We have fond memories of poorly set up football crossover ads back in the day, were they terribly funny, or funny because they were terrible?
With the football season a few weeks away, the talk in the JOE office turned to some of our favourite, and least favourite football ads in years gone by. We posted our favourites of all time here but, inevitably, we also began talking about some of the ads that we loved and made us laugh, but partially because they were a little bit rubbish.
Not only did it feature some of Ireland’s best previous managers, but this ad also have a few lovely ladies at the end, how did those marketing geniuses know that would work in an ad for beer? We also like the idea of Johnny Giles wearing the big stereotypical manager’s sheepskin coat in the blazing heat of an Italian summer.
Poor aul Gareth Southgate couldn’t catch a break after he missed that penalty, and this ad (which nicely treads the line between being terrible and being funny because it’s terrible) capitalised on that. We’re still not quite sure how they made the connection between pizza and missing a penalty though…
Pat Jennings playing the part of an engine filter is every bit as bizarre as it sounds. We’ll give them a break seeing as this was still early days for getting footballers involved with brand sponsorship, but even in the past few decades they haven’t found a way to get goalies into ads, not even in Spain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gcvg_DffpE
We still say ‘Ave it!’ to this day when we dominate the defence for our Sunday league team. John Smith, no nonsense.
Unlike the Pizza Hut one, this McDonalds ad featuring Alan Shearer is definitely pure rubbish.
Back in the early 2000s, Smithwicks produced this fantastic ad featuring none other than Salvatore Schillaci, the man who ended our dreams of glory in 1990. Still, he was supplanted as public enemy number one a few years later by Thierry Henry, so no hard feelings by this stage Toto.
