…actually, wait. I’m getting ahead of myself.

Hi, my name is Andrew, and I’m taking over Ad Catalyst.

That’s because the old version of this newsletter was all about breaking down what worked in an ad and how “brilliant” it was.

That’s great if you just want to copy ads and tactics that work for a few days.

But if you want to start running ads that scale and run for months, even years…

The key isn’t copying.

It’s REMOVING friction.

It’s knowing what’s working, and what’s not.

It’s understanding the right parts to copy, and the exact parts to cut.

And most importantly, it’s knowing how to implement those parts into your team’s workflows and review processes.

(plus if you’re a copywriter or creative strategist yourself, this stuff is basically mandatory)

So, here’s the part that gets you maximum benefit in minimum time:

(and a shoutout to the late great Gary Halbert who inspired that line)

First, hit reply and just let me know 3 things:

1. Why did you sign up for Ad Catalyst?

2. What are you hoping to get out of it each week?

   1. Jobs? Hiring creative strategists? What’s working in the market? Ad breakdowns? Swipeable structures and tactics? Something else?

3. And lastly, what would you consider yourself? A creative strategist? A copywriter? A business owner or a brand? Something else?

And yes, I will do my damndest to personally reply to everyone.

The fact is, I inherited this newsletter.

I didn’t build it, so I genuinely don’t know who you are yet.

So for right now, there’s nothing to buy and nothing to sign up for.

I’m just trying to work out who I’m writing to and how I can best serve you.

Plus, if you reply, I’ll give you a breakdown of my favorite hook (that helped generate $35M).

-Andrew

P.S. Here’s the quick version of why the previous owner trusts me to run Ad Catalyst.

I’m currently the copy chief of an 8-figure (on pace for 9 figure) supplement brand. And my ads helped take a previous client’s brand from losing money, to generating over $114M in revenue.

My main focus is video ads on Meta, but I’ve written VSLs, advertorials, upsells, landers, etc. All the usual stuff. I’ll share more as we get to know each other.

P.P.S. I’ll send out a new ad breakdown tomorrow.

I’ll give you the rundown on my experience later, but for now let’s just dive into the content.

This one’s from Moon Juice, and it’s the most useful kind of ad to study.

Not because it’s good the whole way through, but because it ISN’T.

So first, the four things it gets wrong, because they’re the same four I see in almost every ad that crosses my desk.

Click here to watch the ad

1. It opens on a number nobody can picture.

“Mineral needs rise up to 50% during pregnancy. Some of them surge up to 90% while you’re nursing.”

Read that twice and try to see it. You can’t (unless you imagine a boring graph or something).

Plus, it’s confusing!

Is it 50 climbing to 90? Is it 50 plus 90? On top of that, the ad is aimed squarely at women, who TEND to not be nearly as impressed with numbers as men are.

So the most valuable 5 seconds in the whole ad go to a mysterious number that won’t sit still in anybody’s head.

And it’s attached to a fact every pregnant woman already knows. Do you need more minerals when you’re pregnant? Probably. It makes sense.

Then she says most of us just get told to drink more water, and water on its own can flush minerals out.

In other words, the advice everybody’s been handed is quietly working against them.

Everybody has heard “you need more minerals.”

But at the same time, it’s easy enough to believe that drinking and peeing a lot would lead to a loss of minerals like salt and magnesium. It’s not something we need to convince people of.

So, how do you know if your ads do this?

• Read your first line out loud and ask whether the reader can see it. If it’s a number, it has to arrive attached to a picture.

2. It names the product before you know what the product is.

“I made Mini Dew for us.”

She names it at 0:25. She doesn’t say what it actually is until 0:49. That’s 24 seconds of not knowing what she’s holding. Watching it cold, I had no idea what Mini Dew was. Not a flavor, not a category, nothing. And while I was busy working that out, I stopped listening to the sentence that came after it.

The fix?

• Say what the thing is, then name it, or at least give the viewer enough context clues to piece things together. “This delicious drink mix is packed with minerals and it’s called Mini Dew.” or “Mini Dew is a delicious drink mix packed with minerals.” Now, nobody’s confused during the single most important sentence in your ad.

3. The captions are flat white text over a bright kitchen.

They’re hard to read, and most of your audience could be watching on mute.

