Ford’s Flying Car Con-Fusion

This week's edition is from Ford:

The fine print is small, but obvious:

Whew, I was getting worried Ford was on to something. In this ad, they cleverly put the subject matter of the fine print in the main message of the Fusion commercial. While it hints at the fine print in the narration, it still requires the disclaimer to cover their bases. At least they tout the features of the car instead of focusing solely on what it clearly cannot do. Unfortunately, I do not think Thelma and Louise saw the fine print. Oops. 

Chevy Sonic Skates Around the Issue

This week's ad is another car commercial, this time from Chevy:

Here is the fine print:

The ad is so long and obviously misleading, it needs two disclaimers:

I thought after the long ad the car turned it a skateboard, but the clarification helps. Instead of showing what it clearly cannot do for 60 seconds, why couldn't the ad show its actual capabilities? Does it have good gas mileage? Great handling? Or just that the seatbelts work on a milk carton?

Nissan Sign and Not Test Drive Ad

This week's ad is from Nissan:


The fine print is at the beginning:

While the fine print in this is clever, I am not sure it is even necessary. The ad does not portray the action as a test drive until the end of the commercial, and even then, its not clear that the earlier desert scene is a test drive. But I always wanted to test drive a car by doing donuts in the desert with other cars in the way. Bummer. 

Pitbull’s Fiat Ad is For the Dogs

Here is this week's edition from Fiat:


The fine print was at the end:

What should we not attempt in this ad? Drive in the sand? Dance on the beach in a tux? Wear a tight European speedo/briefs thing? Listen to Pitbull? Oh, drive on water. Gotcha.

Oscar Mayer Trying to Hot Dog It

This week’s edition comes from Oscar Mayer hot dogs:



Here is the clever fine print:

The main joke of the fine print is not even necessary, but there is a hidden gem when I took a second look.

You would think Oscar Mayer would be better at spelling considering their original classic commercial focused on spelling.

No Infinite Fun in Infinity’s Ad?

This edition is from Infiniti:

This slick ad has plenty of fine print, but I noticed a particular one:

Well that ruins the fun, and the whole point of the commercial. What is the point of driving the car if you cannot race it like a formula 1 car in a grand prix? If they are actually only driving 70 mph in the earlier fine print, then why can’t they drive similarly at those speeds? What a letdown. I was really looking forward to seeing someone take their four door sedan out for a spin in the middle of an Indy car race. On a side note, I have watched the ad about ten times, and still have no idea what she is asking for. Maybe they should work on clear sound editing instead of gimmicks.

Thanks to reader Erryn Gallasch for the idea submission.

Toshiba’s Over the Top Laptop Lab Ad

This week’s installment is from Toshiba:

At the end of the list of fine print is the one to notice:

Considering there is no such thing as a professional medical test subject, Toshiba does not have to worry about lawsuits over this commercial. The FTC is not going to crack down on a deceptive use of a so called expert, when experts in the field obviously do not exist. Even the fine print is so small you can barely read it. Maybe they should have used the time and effort on better makeup and graphics.