http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/NightmareFuel/Advertising

This is based on opinion. Please don't list it on a work's trope example list.

"Beware the Judderman my dear, when the moon is fat ..."

— easportsbig899, on TNT's "Walking the Bird" promo. "This is like if you took every psychopathic thought anyone's ever had and put them all together to make an advert."

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Isn't it surprising the lengths some advertisers will go to make you buy things?

Particularly scary commercials can become a Memetic Mutation, and in decades' time fall into Pop-Cultural Osmosis. Unfortunately, the side effect is that nobody can remember, "What Were They Selling Again?"

Due to the sheer amount of nightmare fuel they always give off, PSAs and PIFs not only have a subpage, they have subpages of that subpage.

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Automotives

Beverages

Breakfast Cereal

Advertisement:

Confectionery

Electronics

Fast Food Restaurants

Halloween Events

Health Products

There was a commercial for a carb bar, and it took place in a baby shower. One of the women in said shower offered the pregnant woman some cake, to which the pregnant woman declined, instead sticking to eating said carb bar. Then, without warning, the face of the woman who offered the cake went all demonic and scary. Also a case of What Were They Selling Again?, as absolutely no one knows the name of the carb bar being advertised.

People laughed when LifeCall / LifeAlert did their famous "I've fallen, and I can't get up!" commercial. They aren't laughing now.

Some anti-depressant commercials choose to portray the "depression" as a cute little blob of sadness. Apparently, somebody in charge of a commercial advertising anti-abdominal pain/diarrhea medicine thought that this was a neat concept, and designed this horrifying thing ◊ : a happy, smiling lump of knotted intestine.

: a happy, smiling lump of knotted intestine. Print adverts for Risperdal, an antipsychotic medication, feature pastel drawings of people having schizophrenic episodes. All effectively drive home the slogan's message that relapses "are a living nightmare". Bryn believes that his Scottish descendants sear his flesh with boiling rain. The image depicts just that, as Bryn kneels in the rain — hands buried in face — as steam rises from his cowering body. Mary remains seated in a chair, dehydrated and unable to control her bowels, claiming witches are perched on her back. Said witches are depicted as black-hooded beings with creepy, emotionless humanoid faces. The kicker? Mary couldn't move for three days. Edward hallucinates that other peoples' flesh rot and fall off. The art style makes his horrified face rather creepy-looking. Amelia ◊ believes herself to be stalked by a menacing dog...and that she and the dog are merged together. Andrew thinks demons inhabit his chest; the image depicts him unbuttoning his shirt to reveal a cluster of tiny, bald heads. Perhaps the most surreal of the bunch.

The "Crime in America" infomercial, broadcast in the mid-90s as an advertisement for a self-defense stun gun, begins with a viewer discretion warning before hitting the viewer with a fast-paced montage of child abuse, date rape, gang violence, home intrusion, old people being robbed, voyeurism...pretty much any crime you can think of that would give the average housewife enough nightmares to convince her to buy a stun gun. We also hear the audio of a woman's frantic 911 call as a man is inside her house; we hear her shout "No, leave me alone!", and her fate is left unknown. See it for yourself here .

. Aczone Mirror Faces has a woman who walks into her work area to see many people with hand mirrors for heads staring at her with her reflection surrounding the area and this goes on until she uses the Aczone product and now the people's heads are normal. It's creepy because of how uncanny the people looked with hand mirrors for heads! Some of the reflections might be creepy as well especially her eyes in the mirrors!

Insurance

GEICO The "This is the money you could be saving with Geico" ads. They feature a stack of bills with unblinking googly eyes, just staring into the camera. The song playing in the background, "Somebody's Watching Me", turns the ad from Uncanny Valley into Paranoia Fuel, although it is mild compared to some of the items on this list, given that it straddles the line between creepy and cute. In this spoof of children's cereal commercials, the CGI mascot looks rather horrifying at the end, when he removes his Cool Shades, glares at the viewer in closeup, and asks, "Why haven't you called Geico?"