The fix:

Put a black stroke around the letters, or a box behind them. That’s about two minutes of an editor’s time, and it’s the whole difference between an ad that works with the volume off and one that doesn’t.

4. It ends without asking for anything.

No offer, no ask, no label on screen. It just stops.

The missing label costs real money too. A woman who wants to check the sweetener has to click through to find out, and if the answer’s wrong for her, you still paid for that click.

Put the label on screen and she decides on the merit of the product instead of on a coin flip.

The fix:

Ask for the sale, even softly. And show the label, or make sure to answer important questions like these. A pregnant woman is VERY likely to care about what goes into her body!

And there’s one other thing they did that I thought was clever.

At 0:19 she says water isn’t enough, but she never trashes water.

That matters, because 43 seconds later, at 1:02, she admits the flavor is what gets her drinking more of it. If water was bad, why would you want to drink more of it?

Saying bad things about water early on would lead to a contradiction later, and the readers sharp enough to catch it tend to be that “silent majority” that makes up a large portion of any given market.

Make sure this doesn’t happen to you:

List everything your ad attacks. Then list everything it leans on later. Where those two lists overlap, you’ve got a leak.

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

CMOs are struggling to link AI visibility with sales
As brands race to optimize their presence inside generative AI search tools, marketing leaders are hitting a wall trying to prove those mentions actually drive revenue.

For Agentic Advertising To Work, We Must Decide What AI Can Never Touch
As AI agents move closer to controlling real ad budgets, the uncomfortable question is no longer whether automation works—it’s where humans should draw the line.

It’s begun — US and Canadian firms can now buy ads on Apple Maps
Apple Maps has officially entered the advertising business, opening up a potentially valuable new location-based channel while imposing some surprisingly strict categories on who can advertise.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: How to make your customer stop blaming themselves for the problem, so your product becomes the obvious fix.

Option #2: How to sell something in 18 seconds flat, with no story, no hook and no pitch.

Ok, let’s get back on track now.

So, what did the Moon Juice ad do right?

Somewhere in the middle of all that, it does something so efficient that I’d bet it’s carrying the entire campaign.

Nine seconds of footage…

But it does five jobs at once, and one of those jobs quietly raises how much every single customer spends.

Upgrade to premium to read it (and get the full Ad Careers list as a bonus):

🍉 Nine seconds, five jobs

Read more

This week’s issue is sponsored by ProfitSnack.

Check it out here.

This one’s from Rocket Money.

It first hooks you in with a stupid office bet: “I’ll give you unlimited PTO… if you prove you know your finances,” grabbing your attention before you even know this is an ad.

Then the bet becomes the ad! She has to guess her own subscription spend. Her guess is way off. The app pulls the real number.

Nobody has to say “you don’t know you’re overspending.” The stat plus the reaction sells it for you.

(She’s paying for Hulu twice!)

The ad is not about being taught the app. It’s about watching two people use it.

And the “bet” can be anything. Check out how Rocket Money spiced it up in this ad:

Here’s how to adapt this ad to your own industry:

You don’t need actual UGC to borrow UGC’s mechanics. You need banter that doesn’t sound written, a reveal that argues the point for you, and a product demo that shows up inside the joke instead of after it.

💰 Ad Careers

Advance your career and fill your pockets with these fresh opportunities.

Demand Generation Associate [Full time, US Remote]

• Lead field events, third-party sponsorships, gifting programs, and AI-assisted marketing workflows at a B2B SaaS company.
  

Direct Response Creative Strategist ($3,000 per month) [Contract, Remote]

• Lead a dedicated editor POD and produce 10 concepts/wk (30 ad variations) for an 8-figure 40+ DTC skincare brand.
  

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🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

CMOs are struggling to link AI visibility with sales
As brands race to optimize their presence inside generative AI search tools, marketing leaders are hitting a wall trying to prove those mentions actually drive revenue.

For Agentic Advertising To Work, We Must Decide What AI Can Never Touch
As AI agents move closer to controlling real ad budgets, the uncomfortable question is no longer whether automation works—it’s where humans should draw the line.

