it.

      Cheers

      Report Post »  
    • ZengaPA65
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 7:44am

      You needed to add “grow a pair”.

      Report Post » ZengaPA65  
    • SLARTIBARTFAST
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:47am

      C’mon gang, no need to be quite THAT harsh. It was a bit funny in a creepy kind of way. It was also a reminder that we in the US don’t have a monopoly on wierd C%$p. At least it was more comprehensible than some of the stuff the Japanese do! And I betcha’ it was a slow news day when they wrote this article.

      Report Post » SLARTIBARTFAST  
    • Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:53am

      I think the point the article was trying to make was that the kid is just creepy as hell….which he is.

      Report Post » Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death  
    • caveman74
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:19am

      The point is well taken, but in a world that bashes American culture before fully understanding it do not concern themselves with offending America. This writer actually mentioned several times that he maybe did not understand the point because he is from a different culture base. This is hardly a Blaze worthy story but I see no harm or fowl in one culture having questions about another and poking a little fun. After all the rest of the world does it to us simple minded chevy drivin trailer park residents over here in America.

      Report Post »  
  • faithaz
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:21am

    How destructive these are, I dont find them funny at all, if somebody glued my hair to the table, they had better run afterwards.

    Report Post » faithaz  
  • Hyena
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:52am

    The Blaze needs to add a “like” button for comments. Some of these are a hoot!

    Report Post » Hyena  
  • RossPoldark
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:47am

    Someone posted the link to ‘Problem Child ’from the 1980s. Perhaps that brat was more acceptable when he did misdeeds,because he did it with such a pleasant smile. They should have had the Norwegian kid smile, and not look like a sociopath.

    Report Post »  
    • imsteph
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 8:43am

      but that would not be the Norwegian way ;)

      Report Post » imsteph  
    • tryingtostaypositive
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 2:40pm

      The kid made me think of Edward Gorey’s “The Beastly Baby” – if the little devilchild had grown up. By the way, I LOVED the Poldark series and thought Ross was unbelievably sexy.

      Report Post » tryingtostaypositive  
  • Michael_912
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:35am

    Brilliant

    Report Post »  
  • Rational Man
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:32am

    The kid that glued the woman’s hair to the table, that was hilarious!!!
    I’d like to do that to Debbie Wasserman Schultz!

    (I’m a bad man)

    Report Post » Rational Man  
    • ehbardin
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:51am

      and then catapult the cat claws first into her face

      Report Post »  
  • Talmid of Yeshua
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:29am

    Those commercials are funny!

    Report Post » Talmid of Yeshua  
    • Anamah
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:41am

      May be funny for some Norwegian. I find unacceptable animal cruelty of any kind. If anyone, or an animal suffers there is not sense of humor. It seems there are public with perverted taste.

      Report Post »  
    • Jack of Hearts
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 4:16am

      Talmid – totally agree. LOVE the cat learning to fly. How can anyone not think they’re funny?

      Jack of Hearts  
    • 4truth2all
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 9:49am

      Guess I have no sense of “humor”, I find it sad that this is labeled as funny. (*_*).
      The kid is heartless, since when is being heartless funny.

      And no… it’s NOT only a commercial.

      Report Post »  
    • Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:56am

      The commercial is kinda funny…i think the point of the article is that the kid is just flat out creepy.

      Report Post » Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death  
    • Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:00am

      The cat part is funny. but did the kid need to be so darn creepy?

      Report Post » Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death  
    • Hollywood
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 1:29pm

      Yes; Norway. Known for their Ludafisk,and awarding of Nobel prizes to fools,and idiots.

      Report Post » Hollywood  
  • randy
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:07am

    That company should change it’s name from 1888 to 1666

    Report Post » randy  
  • TheCoffinMaker
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:05am

    …the sorted rich-kid background found in those who join the “occupy” or “global warming” movement.

    Report Post » TheCoffinMaker  
  • cobbler
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:01am

    I think the target audience is bloggers who will virilize the video – free advertizing. Who cares what the message is, you saw it, you are aware of the service – goal achieved.

    Report Post »  
  • Psychosis
    Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:01am

    FUTURE OWS stool

    Report Post » Psychosis  
  • independentvoteril
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:56pm

    I am sorry but those kids scares me.. I DO HOPE they are acting..

    Report Post » independentvoteril  
  • A Doctors Labor Is Not My Right
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:54pm

    Problem Child?

    Problem Child commercial (version 1) – 1990
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B5ywp3658Y

    Report Post »  
  • jespasinthru
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:49pm

    Well, what do you expect? Soulless, pasty-white Norwegians are weird and creepy anyway.

    Report Post » jespasinthru  
  • Discord
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:43pm

    They aren’t that horrible, just a little dark.

    Report Post » Discord  
    • TeaPartyGoth97
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:10am

      As a freaky, dark, creepy little 14 year old. I thank you for making the distinction.

      Report Post » TeaPartyGoth97  
  • brian8793
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:41pm

    That’s hilarious! Especially the glue in the hair part.LMAO!

    Report Post » brian8793  
  • pamela kay
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:37pm

    Looks like an indoctrinated budding little progressive kid to me

    Report Post » pamela kay  
    • mils
      Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:40pm

      ‘waitin for his head to spin around….

      terrible commercials…next muslim women in g-strings…and no razors..;0

      Report Post »  
    • LeadNotFollow
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 2:30pm

      This is worse than indoctrinating. This is desensitizing people to violence. The more society is exposed to violence, the more acceptable violence becomes in our every day lives. We then become heartless, unfeeling, and uncaring, toward humans and animals.

      Would this commercial have been acceptable, if the scalped woman had been black, and the catapulted animal had been a puppy? NO it would not. It would have sparked such world wide outrage.

      Report Post »  
  • wasalibonce
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:36pm

    Ha Ha! Look at me Damien, it’s all for you!

    Report Post »  
  • skipmontesjr
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:36pm

    That’s awesome..I hate cats……Alf had it right…lol..

    Report Post » skipmontesjr  
  • rdietz7
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:36pm

    I like the humor.

    Report Post » rdietz7  
  • TheObamanation
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:34pm

    I like the one … where the guy is watching football … on his iphone … on his lap … and trying to play it off … with his girlfriend … as he jumps and yells “yes” to her question after a good play.

    Report Post » TheObamanation  
  • Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:32pm

    It’s no worse than “PLOP, PLOP, FIZZ, FIZZ, Oh what a relief it is”

    I still have nightmares.

    Report Post » Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra  
  • shoreline2
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:32pm

    horrible
    and…poor kitty!

    Report Post »  
  • KangarooJack
    Posted on December 5, 2011 at 11:29pm

    That’s funny, I was watching the commerical and before I scrolled down was thinking about ”The Omen/Damien”.

    Actually, one of the worst commercials I’ve ever seen includes the words Hope and Change…lol

    Report Post » KangarooJack  
    • Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 10:54am

      RFLMAO…seriously.

      Report Post » Give Me Newt Or Give Me Death  
    • Pontiac
      Posted on December 6, 2011 at 12:59pm

      “Is This One of the Worst Commercials You’ve Ever Seen?”
      No. There is no irritating jingle, music, or annoying sales pitch. If there was I would mute it. (Since they’re in every commercial break I mute the entire commercial break.)
      Oh and Adblock Plus does a good job of removing ads online.

      Report Post » Pontiac  
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