Could a piece of advertising communication really kill? I am not interested in ads that have made a killing in the creative circle or anything like that. I’m thinking about ads that could really land someone in ICU or worse, 6 feet deep.

Yes, I am talking about ads that can literally kill. We all know how bad advertising can be sometimes: misleading, over-promising, irrelevant, annoying, irritating, in-your-face, and the list goes on. But those kinds of ads can be easily ignored, and wouldn’t cause more than an inconvenience.

Excuse my morbidity, but I have been fascinated by this subject matter for quite a while now. Simply because I am quite certain that the act of creating ads can be seriously injurious to health, to the extent of being fatal. Surely many of those who make ads have given their lives to the rumble and tumble of the industry, and continue to do so to this very day.

If an ad can kill the makers, it should be able to take down an audience or two. Could someone – while taking in the aesthetic beauty of an ad, made by the very people who literally give up their lives for it – actually meet their maker?

I think I have found an answer in this wonderful billboard for Wonderbra:

You see, it’s a 3D billboard that depicts a very ecstatic model decked out in a Wonderbra . The thing is, if you put on a pair of 3D glasses and view the billboard, it actually accentuates the model’s boobs. I must give the guys who created this visually pleasing billboard the thumbs up… well done!

But then they go and place this billboard at a busy intersection in central London. Now, all it needs is some idiot to drive pass, clumsily trying to put on a pair of 3D glasses, and then crash into oncoming traffic. The full effect will indeed be experienced.