Monday, April 18, 2011

how a single banner ad represents why nobody clicks on banner ads anymore

Here I was minding my own business. I was listening to MATES #13. And as I am wont to do, I was googling things that they talk about while I listen. And MIB made a throwaway comment about melting m&m's on top of popcorn, so I googled it. I landed on this page.

And what did I see on the right side of the page? An enticing cinnamon roll.


The background here is that I am a cinnamon roll lover. I was drawn in by the picture. And then I saw the headline. "Low-Fat Clone of a Cinnabon."

Now let me be clear. At this stage of the game, I was already so disillusioned with banner ads that I DID NOT believe the headline was true. [Editor's note: the "I" in that sentence does not have added emphasis. It is merely capitalized per standard language rules.] It certainly doesn't look low fat. But I was curious about what this recipe might actually contain.

So I clicked it. When it says "click here to download this recipe" I assumed that it would take me to a page where I could view the recipe. Or that it would download a pdf of the recipe.

I was so naive.

When you click that ad, it takes you here:


Now, I'm no advertising expert. But it would seem that if I'm interested in what you are advertising, you should follow through on what you tease me with.

The end result: my beliefs are reinforced that no banner ad will ever provide me with what they promise.

Friday, April 08, 2011

this irks the shit out of me


Put the right name above the right person. Make the middle name bigger. Assemble the photo knowing the billing of the stars.

Edit: Since Niraj supports this, here's more.

The Lebowski DVD that I own:


A poster that I had to stare at for a month on the Green Line:

Annoying because they got one name right.