If there’s one thing that really grinds our gears, it’s generic, vomit-inducing B.S. marketing imagery.
1. Puzzle pieces
We get it. Your brand is the missing piece. Blegh. But really, the only thing it’s missing is stopping power.
2. Handcrafted anything
Keep your filthy hands OUT of my martini!
![Pukey_Handshake]()
3. Handshakes
3. HandshakesWe could rattle off a bunch of examples, but let’s face it. A handshake just isn’t interesting.
4. Cutesy animals
Unless you’re the CMO of the ASPCA or PetSmart, keep the cute card in your pocket.
5. Actors portraying doctors
Patients already have trust issues. So why would they ever trust an actor draped in a white coat? While we’re at it, the obscene amount of blue in medical marketing has us seeing red, too.
Fun fact: Ideopia banned docs from ads, and won awards in the process.
6. The hourglass
Your customers? They went digital forever ago. And they don’t care what your brand did when Bush sat in the Oval Office. “What’re you gonna do for me NOW?”
7. Perfect, unrealistic food
If you can’t do it in your own kitchen without trick photography, glue or tweezers, don’t do it.
8. Sisyphus pushing a rock uphill
Ah, the ’ol Greek mythology metaphor. At least make it weird. Replace the rock with a potato or giant cheese ball.
Dig into this: Ideopia plays with food, makes funny faces in a campaign for food processing equipment maker Avure.
Look, we’ve had a bad day. And we’re haters on this topic. Not because we’re wretched advertising peeps, but because these kinds of stocky visuals make us – and your customers – want to hurl.
What did we miss? Grab a torch and tell us in the comments.
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