The harshest critics of marketing are usually…marketers. Which makes sense – the more time you spend looking at the world through a marketing lens, the more little things can get under your skin. But that doesn’t mean a “nitpick” isn’t a legitimate issue that should be corrected. So, in the spirit of the greater marketing good, we’re sharing our current list of marketing pet peeves. Enjoy!
#1 Business-y Buzzwords.
Not every product can be “game-changing,” “transformative,” or “revolutionary”. In fact, some just shouldn’t be (do we need “game changing” toilet paper?). Instead, let’s replace buzzwords with real words that describe what makes a product or service different. Or, hey, it’s advertising, let’s make up some words – who’s gonna stop us?.
#2 Really dumb URL-related voiceover.
Two cases in point – saying “www” or “backslash”. It’s 2025: no one has typed “www” in the better part of a decade, so your radio spot is wasting precious seconds. And for the love of Pete, it’s a slash not a backslash. Stop it.
#3 Cringey brand tone of voice.
Wendy’s has everyone thinking a unique brand voice is the ticket to virality. But most brands aren’t Wendy’s, and brand voice isn’t something that you change just to break through – it’s your brand’s personality and DNA, so if it comes off as a copycat or a false affectation, that’s a recipe for cringe.
#4 Abusing a sense of urgency.
We call this one the “Temu-rule” – most customers are smart enough to know the deal you’re promoting doesn’t end in 2 hours (and if it does, there will be another one tomorrow), so please stop spending ad dollars trying to convince everyone that “limited time only” is truth.
#5 Ads on loop.
Streaming video and podcasts are the biggest offenders when it comes to frequency overload – the same ad over and over, or worse, airing an ad multiple times in the same commercial block. Yes, frequency matters. No, this isn’t the right way to do it.
#6 Way off-the-mark targeting.
The ability to personalize and target ads has changed a ton in the past few years, so why do some brands still serve a 35-year-old male an ad for senior incontinence products? Or a Lowes ad in Spanish to a guy who failed 9th grade Spanish? Seriously, por qué?
#7 Revenge of the Pop-ups.
Those of us of a certain age remember the first generation of pop-up ads and the cottage industry of ad-blockers they spawned. Now they’re back with a vengeance, and while most people have accepted that digital ads are the cost of the content they peruse, when ads literally block you from seeing or accessing what’s on the page, it’s an acute and infuriating pain – a pain that users then associate with the brand that’s standing between them and a top 10 list of cheap summer travel destinations.
#8 “No-strings” offers with plenty of strings.
No strings means literally no strings. Not give us your email. Not create an account. Not enter your credit card (but we won’t charge you yet). If the offer is truly no strings, open it up. If I want more after my free sample, that’s when you can spring the strings.
#9 Crappy gated content.
Most people will dole out an email address relatively easily, but if they give you something, give them something of value in return before you start with the avalanche of sales calls/emails. Tit for tat at the very least, please.
#10 1-877 Kars4Kids.
Seriously…
So there it is. Was this entire blog more or less an old man yelling “get off my lawn”? Sure. But, if it’s broken and it’s easy to fix, maybe it’s worth yelling “fix it already!” every now and then. It takes a village, fellow marketers!
