We all have seen things that we wished could be unseen. Things that have plagued our minds and left us speechless and frightened. Throughout time commercials have been a steel staple for production sales and construction. But what happens when these ads fail to do their core job? What happens when commercials instead provoke confusion, and most often, fear in order to sell its point?

10.) LEVI’s – Evolution

“Evolve into a new pair of jeans” – LEVI

Airing sometime in the 1970s, LEVI produced a rather strange advertisement. Simply titled “Evolution”, the minute-long commercial would subject its viewers with rapid vivid colors and imagery of the creation of humans through evolution. Many people have had conversations about this ad, including LEVI representatives as well. Most of these conversations led to the controversy of how the commercial resembled a “bad trip on hallucinogens” and what affect the commercial may have on young viewers. When nearing the end of the ad, it seemed that LEVI wanted to imply that the main purpose of a human’s evolution is so that they evolve into the perfect specimens to wear LEVI’s jeans.

9.) Remco’s – Baby Laugh A-Lot

“She’s laughing with you” – Remco

A rather old and ancient ad, possibly airing sometime between the 1940s and the 1960s, Remco’s Baby Laugh A-Lot was the essence of nightmares. The commercial aimed to sell a toy that would laugh upon manually rocking in its chair. Seems innocent enough, but it is the way the commercial portrays the toy is what makes it utterly terrifying. The audio for the commercial was too extreme, with the laughter filtering out any background noises both in and out of your tv screen. When the doll wasn’t laughing, the narrator would speak. And let’s just say, he didn’t help the commercial out either.

8.) Kinder – Humpty Surprise Egg

“You’ll fall for this tasty treat” – Kinder

This 80’s commercial attempted to sell a new Kinder product, known as The Surprise Egg. A chocolate egg with a fun tiny toy inside. The idea for the commercial sounded good on paper, but in visual execution, was pure terror. In the final product, we were blessed with the sight of an unnerving humanoid egg man simply named, Humpty. The egg man would continue to praise the new sweet treat while his face refused to make much emotion. The commercial then ends with the egg man explaining how you will fall for his new treat, he then proceeds to fall off the high wall, because that is what the people wanted to see.

7.) Sony’s PlayStation – Mental Wealth

“It’s called mental wealth, expand your horizons” – Sony

Now this commercial, by Sony, to promote the PlayStation back in 1999 had a very strange way of selling its product. The commercial depicts a female with an “alien sized” head, which the girl explains is due to her brain increasing in size due to all of the information she has gathered. This was used as a way to promote the cognitive learning Sony claimed you would expand on whilst playing on their new console. The girl then proceeded to call this event of brain growth as “Mental Wealth” and how it expands your horizons on creativity and uniqueness.

6.) The Real Cost’s – Stained Teeth Delivery

“Will you cant deny this delivery” – The Real Cost

The Real Cost has always been synonymous with their creepy adverts to promote drug awareness, but this one is by far the strangest they have made. The commercial begins with a man smoking a cigarette in an empty opening somewhere in the city, when a delivery van pulls up beside him. The man is then handed a package containing nothing but a pair of rotting, stained, and disease-ridden teeth. The rotting teeth then proceed to bond with his own, causing him great pain and discomfort. Now if that doesn’t make a smoker think twice, then I don’t think anything will.

5.) Adult Swim’s – The Dawn is Your Enemy

“The morning has no mercy” – Adult Swim

Back in 2007, when Adult Swim was arriving to its prime watching era, executives of the channel decided to do something new for a change. This commercial shown above was indeed an attempt in order spook people to sleep. This was done in order to spread awareness of sleep deprivation and how staying up too late to watch TV will make the morning your greatest enemy. The ad would appear around 4-5 AM, which was around the time where Adult Swim would come to a close and Cartoon Network would take over. Those unlucky to come across the ad would be shown a still image of a pair of sleepy eyes, an unnerving title, and creepy background music. The executive believed that wasn’t enough, so about a week later they would edit in something special towards the end. The Sun would then wink, laugh and then proceed to scream for 5 seconds, before the ad cut off.

4.) Orkin’s – Rat Vacation

“What rodents will invite themselves in when you are gone?” – Orkin

We all fear what may happen when we are away from our homes. Will you get robbed? Did you forget to turn the oven off? Did a pipe burst and now your home is flooding? Hows about the event of a giant pair of rats making themselves at home while you are on vacation. This is exactly what happens to a family of four in an Orkin commercial. Orkin’s main goal with this ad was to construct a feeling of uneasiness and discomfort. In order to shock people in considering Orkin as a suitable exterminator for drastic infestations. And I think it is safe to say that the commercial did its job.

3.) Snicker’s – Grocery Store Lady

“The kids will scream for your Snickers supply” – Snickers

This commercial can absolutely get a lot of points when it comes to creepiness, despite it being a Halloween commercial after all. This Snickers commercial starts with a lady being confronted by an obviously fake, yet extremely unnerving, older lady. The older lady explains in her booming and odd voice that she simply does not have enough Snickers in her shopping cart. The old lady then dumps ponds and pounds of Snickers in her cart, as she tries to escape. The old lady then reveals herself to be two young boys planning to hit her house during trick or treat. As most of the commercials on my list, the idea is fun and innocent, and is just the way the commercial projects it is why it is so strange. The overall appearance of the old lady is enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine.

2.) Fragile Childhood’s – Monsters

“What do our kids see when we have been drinking?” – Fragile Childhood

Anyone who was unlucky enough to come across this PSA late at night would be greeted by an atmosphere that was born in nightmares. Fragile Childhood, who were the ones behind this ad, aimed to achieve the goal of spooking its viewers into thinking twice about their actions around their children. The commercial portrayed multiple children, with at first glace seemed to be with their parents, doing any normal things families would do on the weekend. But something was definitely off. The ad was hiding the parents faces. As the commercial continues on and the music intensifies, we are then shown why the parents faces were hidden. They were all the images of horrific monsters, twisted versions of childhood icons only meant to spread fear and not joy. It now all makes sense why the children looked so unhappy with their current situation. The commercial then comes to a close and asks the dreaded question of what exactly are kids see in us when we are drunk.

1.) Little Baby’s Ice Cream’s – The Ice Cream Man

“Ice cream is a feeling” – Little Baby’s Ice Cream

This ad takes my top spot simply due to how absolutely bizarre and creepy it is; how exactly it could have ever been aired in the first place. The commercial portrays a man that is made out of the “wonderfull” Little Baby’s Ice Cream. The man then proceeds the take scoops out of his head using an average kitchen spoon. He does this whilst narrarating quite creepy and chilling dialouges of how Little Baby’s Ice Cream makes him feel young again. The commercial then ends with the man explaining how “ice cream is a feeling” while jolting and sharp music plays in the background. The commercial was made by a practicle effects artist, Doug Williams, who’s previous works were already infamous for his creepy imagery. It truley makes one wonder what exactly Little Baby’s Ice Cream was thinking when hiring this guy.