do you find these ads creepy and/or disturbing?

[jollyreaper2112]

Not talking about Doc Martins, talking about Legends.

[liberal N proud]

1. Once I saw what they were for, just a little weird

Without the mention of condoms, one would think, it is just a kid and how they would play with a large sheet of plastic between you and them.

[Karenina]

48. Here's a MUCH FUNNIER award winning ad

from France.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElgkLZX401E

[YOY]

2. Yes

They are.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. No, I find the Army ads much more disturbing and disingenuously deceptive.

but that's just me.

[Clark2008]

4. OK - that's far more creepy than the Doc Martin ads.

And, not the message. The message is a good one. I just think it looks like a sick nightmare.

[xultar]

11. All kids have done that. You've done that. What makes it a nightmare?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

13. i have never done that...unless you count

making faces against a glass door...never against a sheet of plastic like that. Not that it matters...just being nitpicky...need more caffeine...

sP

[SmokingJacket]

15. Inside a condom?

Ew.

[xultar]

18. So, you're taking it into the gutter with your own warped mind. Read the reply above yours.

[SmokingJacket]

35. It's an ad for CONDOMS. I'm not warped.

They are!

[JNelson6563]

37. hahaha!!

:toast:

[xultar]

49. Oops. I'd never heard of Ledgends condoms. I don't get out much.

[Clark2008]

43. I've never done that and neither have my kids.

We weren't allowed to play with plastic bags because you might suck it down your windpipe.

???

On edit: I think I find it creepy because it reminds me of Freddy Kruger pushing through the wall - stretching the wall with his visage, not busting through it. Pretty creepy.

[gobblechops]

5. ouch

Those are horrible. :hide:

[jollyreaper2112]

14. well, here's why I think they're creepy

There was a trend a few years back to go for the "scary shape pressed up against fabric" picture. This gets back to the essential core of horror, fear of the unknown. While you cannot see the object clearly, what you can see implies a lot about what you cannot. You cannot see these kids distinctly and their faces are also distorted. Kids are like clowns in that they're supposed to be cute and cuddly but can also be used to great effect in a horror setting, in part because that is a subversion of what they are supposed to be, in part because there's something inherently creepy with them to begin with.

I get where they're going with these ads but I've seen it done far better in TV spots.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zkSdM6p2G98

(if you have the bandwidth, watch first, otherwise read below)





Father is in store with kid. Kid puts candy in shopping trolly. Father puts candy back. Kid puts candy in trolly again. Father puts it back. Kid crosses arms and gets the "Oh, you're gonna be sorry" look, starts a megatantrum. Full on out throwing shit, rolling around on the floor, you think someone's getting murdered. The father is looking on helpeless to stop it. "Use condoms," says the tagline. Now that's funny!

[gobblechops]

16. lol

now that spot on youtube was funny.

[youthere]

29. I know a lady who has three boys who act like that on a regular basis...

I think she's the best advertisement for birth control I've ever seen.

[monmouth]

33. Is that Barbara Bush???

[youthere]

38. ...

:rofl:

[Buzz Clik]

6. It borders on sick.

[xultar]

10. What makes it sick? Who as a kid never did what they are doing in the pictures.

:crazy:

[Buzz Clik]

40. This is not a cute picture of kids. It's exactly the opposite.

These images are to remind you that the only thing between you and having kids is a thin layer of latex. Without the latex, your life changes forever.

It's not subtle. I'm surprised you don't get it.

[boobooday]

7. Yes -- extremely so. I can't see how this would help sales.

Everybody knows what a condom is supposed to do, and it isn't smothering 4th graders. . .

:wtf:

[Fierce]

8. I thought they were hilarious, frankly.

The second one cracks me up.

[Warpy]

12. Once I saw what they were for, I agree, pretty damned funny

and to the point. No rubber, you risk the screeching kid.

Very eye catching, too.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

9. creative...creepy...but creative

the only part i find odd is the 'protect yourself' bit at the bottom. It is as if you are protecting yourself from kids while STD's are what you 'protect' against. Yes, I realize condoms are a birth control method (though not an excellent one) but you 'prevent' pregnancy...oh well, just a semantics issue I suppose.

sP

[dave_p]

19. Many of us want protecting against kids too

I thought they were horrible pics till I saw what it was for. I guess it depends where the ads are placed: I'm assuming it wouldn't be where kids will see them and think it's a swell idea.

And it's good to see ads that promote the idea that there's nothing wrong with not wanting kids. We don't need an excuse.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

21. i am just complaining about the semantics of the ads use of

protecting v. preventing...nothing wrong with not wanting kids (for a time or ever). No big deal...I just need more caffeine so I can get out of this funk...coffee ain't doing it today...i need to find one of those 'trucker' pills :-)

sP

[durrrty libby]

17. Haha that is great and gets the point across. Love it

[Iris]

26. me, too. Is something wrong with us?

I don't get why this isn't just funny???

[durrrty libby]

28. No, there is nothing wrong with us. But there is something

wrong with them :evilgrin:

[raccoon]

20. Yes. What the hell are these ads FOR? nt

[YOY]

22. Condoms

Like someone else said here "creative but creepy".

I thought the French TV commercial with the screaming kid in the grocery mart was cute if you've ever seen it. This one is just kinda creepy.

[NotGivingUp]

23. yes. nt

[donco6]

24. Ha! I think they're funny.

But they need those kids from the "I gave birth to a monster" movies. Like with big nasty teeth and greasy hair and sh*t.

[youthere]

30. I think they are kind of funny myself...

in a disturbing way.

[Richard Steele]

25. Yes, rather creepy.

[tabasco]

27. That's pretty messed up.

Of course, advertisers, as part of the Corporate States of America, place profits above everything else.

[Sapere aude]

31. It works because you are discussing it here and making money for them.

[BlackVelvet04]

32. Finally

some truth in advertising.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

34. It's funny.

Sheesh.

Not anything like those creepy, racist cartoon penguins.

[kenny blankenship]

36. Prevents a case of "screaming children"

funny ad.

[Karenina]

51. See link in post #48

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[RB TexLa]

39. That is funny!

That is a cool ad campaign

[entanglement]

41. Tasteless and offensive - but ad people don't really care, do they? n/t

[uppityperson]

42. Every sperm is sacred, every sperm is an unborn child. In other words, yes.

[JVS]

44. culture of death

[leftofthedial]

45. W-A-Y creepy

but I like creepy.

[Madspirit]

46. Kinda freaky

...because it doesn't call to mind birth control until you read what the product is; it looks like suffocating kids. Yeah, kinda creepy.
...kind of clever.

Lee

[Matsubara]

47. Way creepy.

Before I was ready for kids, I used condoms religously (oh yeah, I use them still, because two is enough!)

But this seems simultaneously anti-kid, while playing into the anti-choice idea that somehow these little zygotes are already "kids".


This would make me less likely to use this brand of condom - just creates negative associations in my mind.



But if it prevents the birth of unwanted kids for people with different sensibilities, I guess it could be a net good.

[NuttyFluffers]

50. like Carol Anne screaming from the Poltergeist dimension

i love it!

it sets out exactly what it wants to achieve, a creepy ethereal manifestation of horror involving children. except you just don't know how it involves children until you read the product and motto at the bottom. brilliant, i love it.

i think i'm going to use it as flavor art in the next Cthulhu Mythos RPG i run. "and through the window you see THIS!" */high-pitched-childish-scream* sadly most of my players would either role play shooting the kid, using it for a mythos experiment, or watch it be consumed by nightmare entities while eating popcorn. i love my friends! :D