Here are the 10 most read AdFreak posts of 2015. Thanks for reading this year, and here's to a fun and crazy 2016.
10. Similac Has a Big Hit With One of the Most Honest Ads Ever About Parenting
Similac showed us what happens when our beliefs clash through an ad that's a little bit funny, a little bit moving, and a lot true.
9. These Shameless Cocaine Ads Prove the '70s Were a Hell of a Time to Be Alive
Inspired by the hit Netflix series Narcos, about the exploits of Pablo Escobar, some fans decided to dig up some of the period's not-so-subtle ads for cocaine paraphernalia. And quite a collection it was.
8. Ikea Lovingly Turned These 10 Children's Drawings Into Actual Plush Toys
To help create this year's lineup of Soft Toys for Education, global retailer Ikea turned to crayon-wielding kids around the world.
7. The Couple Who Quit Their Ad Jobs to Travel the World Ended Up Poor and Scrubbing Toilets
Chanel Cartell and Stevo Dirnberger, the South African couple who quit their agency jobs this year to travel the world and document the experience, ended up doing a lot of dirty work, and shedding more than a few tears. But in a way, that's just what they wanted.
6. Target Loved the Guy Who Trolled Its Haters, Judging by This Genius Facebook Post
This was a follow-up story to the one that's No. 3 on this list—about Target's sly and subtle reaction to Facebook user Mike Melgaard posing as a Target customer service rep and caustically replying to angry messages left by haters opposed to Target's gender-neutral product labeling.
5. Tinder Users at SXSW Are Falling for This Woman, but She's Not What She Appears
Tinder users at the SXSW festival were encountering an attractive 25-year-old woman named Ava on the dating app. But as a friend of ours found out, she wasn't looking for love.
4. Watch People in Other Industries React Hilariously to Being Asked for Free Spec Work
People in other industries don't provide their would-be clients with "spec work" for free. That would be asinine. So, why do advertising agencies continue to do it? This video from Canadian agency Zulu Alpha Kilo captured the insanity of the spec process perfectly.
3. Man Poses as Target on Facebook, Trolls Haters of Its Gender-Neutral Move With Epic Replies
Troll of the year Mike Melgaard defended Target from critics upset about its move toward gender-neutral labeling of children's products in its stores. And he did it in amusing fashion, creating a fake Facebook account and posing as a Target customer service rep—under the name Ask ForHelp, with a bull's-eye profile pic—to excoriate haters with comically sarcastic replies.
2. Vince Vaughn and Co-stars Pose for Idiotic Stock Photos You Can Have for Free
Twentieth Century Fox teamed up with iStock by Getty Images to create a set of stock photos featuring Vaughn along with his Unfinished Business co-stars Tom Wilkinson, Dave Franco and others.
1. Groupon Posted This Product on Facebook, Then Replied to Everyone Who Made a Sex Joke
Groupon knows social, as we all saw in March with its Facebook post of a Banana Bunker—a container for a single banana, which you can absolutely purchase on the Groupon site.
