THE WORST AD EVER

I've pretty much reached the age and stage of life where little if anything shocks me anymore -- where if you're all that surprised/astonished by the latest cultural outrage, you're probably not paying all that much attention. Still, every now and then my mind can still do the equivalent of a dropping jaw if I come across something particularly bizarre or blatant in its overall wrongness.

Which leads me to what is perhaps the most cynical advertisement I've ever seen. While looking for an Associated Press chart about divorce statistics to accompany an article, I came across an AP photo of a Chicago divorce lawyer's billboard. It has two large photos, of a shirtless male and Wonderbra-bedecked female torso. In the middle, along with the firm's name, contact number, etc., is the tagline: "Life's short. Get a divorce."

Wow. Advertising may be an inherently cynical science, but that was just, just, wow.

Seen any particularly horrendous ads lately?