The most annoying adverts from the past 15 years

The most annoying ads of all time have been named and shamed by a new study.

The 10 worst offenders, as voted for by 1,600 UK consumers, range from hotel booking platforms to home heating companies.

Consumers are typically annoyed by three advertising fails: repetitive jingles, gender or nationality stereotyping, or a patronising tone, the research found.

Here’s the list of the UK’s most hated ads in reverse order:

10. Hive – Active Heating (2014)

The child-like animations and awkward rhyming couplets featured in this ad were a turn off for many viewers.

9. Boots – Here Come the Girls (2007)

Consumers found this Boots ad, featuring women fighting over reflective surfaces and hairspray as they prepare for the Christmas party, a little grating.

8. WeBuyAnyCar – Hard House Theme (2009)

The WeBuyAnyCar ads of old were very different to the James Corden-voiced ones used today. This 2009 "classic" features a repetitive jingle that is impossible to forget.

7. Hotels4u – Anything for You Cupcake (2013)

Hotels4u infuriated the residents of Birmingham with three adverts featuring a hen-pecked Brummy boyfriend and his "cupcake". The advert's sexist overtones also created national outrage.

6. Halifax – ISA ISA Baby (2010)

Halifax continued its fine tradition of musical embarrassments with this 2010 offering soundtracked by its own version of "Ice Ice Baby".

5. Comparethemarket.com – Compare the Meerkat (2009)

It seems not everyone loves Aleksandr and Oleg. But the campaign has been a huge success for Comparethemarket.com, which became the fourth most visited insurance website in the UK as a result.

4. Gladstone Brookes – PPI Compensation (2014)

The tone of this advert offended viewers, who branded it "patronising". Gladstone Brookes was also later pulled up by the advertising watchdog over some of the claims made in the ad.

3. Cillit Bang – Barry Scott (2007)

Cillit Bang used the fictional character of Barry Scott to advertise its cleaning product. However, many viewers felt that the repetitive catchphrase - "Bang! And the dirt is gone" - besmirched the brand.

2. Wonga – Puppets (2012)

Payday loan company Wonga courted controversy when it used puppets in this 2012 ad. Consumers accused the company of appealing to children.

1. Go Compare – “Go Compaaaaaare, Go Compaaaaaare!” (2009)

This 2009 effort featuring opera singer Gio Compario is the UK's most annoying ad, with 28pc of the votes. This ad has repeatedly ranked at the top of "annoying ads" polls.

Go Compare later used the consumer backlash to its advantage by gagging the pot-bellied tenor in subsequent ads.

Consumers have historically had a love/hate relationship with advertisements. When John Lewis unveiled its Christmas commercial last year, it was shared 202,953 times in its first 24 hours online, as people rushed to tell their friends about the adventures of Monty the Penguin.

But when an ad goes bad, it can cause lasting brand damage as consumer flock to social media to voice their displeasure. Some even boycott the companies and their products.

According to Dr Haiming Hang, associate professor of marketing at the University of Bath, using annoying jingles to create a memorable ad is a dangerous strategy.

“Advertisers assume brand awareness is the key to make consumers purchase,” he said. “However, recent research clearly suggests advertising makes a stronger emotional and behavioural impact when consumers are paying less conscious attention to them.”

Brands like John Lewis are increasingly using ads that tell a story to create emotional engagement. Pummelling consumers with a brand name over the course of 30 seconds has now - thankfully - fallen out of favour.

This is partly down to the rise of social media, which has allowed companies to measure the success of their advertising campaigns and tweak them according to the feedback they receive.

“If consumers are annoyed because they feel an ad is not representing them or is in poor taste then with the power of social media they can let the brand – and the world – know,” said the London College of Fashion's Dr Natascha Radclyffe-Thomas.

“However, even annoying ads and negative customer reaction can be flipped if brands are clever in how they respond to the criticism, and acknowledge possible errors of judgment; this approach is likely to bring consumers on board when they feel their views have listened to and validated.”

There is still a strong argument for creating an annoying ad, when it ensures that consumers will remember a new brand or product, she argued. Boots' "Here come the girls" offering reportedly generates a surge in sales of beauty products and gift sets.

“As humans, we receive an incredible amount of information to process," said Dr Radclyffe-Thomas. "Businesses make this process easier for us by building brands with values and associations – as well as repetitive, catchy and sometimes annoying adverts. In this way simply by getting our attention, these annoying ads may succeed.”

Beware. The end of the annoying ad is not yet nigh.

This research was undertaken by Toluna on behalf of The Car Buying Service, a rival to WeBuyAnyCar.com, which features in the list of offenders.

“The advertising landscape has changed a lot in recent years as consumers have become wiser to stereotypical marketing tactics,” said Nicholas Carnell, a director at the firm.

“In light of this, we wanted to find out what the ultimate ‘turn off’ was for today’s savvy customers. Judging by our findings, it seems that annoying jingles like the infamous one featured in WeBuyAnyCar’s 2009 advert are the biggest advert pet hate.”