It’s begun — US and Canadian firms can now buy ads on Apple Maps
Apple Maps has officially entered the advertising business, opening up a potentially valuable new location-based channel while imposing some surprisingly strict categories on who can advertise.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad disarms the viewer with an engaging guilt trip.

Option #2: This ad is very good at educating the viewer to make the product feel like a logical necessity.

This next ad doesn’t have a witty hook to draw you in…

But it does have a special, direct-response way to keep your attention — until you are ready to buy the product!

Upgrade to premium to read it (and get the full Ad Careers list as a bonus):

🎬 How to make ultra fast shots sell the heck out of your product

Read more

This week’s issue is sponsored by ProfitSnack.

Check it out here.

This ad is from Musely.

And it’s a nice example of storytelling and social proof done right.

The before/after hook buys the attention, and then the ad spends it on an unbroken, low-production testimonial that feels more like a FaceTime call, instead of a shoot.

Here’s another one of Musely’s ads that uses the same storytelling approach:

Both ads establish the problem as personal, and back it with visual proof.

And neither one ever cuts away from the person. Not changing scenes matters here because it makes both feel like they’re catching someone mid-explanation rather than performing a script.

💰 Ad Careers

Advance your career and fill your pockets with these fresh opportunities.

Performance Marketing Specialist [Full time, Remote]

• Manage multi-channel paid ads (Google Ads, Paid Social) and email marketing operations.
  

Creative Strategist: Performance & UGC Ads ($35 - $45/h) [Contract, Remote]

• Build 3–5 performance/UGC ad briefs weekly for Meta and TikTok Shop.
  

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Ad Careers is free, but paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies in their inbox every day! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

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Snapchat Tries to Teach Brands to Be Funny
Snapchat has released a dedicated comedy guide aimed at helping cautious corporate marketers navigate Gen Z humor without alienating their target demographic.

EU Packaging Law Forces Sellers to Register in Up to 27 Countries
New cross-border packaging regulations are creating immediate compliance hurdles that threaten direct-to-consumer e-commerce and retail ad strategies across Europe.

Walmart Finally Lets Advertisers Exclude Certain Search Terms
Walmart Connect is giving retail media advertisers long-awaited negative keyword functionality to help prevent wasted ad spend in search results.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad uses motion design to overcome pain points.

Option #2: This ad uses a playful trick to build trust and show the product’s USP in real time.

Musely leaned heavily into storytelling.

But in this next video ad, no one is talking! And that’s the whole strategy.

Upgrade to premium to read it (and get the full Ad Careers list as a bonus):

🤐 How to sell without saying a single word

Read more

This week’s issue is sponsored by ProfitSnack.

Check it out here.

Given how fleeting attention can be mid-scroll, the prevailing practice has been to do fast cuts, keep things moving, and keep the viewer engaged.

Take this Runna ad, for example:

It holds your attention by tying that visual hook into a big value prop. You instantly know what the app does without needing a long explanation.

They do it again here:

The rapid cuts between the intervals, long runs, and mobility work lean right into this.

The design flows in a way that holds your attention, so the audience actually digests it.

💰 Ad Careers

Advance your career and fill your pockets with these fresh opportunities.

Junior Paid Social Marketing Specialist [Full time, US Remote]

• A Marketing Ops Specialist to launch multi-platform ad campaigns (Meta, TikTok, Snap, AppLovin), translate scripts into ClickUp tasks, and manage data tracking.
  

Part-Time Creative Strategist — Supplements ($30 - $50/h) [Part time, Remote]

• A Creative Strategist to own creative direction, research, and high-level messaging angles for supplement clients at a creative consultancy.
  

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Ad Careers is free, but paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies in their inbox every day! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

Why Marriott Is Turning Hotel Rooms Into Showrooms
Hospitality meets impulse shopping as hotel guests are now converting in-room design inspiration into high-ticket e-commerce purchases on the spot.

AI Agents Are Giving Publishers A New Way To Monetize Their Data
The next generation of ad targeting may involve AI agents turning publishers’ first-party data into advertising opportunities that traditional programmatic systems couldn’t easily create.

Meta Touts Industry-Leading Ad Revenue Growth, But AI Unease Rises
Record-breaking ad dollars continue to fuel Meta’s balance sheet, yet marketers and investors alike are scrutinizing whether its multi-billion dollar artificial intelligence bets will actually deliver sustained ROI.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad leverages social proof and personal storytelling to build credibility.