This Progressive ad begins with a mom driving a car. She briefly turns around to look at her infant. All of a sudden, a person from the car's hood pops out and begins sucking the window, complete with Scare Chord. She turns back and screams upon seeing said person. Even more people pop up, and she tries to get rid of them in various ways. The ad ends with her placing Progressive's Snapshot into the car, and the people slide off the car and walk away.

Progressive ad begins with a mom driving a car. She briefly turns around to look at her infant. All of a sudden, a person from the car's hood pops out and begins sucking the window, complete with Scare Chord. She turns back and screams upon seeing said person. Even more people pop up, and she tries to get rid of them in various ways. The ad ends with her placing Progressive's Snapshot into the car, and the people slide off the car and walk away. The singing truck ad from Safe Auto. It's pure Uncanny Valley. If a vehicle is going to sing, you expect the hood to open, not the bumper. You would spend years expecting the area between the bumper and the grill of vehicles to open up and bite you. And you sure don't expect the headlights to suddenly to look just like eyes and stare at you but be unable to turn, as if it can't see anything directly to its right or left. Then it openly mocks the other vehicles that break down for trying to move loads that are too heavy. It would be like watching a human break their leg and then someone else just sing about how funny that was and walk away.

from Safe Auto. It's pure Uncanny Valley. If a vehicle is going to sing, you expect the hood to open, not the bumper. You would spend years expecting the area between the bumper and the grill of vehicles to open up and bite you. And you sure don't expect the headlights to suddenly to look just like eyes and stare at you but be unable to turn, as if it can't see anything directly to its right or left. Then it openly mocks the other vehicles that break down for trying to move loads that are too heavy. It would be like watching a human break their leg and then someone else just sing about how funny that was and walk away. In one GEICO radio commercial, the narrator talks about how she's jealous of Geico's job. She tells the listener she is a glue stick, and her job is to be used with kids. The ad is silly until the end, we hear the sound of children running in from recess and that's when it becomes scary. The voice starts to try to catch the attention of the school teacher not being heard wanting to be saved, as the children are obviously going to use her up. Then the commercial ends without any resolution.

Movies

Other Food

Personal Care Products

Old Spice's "Momsong"/"Dadsong" ad campaign runs on the principle that Freud was right, featuring tearful mothers stalking their teenage sons as they go on dates and fathers rejoicing at having the competition out of the house, singing all the while. If this Oedipal nightmare weren't creepy enough on its own, at the end of the Dadsong spot where one mother's arms extend snakily over her husband's shoulders, across the living room floor, and up the wall to stroke a picture of her son. The visuals combined with the theme will make you want a shower (and not with Old Spice). See Mom Song here and Dad Song here. In the bright side, the ads are pretty hilarious.

and Dad Song here. In the bright side, the ads are pretty hilarious. Back in the 1980's, there was a Japanese commercial for Kleenex. This ad featured a woman in a white dress and an infant dressed as a creature from Japanese mythology in a red room that was empty except for some Kleenex. The ad had very unfitting, but catchy music (It's A Fine Day, by Miss Jane). The ads received complaints from Japanese viewers, who said the imagery and the song (which some claimed sounded similar to a German curse) were disturbing, and were subsequently pulled off the air. Due to the ad's disturbing nature, there has been talk that the commercial was cursed and that everyone involved in the production of the ad either died or suffered terribly. For example, many say that the infant was killed by the paint used on it for the ad, and depending on the version of the myth you're hearing, the woman either killed herself in a mental asylum or gave birth to a demon baby. There was also a rumor that if the ad was played at midnight, it would become very distorted and would be even more creepy. In addition, many believed that the viewing of this ad at midnight would curse the viewer and ultimately cause their death shortly after. There was also another ad that aired around the same time, that also tried to be charming with the little girl dressed as an angel while blowing around tissues in slo-mo, but the dark shed setting accompanied with the creepy Gregorian chanting suggests the opposite. It's practically a Dada Ad.

