I mentioned in my previous post that I had joined up with Adbux. What I noticed is  that some advertisements are very insulting to potential customers.

One of them was from the Rich Jerk. I have no clue who this guy is, but the anchor text for the ad was: I can already tell I don’t like you. Now I know that this guy has been around for a while. In fact he advertises a lot. But to be honest, after reading how lazy he is and we’re not really worth his time, I tune out… I just take the 1 cent I get for ‘reading’ it and don’t pay any attention to what he has to say. I don’t like to do business with people who are lazy, arrogant and who have no respect for others.

Another one is for some fat loss program. The anchor text for the ad is: Fat loss for idiots, because you are a fat idiot. Now if I was overweight and I was looking for some fat loss ‘miracle’ I would certainly not be tempted to sign up with people who insult me. A lot of overweight people (of course there are plenty of exceptions) are embarrassed about their overweight and have  endured (a lot of) insults about their weight through out their life. I am sure that insulting them before even telling them how they can help them does not encourage people to sign up or buy their product.

So back to my question; Insulting Advertisement: does it work? I think a lot of people know who the Rich Jerk is, so in a way yes. And I’m sure that his way of marketing might lure a lot of people into buying his product or program. But personally I wouldn’t take a second look if people show so little respect for another person. Same thing goes for the weight loss for idiots. In my opinion you must be an idiot to buy a product of someone who insults you. On the other hand, I’m talking about it.. Controversy creates cash right?

How do you feel about these sort of advertisements?

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