This week’s prompt allowed me to go on a deep dive of terrible pieces of advertising that have been published in the media. While searching, I had many chuckles, jaw drops, and blank stares, but I ultimately chose to focus on this advertisement that was released in 2009 by LifeLock, an American identity theft prevention software.
At first glance, the advertisement is just shocking. The image of Todd Davis smiling proudly in his suit and tie. Todd Davis is not just any regular man, but rather the CEO of the company LifeLock. Using the image of the CEO as the face of an advertisement may have been a tactic used to draw viewers attention to the advertisement and the company as a whole. It’s apparent that Todd is a white man, so he appeals to the American audience where the company is based and ultimately draws them into reading the entirety of the advertisement. At first glance, the advertisement isn’t so bad, however that QUICKLY takes a turn.
As you read more into the left side of the advertisement, the company uses Todd’s personal information to persuade viewers to believe in the safety and security of the company. The key pieces of information that are highlighted are Todd’s real-life, actual, government given social security number, and the bolded word “Guaranteed”. Viewers of the advertisement are also made aware through a quote that Todd approved the use of such information. Personally, I have always been told never to share my social security number, let alone post it on billboards for all of America to see, but interesting…
Finally, the organization of the advertisement has “More Testimonials” listed on the bottom. The images of other people, whom viewers can assume to be users of the LifeLock service. While unclear as to what the other testimonials entail, could all of these people have been shamelessly sharing their social security numbers with America, we may never know.
The advertisement’s layout, textual evidence, and extended testimonials should convince us all to join LifeLock and secure all of our personal information from the world’s criminals, right? Well, actually, this LifeLock advertisement enticed the world’s criminals and hackers with a challenge. The face of the ad, Todd Davis became the victim of identity theft, not once, not twice, but 13 TIMES! The CEO tragically racked up debts across the US, humiliated his companies reputation, and proved their products to be ineffective.
This advertising may fall in the top 3 worst advertisements to see the light of day, and it’s shocking to think of how many people approved this advertisement before it went live…