Even though I've never been a big fan of the fishing game genre, I understand that there are a lot of people out there who are really into catching (and releasing) virtual fish. I personally will never understand the desire, but who am I to judge what people like? I mean, you're talking to the one man in the world that likes shrimp and smoked salmon on pizza. Having said that, advertising your fishing game can be a rather tricky proposition, especially since you're essentially selling your product to a very small niche audience. The Black Bass, Hot-B's 8-bit fishing game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, may be a great game, but due to this inadvertently hilarious advertisement it's hard to take it very serious.

In this 18 year old advertisement the kid seems shocked that there's a giant bass flying out of his TV screen. Then again, wouldn't you be surprised to see a huge fish flying right at your face? But why did it take this kid so long to be surprised? Long before the fish even showed up the kid's TV started to spray gallons of water ... is that not something to be a little concerned about? If my TV started dumping buckets of water into my hours I would be a little freaked up, a lot more freaked out than this kid was. This rocket scientist decided to sit there playing the game while water poured into his place. Talk about a stupid fishing game fan!

And let's be honest here, the black bass hurdling towards your face is the least of your worries. If I was this kid I would be somewhat concerned about all that water getting close to my electronics, from what I hear water and functioning electronic devices don't mix. And while we're poking holes in this advertisement, am I the only one who wants to know just how long that kid's NES control cord is? That NES system is a good ten feet away from him, and yet his NES cord is going straight towards the TV set. How realistic is that? Well, to answer my question I'll just quote this advertisement: "Realistic?! ... only seeing is believing!"

FROM: Aliens in Bad Advertising