Not Safe For America

December 23, 2003 10:16 AM

10 ads courtesy of AdAge.com (N.S.F.America)
posted by boost ventilator (21 comments total)

Interesting link. At the bottom of the page it mentions http://www.japander.com/ which is a place to see western stars making Japanese commercials that are not to be seen in America. More fun!
posted by ae4rv at 10:32 AM on December 23, 2003

The "Smith's Beer" one is wicked funny, as well as the Virgin Birth video (the last line in which, spoken offscreen, was perfect). It would be cooler if American ads were more like this instead of dudes getting whacked in the nuts and girls having erratic dance-spasms in Mitsubishi Eclipses. At least they would be entertaining subconsciously invasive propaganda for unnecessary things.
posted by wigu at 10:32 AM on December 23, 2003

Excellent stuff. Thanks.
posted by dobbs at 10:38 AM on December 23, 2003

Thanks - for some reason I was never able to see (i.e. get it to work on my computer) the Cog commercial in previous links. It's so nice when things just work.
posted by soyjoy at 10:42 AM on December 23, 2003

The N.Z anti-drug ad is just soooo gross. The FHM ad is brilliant, and could have worked just fine in the US if the blah blah was the Charlie Brown's adult speak: 'wahwahwah'. ;)
posted by dabitch at 10:46 AM on December 23, 2003

great links! don't miss the japanese simpsons ads at japander.com.
posted by bluno at 10:48 AM on December 23, 2003

adage.com says that the Mr Kipling ad was 'so offensive that it was pulled from the air' in the UK - is that the case? I swear I saw it a couple of days back.
posted by simcd at 11:03 AM on December 23, 2003

more end of year ad discussion in the UK:
posted by simcd at 11:05 AM on December 23, 2003

Does anyone have a link to a higher-resolution version of the Honda cog commercial?
posted by UKnowForKids at 11:07 AM on December 23, 2003

Ads as art, curious world. But some of these really are pretty cool.
Shame the American censors are so Victorian or we'd get some of the good stuff too.

Best ad I've seen in a long while? Gotta be this ad for hand rolled cigars. But its totally not work safe so be forewarned!
posted by fenriq at 11:14 AM on December 23, 2003

Whoa! That cigar ad was something else.
posted by jennyb at 11:22 AM on December 23, 2003

Fantastic! I enjoyed the Smith's beer ad as well.

The MeFi link for the Honda Ad from April is here, and you can look at the 100k version of it here. Wish it were better, but it's still genius at any level of resolution.
posted by psmealey at 11:50 AM on December 23, 2003

What the world needs now is more commercials like the cigar one.
posted by wsg at 12:25 PM on December 23, 2003

Aside from a few, like the Honda Cog ad (which is amazing), I'm glad these ads aren't appearing in American television. The Virgin Birth ad does sound offensive, and I really have no interest in seeing a guy snort his own brain on network television.

And as much as the Smith's Beer ad does sound funny (I bet it is), it also doesn't sound quite appropriate.
posted by tomorama at 1:33 PM on December 23, 2003

The FHM ad was predated long ago here in the US by a TV commercial for Dunkin Donuts. The talent said nothing but "blah blah blah" in perfect intonation that sounded reasonable. I think some text may have displayed at the bottom of the screen while this happened. I thought it was absolutely hilarious... but it was yanked because too many people didn't get it. Sigh.
posted by pmurray63 at 2:51 PM on December 23, 2003

What the world needs now is more commercials

God bless America. Saving the world, one commercial at a time.

What the world needs now is me, baby!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:14 PM on December 23, 2003

Brilliant. I didn't understand the gloss on the Smith's ad "Only a U.K. marketer would endorse such a loser as a brand spokesman -- and let him explain sex explicitly to a 4-year-old.". The whole point is that it's no-bullshit beer. Is Ad Age an American magazine, hence their not getting the point?
posted by Pericles at 1:04 AM on December 24, 2003

The guy that did the anti drug brain gore ad? I'm about to interview with him for a job. Wish me luck.
posted by Jubey at 1:33 AM on December 24, 2003

CapitalistMasturbationFilter
posted by Blue Stone at 3:32 AM on December 24, 2003

"But its totally not work safe so be forewarned!"

Huh. I thought that said "not totally work safe" and thought I'd take my chances. Oops.
posted by skryche at 7:03 AM on December 24, 2003

The Cog ad reminds me of an art piece I saw on NYC public access in the late 1980s. The chain reactions went on for a half hour. I always wondered who was behind that piece - maybe he ended up in advertising.
posted by neuroshred at 6:13 AM on December 31, 2003