Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly Unhinged Advertising: The Power of the Absurd
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Apr 4, 2026 A romp through intentionally strange ads that grab attention with shock and surreal humor. Stories include bizarre Super Bowl spots, odd product stunts, and campaigns that trade polish for memorability. The conversation highlights how absurdity and deliberate weirdness help brands cut through online noise. Expect wild creative choices and marketing gambles that became unforgettable.
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Terrible Portraits Turned A Party Gag Into A Business
- Jacob Reno set up a farmer's market booth offering "terrible portraits" for $5 drawn in five minutes and drew huge lines of customers.
- His intentionally awful drawings became popular because they were disarming, social, and made people laugh, turning a party stunt into a full-time business.
Weird Ads Compete With Internet Culture
- Advertisers increasingly use weird, surreal commercials because oddness can make ads memorable and shareable.
- Surreal humour cuts through the digital noise by creating moments that people talk about and circulate on social media.
E-Trade Wasted $2 Million To Make A Point
- E-Trade's Year 2000 Super Bowl spot showed a monkey dancing for 18 seconds and a card reading "Well, we've just wasted $2 million."
- The self-referential, absurd ad mocked Super Bowl spending and became a lasting case study in memorable PR.