The following ads aren’t, in fact, the year’s worst. You won’t find, for instance, Summer’s Eve’s, unarguably one of the colossal marketing missteps of 2011, among them. But these ads will undoubtedly get into your head.

Last week's series in The Atlantic on advertising brought up some expected and some unexpected topics. What sexist ad works, which ones backfired, and what kind of humor do women prefer?

Many brands start their "brand story" with the brand, product, or service. But in reality, any compelling story, whether it's a short story, a screenplay, or a narrative for a brand, starts with the audience you’re trying to persuade.

Acentric conducted a test with 79 participants to gauge the performance of an augmented-reality print ad for Mercedes. Overall findings assessed the ad's ability to, among other factors, grab attention and persuade people to access online content, and for brand recall. Also uncovered: a trio of suggestions for improvement.