F'd Ad Fridays: Abdominal Tyres

Over the course of writing a blog, you notice certain trends evolving. Looking back on the past year, I realize that I seem to feature more campaigns I hate than ones I love. This is natural, I guess, because it's easier to criticize than to praise someone else's work, and readers reward me with more hits on the snarkier posts.

To try to keep this tendency from getting out of control (as the ad blogosphere already has Copyranter), I am going to try to save my vitriol for one special day a week: Fucked Ad Fridays.

For my inaugural F'd Ad, I present for your displeasure what is quite possibly the work of India's worst (and most sexist) Copywriter:

Click to expand... if you dare.

I'll let Jezebel take the first shot:

"Glad as we are to know the term "dirty tummy," this ad is depressing on several levels. Retrograde sexism? Check. Man-centric universe? Check. Snake-oil "remedy"? Check. And let's not forget the denigration of exercise!"

And this was not some random flyer that arrived in the junk mail. It appeared front page on The Hindu, a respected national newspaper.

And then there's the actual copy, which appears to have been gone through at least three rounds of Google Translate, and the complete lack of art direction. But those are just details. The most disturbing thing is that this product marketing strategy is obviously considered popular enough to justify such a massive media spend.

Holy eff.