Ragu's recent ad following a young boy as he walks in on his parents in the bedroom, has stirred debate over how children are featured in ads. While children in ads tend to illicit feelings of kindness and tenderness, they can also make viewers feel a little, well, awkward.

And, this got us thinking: how else have advertisers used children in awkward situations to sell products?

There has to be a reason these borderline creepy ads are effective. For one thing, according to Psychology Today, effective advertising occurs when you “take a product and to put it next to lots of other things that we already feel positively about.” For most people, seeing a picture of a child, no matter what the context, incites such positive feelings.

To demonstrate just how well this works, we put together a slideshow of 12 of the most awkward television and print ads featuring children. The list focuses on ads intended to sell products or services, and does not include public service announcements.