This ad featured a woman in a white dress and an infant dressed as a creature from Japanese mythology in a red room that was empty except for some Kleenex. The ad had very unfitting, but catchy music (It's A Fine Day, by Miss Jane). The ads received complaints from Japanese viewers, who said the imagery and the song (which some claimed sounded similar to a German curse) were disturbing, and were subsequently pulled off the air. An advertisement for Sure woman's deodorant featured women riding a "ghost train" attraction at a carnival, which features Uncanny Valley animatronic displays that portray typical life situations that girls face which might cause them to sweat (a teacher yelling at them to "come up to the blackboard", a puppet father showing off his embarrassing dance moves, and an unnerving little boy on a bicycle). Some might find the ad hilarious, while others might be unsettled by the out-worldly mannequins. Child Animatronic: [innocently] I like to read... [sinisterly] YOUR EMAILS! [laughs manically as the girls in the car scream in horror]] [innocently] I like to read... [sinisterly][laughs manically as the girls in the car scream in horror]] They made another one , featuring the teacher and creepy little boy from the first advert, along with different new scenes: a father figure coming to "collect [the riders]" at a rave, a grandmother showing her newly-made knitted sweater, and two parents chastising the riders for returning home late. A horror movie-like soundtrack plays throughout. Special points go to the part in the beginning with a child puppet watching in the shadows, the teacher literally losing her head — which bobs from strings whilst laughing — and the little boy animatronic at the end, which actually chases after the ride vehicle. There's a U.S. version made for Degree Girl , that starts the same way. It starts with teacher, who tells them "You girls, come to the front of the class!", followed by the father who comes to take them home, and instead of the boy on a bicycle, it's replaced by a police officer who tells them, "License and registration" please, causing the girls to scream.

featured women riding a "ghost train" attraction at a carnival, which features Uncanny Valley animatronic displays that portray typical life situations that girls face which might cause them to sweat (a teacher yelling at them to "come up to the blackboard", a puppet father showing off his embarrassing dance moves, and an unnerving little boy on a bicycle). Some might find the ad hilarious, while others might be unsettled by the out-worldly mannequins.

Pest Control

Orkin had a series of commercials in which a creepy person repeatedly tries to get into suburban homes using a variety of flimsy stories, such as delivering a pizza , his car broke down and he wants to call his brother , etc. The creepy part is that the person is a six-foot tall termite/ant/cockroach. Not a guy in a cute costume, but a giant, talking, realistic-looking CG insect that sounds like a serial killer. One can hope that someone thought it would be funny, perhaps they wanted it to be just a little creepy. What they managed was "Giant alien insects are going to try and con their way into your homes to rape you and dangle your intestines from the ceiling". That would suffice better for an ad for a new shotgun. There's another one where a giant mosquito tries to get into a pool with a couple that were having a romantic moment. He drops his swimsuit and asks "are we...dipping skinny" before the Orkin guy shows up. This one has a vacationing family return to find two rats playing guitar in their living room. One of the rats says "You were not supposed to be back until Sunday." and then adds "we could use the boy on drums" in this menacing tone that sounds like he's going to rape and murder them all then and there. Makes the Orkin guy practically look like a Big Damn Hero. And just when you thought it couldn't get worse... During the 2011 bedbug scare in New York City, Orkin released a new commercial about a woman chatting with someone in a singles bar...a someone that was another six-foot, realistic looking bedbug. That alone is terrifying, but the ending sees the bedbug asking her, "What do you say we go back to your place?" Considering what kind of creature this is, and where you find them, the Unfortunate Implications couldn't be any clearer.

