3 of the Worst-Ever Tech Ads That Should Have Never Seen the Light of Day
Whoever said that no publicity is bad publicity hasn't seen some of the worst-ever tech ads.
According to Coherent Market Insights, the TV ad spend last year was worth $212.27 billion and is on pace to expand to $298.12 billion by 2030. That suggests a compound annual growth rate of 5% from 2023 to 2030. The research firm adds that TV advertising has long been a cornerstone of the ad sector. However, some tech firms fall short with their ads.
Keep reading to see three of the worst-ever tech ads -- ads that should have never aired.
1. Palm Pre Commercial (2009)
Do you remember the Palm Pre? Designed and marketed by Palm, it was a smartphone combining a sliding keyboard and multi-touch screen.
The smartphone featured webOS, which was Palm's Linux-based operating system. Hewlett-Packard bought the Palm brand in 2010 for $1.2 billion but discontinued the Palm product lineup in 2011. But you probably want to hear about the ad.
The ad ran in 2009. It was a time when the iPhone and Android were growing into the dominant behemoths they have become in the smartphone space. But the Palm Pre commercial, part of a bid to challenge the market leaders, blew it big time.
The 2009 ad featured Tamara Hope, an actress, who was positioned in front of a backdrop. She talked about reincarnation and other things unrelated to smartphones. Rather than leaving consumers wanting more, the ad left people wondering what in the world they had just watched.
Maybe the commercial turned them off the Palm Pre and onto the iPhone and Android.
2. "What's a Computer?" (2018)
Another super-weird commercial in the tech space was the "What's a Computer?" ad in 2018. While Apple usually has a knack for good ads -- everyone remembers the "There's an app for that" line -- but it has a few stinkers, too. One of them was the 2018 commercial where a youngster asks the question: "What's a computer?"
It's an innocent question, but neither the question nor the ad was well received. In the commercial, the young boy used an iPad Pro, a keyboard case, and an Apple Pencil. The ad pushed the narrative that the tablet era was such that nobody used -- let alone knew about -- computers. But who was Apple trying to fool? Tablets are great and all, but they still can't replace full-fledged computers, especially laptops for gamers. At least not yet anyway.
3. What "HTC" Stands For Commercial (2013)
The 2013 ad featured Robert Downey Jr. explaining what "HTC" stood for. For the record, "HTC" stands for "High Tech Computer." Because the meaning of "HTC" wasn't widely known, HTC retained the services of Mr. Iron Man himself to answer a question nobody asked.
The actor appeared in various ads. They were lighthearted ads where the actor offered fictitious answers for what "HTC" stood for. He offered responses like "Hold This Car" and "Hot Tea Catapult." It was silly -- maybe humorous for small children -- but was not an ideal way to sell phones.
These are three examples of some pretty awful tech commercials over the years. But the good news is there are some good ones, too. When in the mood for some tech ads, past and present, head to YouTube. That's where ads go to live forever -- the good and the bad.
