Osama Been Advertised.
You destroy the World Trade Center, you become an ad linchpin. Free article.
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Though not as popular a linchpin as Obama or Hitler, OBL (CIA code name “Jackpot”) has been used in quite a few ads since 9/11, some of them not bad, most of them not good. 10 ads presented with little commentary because it’s fucking Saturday and it’s a free article.
1. BUCKLE UP
OBL was killed on May 2nd, 2011. This fake seatbelt PSA was released just four days later. So, Bravo.
2. KINDERSNOETJES (Children’s Photography)
Yes, that OBL at ten-years-old. Looks more evil than “cute” to me. Ad agency: Duval Guillaume, Antwerp, Belgium. From 2007.
3. SAMMY-400 (India)
Arthritis medicine. “When they rub each other the wrong way”. OBL has a bone to pick with W. Ha. Ad agency: Sorento Healthcare Communications, Mumbai, India.
4. LUGERA & MAKLER (Romania)
Headhunters. Just fucking lame. Ad agency: Starlink Group, Bucharest.
5. PRECISION LASER TATTOO REMOVAL (Toronto)
Ad was produced in March, 2011, two months before Navy SEAL Team Six put a bullet or three in OBL’s head. What did you know, Canada? I wonder who, besides a very drunk frat dude, would get a Bin Laden tattoo—and then want to get it removed? Ad agency: Maclaren McCann, Canada.
6. DOC MORRIS (Germany)
SPERM LADEN. This was part of a generic condom campaign put out by the German pharmacy chain. There were also Adolf “Jitler” and Mao executions.
7. CAREER BUILDER (Brazil)
THE RIGHT JOB KEEPS YOU OUT OF TROUBLE. Not terrible. Via The Miami Ad School, São Paulo. Here’s the credits.
8. UNIMED (Brazil)
CIGARETTES KILL MORE. Ad is actually made out of cigs. Ad agency: F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi
9. SAMSUNG i450 Music Phone (India)
Let Music Fill Your Head. Well, that's quite a product benefit—music goodness goes in ears, general badness exits brain. But what if bin Laden was digging Death Metal? Ad agency: Cheil Worldwide, New Delhi.
10. HALL’S (China)
The reason we couldn’t find OBL was because the soothing, cooling powers of Hall's cough drops made the elusive evildoer invisible to infrared detection. Smart move. Ad agency: JWT,Beijing.