I found the best new ads for you
A direct subject line, taking a page out of The Ordinary's playbook
Hiiiiiii, buddy. Your friendly neighborhood ad-man here.
Are you ready for a dose of motivational business quotes and bad one-pot/one-pan/one-dish recipes? Well, you’ve come to the wrong place. You’re probably looking for TikTok if you need to find a way to make dinner with three ingredients and a bowl, or how to make $1 million in two weeks with dropshipping and mental toughness. We do ads here.
Of course, there are ads on TikTok, too, but I digress.
To the ads!
Hacked by a kitty
Jack Appleby (go follow his LinkedIn and newsletter, Future Social) spotted a great tweet/x-post (whatever you wanna call it) from Lego this week. Or LEGO in all caps, as their brand guide insists. Shout it from the rooftops. LEGO!
They shared a scrambled tweet that made it look like they’d been hacked, followed up by a LEGO-built kitty sitting on a keyboard. Love.
BTW, if you have a cat at home, tell them I say pspspspsps.
This brand is no brand
You gotta admit, it takes guts to enter a marketing meeting and propose that your “facial rejuvenation cream” gets rebranded to “hyaluronic acid”. Typically, that meeting happens in reverse.
Nevertheless, skincare brand The Ordinary decided to highlight their lack of pizzaz, celebrity endorsements, and brand colors in a series of OOH ads that we think are the best ads of the week.
Hyaluronic acid has never sounded better. Campaign by Uncommon.
Game of Computer-Generated Thrones
No one saw this coming. Except Bran. Why do you think he came all this way? (God that line is still so terrible).
People were really upset that HBO hung these Westeros Banners on the Brooklyn Bridge to promote season two of House of the Dragon, and those same people are probably still mad because they 100% still believe the banners are real. Which they are not. Great social spot. A few more from the campaign:
Ex-Bockhina
That was a play on Ex-Machina but with bock, like the sound a chicken makes. How is this newsletter still free? Crazy. The chicken reference will make sense in a minute.
Let’s talk AI, who you can and can’t trust these days, and whether the Minister of Artificial Intelligence is a real person or not.
KFC UK & Ireland released a spot this week that dives into the not-so-distant future, where people marry AI bots and society has run amok. Wait, isn’t that the present?
A place where there’s nothing to do but place your hope in something eternal. Something hopeful. Something…crispy.
Bock bock.
British royalty
Speaking of AI, we found something we think digital ad creators will find worth checking out. But first, have you ever asked yourself if there’s any real difference between King Charles and the Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne?
Of course there is. But if you’re only using demographic data when you set up ad targeting for your digital campaigns, bad news. Chuck and Ozzy are the same person. Think about it:
Born in 1948
Male
From the UK
Married twice
Lives in a castle
Wealthy & Famous
Targeting shouldn’t be only about demographics. That’s where GoAudience enters the chat. GoAudience uses AI to analyze your website or online store, and then crafts custom audiences by leveraging real-time spending data from 220 million US adults. So you can target Ozzy when you’re selling live bats, and Charles when you’re selling double-breasted suits.
Collaboration station
Time for the Dunkin’ x Scrub Daddy collab we never asked for but somehow have been wanting. Scrub Daddy has kind of nailed its packaging and expansion efforts, and this just opens them up to more fun opportunities. We’re down for any version of a boring product that sparks even the smallest amount of joy. Which this collab does in spades for Dunkin’ lovers.
Storefront sign of the day
Spotted outside a second-hand store.
Great copywriting from the archive
Last but not least, an old ad shared by one of our favorite ad spotters, Cole Schaefer. Follow him on LinkedIn, here are his thoughts on an old, famous Audi spot featuring four greyhounds and one chillaxed cheetah.
“Years ago, a race was held between a cheetah and several greyhounds.
When the gates swung open, the greyhounds darted.
The cheetah, however, didn't so much as budge.
Uninterested, it lounged in its pen.
Fortunately, a photograph of the iconic moment was taken.
Audi pounced on it.
Below is an ad announcing the Audi S4 Quattro.
The headline is fierce...
The Audi S4 Quattro. Nothing to prove.
The take away?
You don't always have to show the product to sell the product.”
Take this cheetah’s energy with you into the week.
Thanks for reading, Ad Spotters. If you want a shoutout in the newsletter or spot a great ad, just respond to this email or connect with me on X and shoot me a DM.
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