Buy Our DVDs

I was always very struck by Cartoon Network's Adult Swim ad campaign, its billboards in particular. When they first began appearing around Baltimore, they featured a weird pixelated character and I had no idea what on earth it was all about. I became curious....

 

This is a fellow from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, one of dozens of cartoon shows geared toward grownups that air in the evening on CN. I love how the brand is both visually and literally parenthetical. This philosophy carries over into my favorite billboard, one which I could not find a picture of. It was up during the holiday season on the corner of Saint Paul and North Avenue: it featured a giant, ironically pleasant-looking paint-by-number picture of horses in a meadow. The only caption read, "BUY OUR DVDS" in white lettering at the bottom. The image, having nothing whatsoever to do with the product in question, both confuses and intrigues the viewer. Occasionally, the images are not only irrelevant but also mildly disturbing. Here's another example of that tactic:

 

And another:

The Adult Swim brand is interesting to me because it is text only. 

It's successful and appropriate because the cartoon characters and images should be able to speak for themselves, like they do in this over-the-top ad for the Tim and Eric show:

The Adult Swim billboard campaign has to be the most bizarre I've ever come across, which reflects the nature of the television they program. Awesome show, great job!