CNN/Money has compiled their list of the fourteen most outrageous ads for 2005, and cars led the best of the worst
list with four. Maybe it shows that automakers are desperate to attract buyers, or maybe it just shows they’re stupid.
Who knows?
The hands down winner for the worst of the bottom ten is actually a hoax – a fake Volkswagen ad
for the European-market Polo, which shows a suicide bomber detonating a bomb inside his Polo, splattering the inside of
the car’s windows with blood and gore. The car remains intact and passersby are unharmed. The tagline at the end of the
satirical film: “Polo: small but tough.” (See the video here.) Other automobile “winners” – Lincoln and Dodge
Viper, with an honorable mention for Bentley, who featured in the (in)famous Paris Hilton car wash/hamburger ad.
Some of these ads were pulled so fast you may never have seen them, so check out CNN/Money’s gallery of
advertising shame if you’re in the mood for something different.