, his car broke down and he wants to call his brother , etc. The creepy part is that the person is a six-foot tall termite/ant/cockroach. Not a guy in a cute costume, but a giant, talking, realistic-looking CG insect that sounds like a serial killer. One can hope that someone thought it would be funny, perhaps they wanted it to be just a little creepy. What they managed was "Giant alien insects are going to try and con their way into your homes to rape you and dangle your intestines from the ceiling". That would suffice better for an ad for a new shotgun. There's another one where a giant mosquito tries to get into a pool with a couple that were having a romantic moment. He drops his swimsuit and asks "are we...dipping skinny" before the Orkin guy shows up. This Filipino ad for Baygon, starts with the shot of a cockroach egg behind a fridge in the middle of the night. A text appears, reading that the egg contains 28 roaches. As the camera pans away from the egg, the text fades out and another fades in, stating there are 1,000 eggs in the house. As the cockroach who laid the egg crawls out of the fridge, a man squashes it with a sandal. Then a voiceover says, "It's not enough to kill the one you can see, because they'll quick be 28,000 left behind, and they'll want revenge." Cue the man turning back as we hear sounds of bugs crawling; he starts to panic and scream in terror as a massive swarm of cockroaches is crawling out of every corner of the kitchen as if going out to get him.

Political Advertisements

The very first negative political TV ad in the United States was Lyndon B.Johnson's iconic 1964 campaign ad "Daisy" . A little girl innocently counts the petals on a flower in a meadow, before looking up suddenly, at which point the frame freezes and we are treated to an extreme close-up of her eye. While this occurs, a male announcer has begun counting down to one. At the count of one, shots of nuclear explosions and firestorms play until the ad concludes with Lyndon Johnson's voice: "These are the stakes: to make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." Then the voiceover, by sportscaster Chris Schenkel: "Vote for President Johnson on Nov 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home." The ad — obviously referencing Cold War nuclear paranoia — was broadcast only once and has since gone down in history as one of the most successful ads ever: Johnson won a landslide victory.

. A little girl innocently counts the petals on a flower in a meadow, before looking up suddenly, at which point the frame freezes and we are treated to an extreme close-up of her eye. While this occurs, a male announcer has begun counting down to one. At the count of one, shots of nuclear explosions and firestorms play until the ad concludes with Lyndon Johnson's voice: "These are the stakes: to make a world in which all of God's children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die." Then the voiceover, by sportscaster Chris Schenkel: "Vote for President Johnson on Nov 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home." The ad — obviously referencing Cold War nuclear paranoia — was broadcast only once and has since gone down in history as one of the most successful ads ever: Johnson won a landslide victory. Tom Campbell. Is he what he tells us? Yes, it's Carly Fiorina's infamous "Demon Sheep" advert, widely considered one of the weirdest political adverts ever made.

Yes, it's Carly Fiorina's infamous "Demon Sheep" advert, widely considered one of the weirdest political adverts ever made. This Nixon ad from 1968 shows still frames from what appears to be the Democratic National Convention, with patriotic music playing in the background. However, every time the ad focuses on Hubert Humphrey, the image is distorted, the music turns into a creepy echo, and we're shown images of violence, war, and poverty. At the end, before the image begins to distort once more, the ad suddenly shifts to text on a black background, with no music playing, asking the viewer to vote like their world depended on it.

Sit-Down Restaurants

In early-1995, Chuck E. Cheese's ran a pretty spooky commercial where three kids were at a German, Chinese and Mexican restaurant looking at their food in disgust (with some pretty creepy culture-appropriate music playing in the background - such as an off-key yodeler for the German restaurant). The kids all whined "I should've said Chuck E. Cheese please" and were abruptly teleported to a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant.

where three kids were at a German, Chinese and Mexican restaurant looking at their food in disgust (with some pretty creepy culture-appropriate music playing in the background - such as an off-key yodeler for the German restaurant). The kids all whined "I should've said Chuck E. Cheese please" and were abruptly teleported to a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. This 1969 ad for IHOP tries to be whimsical with its Moog synthesizer music, Chipmunk singing and footage of a family running in slow motion, but the execution is just disturbingly surreal.

for IHOP tries to be whimsical with its Moog synthesizer music, Chipmunk singing and footage of a family running in slow motion, but the execution is just disturbingly surreal. Chuck E. Cheese's 1994 Crabs ad. The announcer tells the viewers that Chuck E. Cheese's has pizza, games, and prizes while seafood resturant has crabs. It's tame until the very end, where a giant crab monster making silly sounds waddles toward the boy who backs away in fear. He shouts, "I should've said Chuck E. Cheese!". Chuck E. comes in, throws the net over the crab saving the boy, and he takes the boy to his resturant. While the sound the crab monster makes is funny, the aspect of the crab is creepy.

