What’s worse than having a nemesis who can hold a grudge? If the nemesis has millions to spend on ad campaigns, then you are well and truly f**ked. I am not kidding. Some of these ad campaigns by brands roasting their competition are petty AF!

1. This Mac VS PC ad by Apple became a pop culture phenomenon that birthed many a meme. 

This campaign had a total of 66 TV spots that ran from 2006 to 2009. The “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” characters launched a thousand parodies. One guy plays Mac and the other plays PC. The whole ad is about Mac taking shots at every problem PC had.

2. Netflix has a social media team that is not to be messed with, as Hulu would go on to realise. 

Hulu took a dig at Netflix but the streaming giant came back with what appeared to be a threat while promoting a new show at the same time. 

3. Samsung and Apple have been clawing at each other’s throats for years now. That said, Samsung somehow always manages to be a step ahead. 

This ad, titled “Growing Up” mocks the iPhone and its history of competing with the Samsung Galaxy phones. 

4. And that ain’t it? Samsung also engages in competitive advertising. 

This image is very self-explanatory!

Bulldog Digital Media

5. In May 2013, Microsoft released an ad titled Windows 8: Less talking, more doing and used Siri to badmouth the iPad. 

Microsoft makes fun of Siri’s many limitations and jokes about everything Apple can’t do. It’s simple and it works, 

6. Microsoft continued this attack with another ad released in mid-July. 

The ad started with Siri saying, “Oh no, here we go again!” And then the ad just piles on the misery. 

7. Pepsi too has no issues beefing with its competitors. 

During the 1996 Wills Cricket World Cup, when Coca Cola was declared the official beverage, Pepsi responded by running a series of ads under the tagline “Nothing official about it.”

8. Jaguar literally ate Mercedes Benz in this ad!

Mercedes launched the perfect viral ad campaign, showing the stability of your cars in a great ad. They compared the car with chicken and everyone loved it. That is until, Jaguar shot the exact same ad, except in the end the chicken gets eaten by a Jaguar.  

9. TV ads are great. But why spend so much when Google can deliver the burn for you. 

Normally in these kinds of ads, you just expect Asana to pop up when you Google Monday. But Asana is a savage, hence the little ad in the end about switching apps!

Wordstream

10. Pepsi can hold a grudge. This ad campaign is a burning example of that. 

The ad is simple. A kid gets up to a vending machine, takes out two cans of coke, places them on the ground and stands on them so that he can grab the Pepsi that he really wanted. 

Wow! These guys are petty.