I see a lot of online ads in my day-to-day work. One popular tool at the advertiser’s disposal is the use of an IP address-to-location database to figure out what type of ad to show based on country, state, etc. Additionally, these can be used to “personalize” an ad (e.g., “Get an insurance quote for Redwood City, CA now!”). All this said, a few months ago, I came across my favorite banner ad I’ve ever seen:
It’s clear that the “San Carlos” (the database wasn’t perfect, since I was in San Mateo when I saw this) was added for a personalization factor (or something), but the fact that “sex” is also in red makes it seem like it was also added on the fly. (Of course this isn’t true, but it’s funny to imagine.) When showed to a co-worker, he suggested, “What else could fit in there? ‘Tea’? Girls from San Carlos want to have tea with you! TEA DATES.”