Satellite TV Providers

In 1998, when British Sky Broadcasting were launching their new Sky Digital TV satellite service in order to promote their launch, BSkyB composed this advertisement of different 90's era televisions seemingly moving, floating and flying about and wreaking themselves apart in various and apparently brutal and violent ways.



This at first might not sound like much; however, along with all the different TV sets doing everything from flying about, breaking their own exteriors or just plain exploding on the spot, there are messages appearing on the screen of each television something along the line of I have so much more to give and I can do so much more, all while being shown in various locations ranging from a darkly lit living room, to the middle of a forest in the night, to a hospital ward on a patient's bed to a children's roundabout right in the middle of a deserted beach-cliffside like something out of Prypiat, Ukraine meets the opening to Terminator 2 Judgmentday (Flaming TV set not withstanding).



Couple that with a disturbing choir-soundtrack and substantially executed quick an dramatic editing of all these situations much like something you would expect to see in an Aphex Twin music video, all to get to the view of another cliffside with more TVs attempting to throw themselves of the cliff, only to be stopped by a sky digital truck passing by, before the advert's intended message comes up saying that: From this day forth, all televisions great and small will be able to reach their full potential followed by: Sky Digital It's what your television's been crying out for.



of different 90's era televisions seemingly moving, floating and flying about and wreaking themselves apart in various and apparently brutal and violent ways. This at first might not sound like much; however, along with all the different TV sets doing everything from flying about, breaking their own exteriors or just plain exploding on the spot, there are messages appearing on the screen of each television something along the line of I have so much more to give and I can do so much more, all while being shown in various locations ranging from a darkly lit living room, to the middle of a forest in the night, to a hospital ward on a patient's bed to a children's roundabout right in the middle of a deserted beach-cliffside like something out of Prypiat, Ukraine meets the opening to Terminator 2 Judgmentday (Flaming TV set not withstanding). Couple that with a disturbing choir-soundtrack and substantially executed quick an dramatic editing of all these situations much like something you would expect to see in an Aphex Twin music video, all to get to the view of another cliffside with more TVs attempting to throw themselves of the cliff, only to be stopped by a sky digital truck passing by, before the advert's intended message comes up saying that: From this day forth, all televisions great and small will be able to reach their full potential followed by: It's what your television's been crying out for. The DirecTV ads that are meant to show how ugly wires are - they have a man married to a woman who is a hideous-looking puppet with wires. This gets really creepy in the second commercial where the man's son appears...who is also a puppet. A third commercial has the puppet woman trying to look sexy for her husband.

Stores

This 2014 IKEA ad shouldn't be Nightmare Fuel. Unfortunately, due to the narrator's Creepy Monotone and the lack of context to her words, it is.

Television Shows/Networks

Theme Park Attractions

Toys

The now-infamous commercial for the "Baby-Laughs-A-Lot" doll was intended to be cute and funny, but fails at that in every single way imaginable.

for the "Baby-Laughs-A-Lot" doll was intended to be cute and funny, but fails at that in every single way imaginable. Similarly to the above, the commercial for the "Baby Secret" doll also fails horribly in being cute, as the whispering noises it makes sound straight-up demonic.

for the "Baby Secret" doll also fails horribly in being cute, as the whispering noises it makes sound straight-up demonic. Transformer Commericals from the 90's are pretty awesome back then showing Transformer toys and robots with cool retro music playing in the background but the ending of the commericals are very scary because at the end of each commerical the boy's eyes turned green and he speaks in the robotic tone saying. "More than meets the eye!" It's scary because of how he stared at the screen while speaking in the robotic voice that almost looked like he's been taken over by the Devil himself!

Video Games

Unsorted