Just Asking

We asked execs which campaigns were so off-base, they succeeded in spite of themselves.

The campaign for that topical ointment called Head On. It’s so bad, you wonder if Crispin didn’t secretly do it. —Ron Clayton, creative director, Via, Boston

The Coca-Cola holiday spots. When the “real thing” gave us an animated polar bear family giving up bear hugs with soda, my first reaction was, “What the . . . ” Yet, when the market convention dictates happy people with too many teeth engaged in heavy “product appreciation,” the brand that sets a new course can stand out and change the rules.