15 Ads That Tried Way Too Hard to Be Edgy
These ads wanted to be rebellious or cool — but ended up confusing, cringey, or just plain weird.
- Daisy Montero
- 4 min read
Some ads push the envelope in a good way. However, some blew past the line, hoping shock value would sell the message. Whether it was using chaos for clout or leaning into controversy that didn’t land, these campaigns had people scratching their heads.
1. Kendall Jenner’s Pepsi Protest
Adanola on Wikimedia Commons
Pepsi’s attempt to capitalize on social activism came across as tone-deaf and out of touch. The ad showed Kendall Jenner handing a Pepsi to a police officer during a protest, as if that solved systemic issues. It was pulled almost immediately after public backlash.
2. Burger King’s “Women Belong in the Kitchen”
Oast House Archive on Wikimedia Commons
Burger King UK tweeted this on International Women’s Day, hoping to promote culinary scholarships for women. However, starting with a sexist trope, even ironically, backfired on them. The internet did not find it clever — just offensive.
3. Sony’s All-White PSP Billboard
Sony youtube on Wikimedia Commons
Sony released a PSP in white and thought a billboard featuring a white woman grabbing a Black woman’s face was the way to promote it. The message was supposedly about contrast, but it looked like racial dominance. Unsurprisingly, it was taken down after public outcry.
4. Diesel’s “Be Stupid” Campaign
Ingo Joseph on pexels
Diesel encouraged people to “Be Stupid” in a series of chaotic, surreal ads. The brand attempted to portray it as bold and daring, but it came across as encouraging reckless behavior. It earned more eye rolls than inspiration.
5. Nivea’s “White Is Purity” Ad
Abhishek Dinesh on Pexels
In a deodorant ad, Nivea used the slogan “White is Purity.” The internet immediately pointed out how problematic and racially insensitive it sounded. The backlash was swift, and the ad was pulled.
6. Bloomingdale’s “Spike Her Eggnog”
Ron Lach on Pexels
This print ad implied drugging a friend during the holidays, “so she’s into you.” What was meant to be cheeky turned into a PR nightmare. The brand apologized, but not before damaging its image.
7. Calvin Klein’s Creepy Stairwell Shot
TH Team on Pexels
An ad featured a young woman being photographed under her skirt in a stairwell, echoing voyeuristic themes. Calvin Klein claimed it was “boundary-pushing art.” Most people just called it gross.
8. Snickers’ “You’re Not Yourself When You’re Hungry” Gay Panic Twist
Cemrecan Yurtman on Pexels
In one version of this campaign, two men accidentally kiss while eating a Snickers, then overcompensate with “manly” acts. The humor relied on outdated homophobic tropes. It was quietly dropped after pushback.
9. Dolce & Gabbana’s Chopsticks Debacle
Eva Rinaldi on Wikimedia Commons
In a video ad, a Chinese woman struggles to eat Italian food with chopsticks, while a narrator condescends in a fake Mandarin accent. The backlash was massive, especially in China. The brand lost major contracts over it.
10. Axe Body Spray’s Over-the-Top Masculinity
Dannycas on Wikimedia Commons
Axe ads leaned so hard into the idea that spray would mean women swarming you; it felt like satire. Their early 2000s campaigns were pure chaos and testosterone overload. It was edgy at the time, but now reads like a cringeworthy time capsule.
11. GoDaddy’s Gross-Out Humor
GoDaddy on Wikimedia Commons
GoDaddy loved to be controversial, usually at the expense of taste. One ad involved a nerdy guy making out with a supermodel in a long, uncomfortable close-up. People talked about it — but mostly because they were grossed out.
12. Hyundai’s Suicide-Inspired Ad
Erik Mclean on Pexels
Hyundai aired an ad showing a man attempting suicide by carbon monoxide, only to fail because the car had clean emissions. It was meant to show how eco-friendly their cars were. Viewers were horrified.
13. PETA’s In-Your-Face Shaming
PETA; extracted by User:Stepshep on Wikimedia Commons
PETA has never been subtle, but some of their ads took body shaming and guilt-tripping to new levels. One compared overweight people to whales. Another compared eating meat to the Holocaust.
14. Skittles’ “Taste the Rainbow” Gets Weird
Erik Mclean on Pexels
Skittles leaned all the way into absurdism, but sometimes crossed into creepy. One ad featured a man who turned everything he touched into Skittles — sadly including his loved ones. It was weirdly tragic for a candy ad.
15. Bloom Ads That Confused Everyone
Kaboompics.com on pexels
Bloom Skincare once ran ads filled with cryptic, edgy one-liners like “Your face is a canvas — burn it.” People weren’t sure whether it was art or just an attempt to be too dark. The confusion never turned into interest.