B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Federal Election
  • Pinterest
  • AFL
  • AI
  • News Corp
  • Married At First Sight
  • NRL
  • Cairns Hatchlings
  • Channel 10
  • Anthony Albanese
  • oOh!Media
  • WPP
  • Thinkerbell
  • Special
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: The Biggest And Best F*ck Ups Of 2016, According To B&T
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Media > The Biggest And Best F*ck Ups Of 2016, According To B&T
Media

The Biggest And Best F*ck Ups Of 2016, According To B&T

Staff Writers
Published on: 23rd December 2016 at 9:25 AM
Staff Writers
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

Investigative and authoritative thought piece, or B&T being lazy on the last day of the working year? We’ll let you decide, when you scroll through our list of some of what we thought were the more scandalous, salacious and cringe-worthy cock ups of 2016.

From countless on-air gaffes and media messes, to agency scandals and indiscretions, 2016 had it all, and then some. It was the year Trump got elected President, after all. To be honest, we’re quite happy to see it finally come to a close.

In no particular order, here’s our favourite fails of the year.

1. Weather girl disasters

2016 was the year of the weather girl for B&T, gifting us with not only our top story of the year, but plenty more. These included:

  • BBC Weatherman Vomits On-Air
  • Penis Shaped Clouds Broadcast Live
  • Weather Girl Covered Up By Colleague
  • Weather Girl’s Camel Toe Appearance and
  • Weather Girl’s Boobs Fall Out On-Air

You could say B&T’s editor has a thing for weather presenters.

2. Print took a big hit in 2016

2016 was the year we farewelled iconic titles like Dolly, and Cleo, both Bauer titles, while at Pacific a stack of other publications were dropped, K-Zone and Total Girl were sold off, and Girlfriend dropped circulation again to “seasonal”.

There were also talks that Bauer Media might swallow up Pacific Magazines, with talks of a merger in the works, while all three major publishers dropped out of the AMAA circulation audits, switching to slightly shadier readership figures of emma.

3. PETA pissed off everybody

From comparing rape victims to animals and getting Alicia Silverstone in the nude, it was a big year for PETA. Some of their highlights included:

  • PETA Compares Rape Victims To Meat Industry
  • PETA Shows What’s Inside Of Leather Goods In Store
  • PETA Sends Condoms To Hunters To Stop Them Breeding

4. Seven CEO Tim Worner got caught with pants down

A recent story from this week was Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner getting busted for an affair he had with a previous employee years ago before he took on the top job.

Amber Harrison went public with the affair after her settlement agreements weren’t met, while Seven continued to support Worner as CEO, despite saying it would launch an independent inquiry into the matter.

5. The Monkeys enraged the vegans with Australia Day ad

Lee Lin Chin summoning Aussies back to the homeland for Australia Day and some lamb was a stroke of advertising genius, until vegans took offence to the bit where their house was torched for not eating meat. Awkward.

The ad became the most complained about ad of the year, nay, EVER, beating the controversial Ashley Madison ‘cheating on my wife’ jingle from 2014.

6. Sunrise made for cringe-worthy television

Sunrise hosts Kochie and Samantha Armytage were at the helm of a few blunders on live television this year, and it was entertaining to say the least. Here’s our favourites:

  • Awkward Sex and the City Gaffe With Kristin Davis
  • Kochie Yells At Man Who Mixes Up Sunrise And Today Shows

7. Nine and Seven at war over breakfast shows

Speaking of Seven, it can’t go unnoticed that it got into a kerfuffle with rival Nine’s Today Show over who won the breakfast war, with both citing different metric systems. It almost went to court, and to date no one really knows who was the clear winner.

8. M&C Saatchi held a party with controversial entertainment

By now everyone is familiar with the furore that erupted off the back of a celebration hosted by M&C Saatchi.

The party had burlesque dancers as main entertainment, and while B&T backed the agency, with nothing to say except thanks for a ripper party, a few others were unimpressed with the event. M&C Saatchi later apologised.

9. B&T published awards winners five hours early

Speaking of parties, we won’t pretend any longer that we didn’t completely cock this one up, hitting the ‘Publish’ button on the coveted awards winners story a few too many hours before the actual results were announced.

We’re sorry about ruining the surprise, but from the bar tab at the end of the night, it seemed like you all enjoyed yourselves anyway.

10. We were gifted the ‘fake tradie’

A Liberal ad ahead of the Federal Election starred a peeved tradie drinking a cup of coffee on a job site, telling viewers that Shorten  “wants to go to war with someone like me, who just wants to get ahead with an investment property”.

It was mocked mercilessly for being a “fake tradie”, and resulted in a hunt from media outlets to find out just who this tradie was.

After #faketradie went a little bit viral, the Liberal party confirmed he was not in fact an actor, but a real tradie with a license and everything. Still not as bad as Stoner Sloth, however.

And that’s a wrap from B&T – if we’ve missed any mammoth stuff ups, scandals or otherwise controversial tidbits, tweet us at @bandt. See you next year to do it all again!

 

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: Advertising Standards Bureau
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

Emboldened, Emotional & Inspired – Cairns Crocodiles Masterclass, Presented By News Australia, Tug The Heartstrings
16/05/2025
TV Ratings (15/05/2025): Women’s State Of Origin Game 2 Pulls Nearly Twice The Viewers Of AFL Clash
16/05/2025
Nine Hails “A Great Day For Investigative Journalism” As Ben Roberts-Smith Loses Defamation Appeal
16/05/2025
Keep Left Updates Earned Media Impact Score Platform
16/05/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?