Top 10 Most Controversial Billboards and Poster Ads Ever

Advertising and marketing heads are consistently looking for new, refreshing and exciting ways to get their brand noticed through ad campaigns. Sometimes the idea can be funny, bizarre, thought provoking, or just downright offensive. More often than not, the latter option is what tends to stick in the public’s imagination, which is why boundaries are forever being pushed. But how far is too far?

10. Maritalaffair.co.uk

A billboard poster for maritalaffair.co.uk showed a man’s naked upper body with a women’s bra laying over his shoulder. The headline read “HELLO GIRLS, get instant excitement”. It attracted complaints because it encouraged extra-marital affairs. The ASA said there was nothing offensive in the content of the ad, and that the website is not their concern, so the ad remained.

9. Deleted for some reason…

8. PETA

Credit: Top10queensocial

PETA has been very clever with their ads, and also controversial. You may have seen their ads with naked celebrities, saying they’d rather go naked than wear fur. One of the more controversial has a photo of Tiger Woods and reads “Too much sex can be a bad thing, …for little tigers too. Keep your cats (and dogs) out of trouble: Always spay or neuter!”

7. PETA

Credit: marketingnacozinha

PETA strikes again with a billboard featuring an overweight woman in a bathing suit. “Save The Whales. Lose the blubber: go vegetarian. This insulting billboard drew a lot of attention, and was removed shortly after it was put up.

6. Robbins Diamonds

Credit: XeBu.nl

From a distance it looks like the woman in this ad is angry and giving you the finger, but with a closer look you will see that she is showing her ring finger instead. The text reads, “She’s tired of waiting”. A charming and clever hint to get men out to buy that engagement ring.

5. The Weatherproof Garment Company

This coat manufacturer found a photo of President Obama wearing their coat at the Great Wall of China. Without his permission they boldly posted the photo on a billboard in Times Square with the tag line “Weatherproof, the leader in style”.

4. Ellis Miller

Outraged with how things were done in the White House, Ellis Miller from Texas was so unhappy with the health care bill, she paid for an anti-Obama billboard, that read “Voted Obama? Embarrassed Yet?”

3. TheRepublicanSong.com

Politics is often a dirty game. A controversial billboard paid for by Republicans showed a photo of the smoking world trade center after the attack. The billboard read “Please Don’t Vote For a Democrat” The billboard was intended as support for Republicans, but both Republicans and Democrats thought that it was inappropriate. Did they forget a Republican was president when the attack occurred?

2. Borgemann and Sahr funeral home

A creatively placed ad can have as much impact as the ad itself. This funeral company placed an ad on a subway wall across the tracks from the train goers. The Billboard read “Come a little closer”.

1. World Wildlife Federation

The 9/11 attacks remain a soft spot for many people around the world. A poster made by the WWF showed an image of New York City with dozens of jets flying towards the world trade center. The poster read “The Tsunami killed 100 times more people than 9/11. The planet is brutally powerful. Respect it. Preserve it.”

Topic: Amazing