Option #2: This ad lets the visual appeal and ASMR do the heavy lifting.

Runna’s ads hook you in with smooth design flow.

This next ad, however, hooks you in by being… goofy? And they make it work?!

Upgrade to premium to read it (and get the full Ad Careers list as a bonus):

🤪 It’s goofy, but it works!

Read more

💰 Ad Careers

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Growth Marketer, Paid Social — Meta Ads [Full time, US Remote]

• Own Meta ads, landing pages, offers, and backend economics to scale new revenue to $500K/month at 3x+ LTV:CAC.

Creative Strategist & AI Systems Builder for DTC Ecommerce Brand [Full time, Remote]

• A Creative Strategist & AI Systems Builder to script DTC video ads and build Claude Code AI workflows to automate research, briefs, and iteration.
  

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Ad Careers is free, but paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies in their inbox every day! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

Here’s an ad that makes you read it before you’ve even registered there’s a product involved:

The whole trick with whiteboard/handwritten content is it reads as someone thinking out loud, not someone selling.

This next ad uses the same concept, but adapts it to a video format:

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

5 Lessons From the World Cup’s Best Marketing Plays—and Those That Missed the Mark
With more than $10 billion in World Cup advertising fighting for attention, this breakdown reveals why some brands became unforgettable while others disappeared into the noise.

More brands are leaning on founders to drive social content
Facing corporate ad fatigue and rising influencer costs, marketing teams are putting company founders front and center as authentic brand ambassadors.

Meta still has the widest social media reach
Despite fierce competition from emerging platforms, the latest user numbers show why the vast majority of digital ad budgets remain anchored in Meta’s massive ecosystem.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This is a highly effective UGC performance ad.

Option #2: This ad uses “the first-person pet” technique for instant emotional connection.

But low-budget content isn’t the only way to lock you in.

These next ads do it with a couple of ninja persuasion tricks.

Upgrade to premium to read it (and get the full Ad Careers list as a bonus):

🥷 How to smuggle in authority … for free!

Read more

💰 Ad Careers

Advance your career and fill your pockets with these fresh opportunities.

Paid Social Specialist [Full time, US Remote]

• A Paid Social Specialist to build, optimize, and report on performance campaigns across Meta, TikTok, and emerging platforms.

Creative Strategist for Tech Startup [Full time, Remote]

• A Copywriter/Strategist for a growth agency to develop angles, positioning, and funnel copy for tech startups.
  

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Ad Careers is free, but paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies in their inbox every day! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

On platforms built for fast cuts and loud hooks, doing the opposite is a strong pattern interrupt.

Opal does it nicely in this ad:

Ironically, a low-energy opener can be better at grabbing attention than one that’s trying too hard.

Here’s another example of this:

This ad aired during the 2024 election on CNN and ABC and drove a big spike in social mentions for the brand.

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

Newsweek’s Traffic Fell 75%. Its Revenue Is Rising Anyway.
A legacy publisher just proved that a shrinking audience doesn’t have to mean a shrinking business — if you stop chasing pageviews.

Samsung, Liquid I.V. build campaigns around upcoming Spider-Man film
Major brands are moving beyond basic product placement to launch fully integrated, multi-platform storylines across digital and social channels.

Advertisers Don’t Trust CTV Inventory Despite Climbing Spend: IAB
Buyers are pouring more money into streaming ads while openly admitting they don’t trust where half of it is actually landing.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad uses a lo-fi aesthetic to draw immediate eye focus.

Option #2: This ad borrows visual authority to reframe how prospects see their product.

Opal and Calm used ‘boring’ openers to catch your attention.

This next ad, however, uses a somewhat similar technique to make its claims a heck of a lot more believable.

Upgrade to premium to read it (and get the full Ad Careers list as a bonus):

🤯 A 3-second technique for higher believability

Read more

💰 Ad Careers

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Paid Ads Specialist [Full time, US Remote]

• A remote Paid Media Manager to build, optimize, and manage Google (Search, PMax), LSA, and Meta lead gen campaigns for home services clients.

Paid Ads Specialist (SEM & Social) [Full time, US Remote]

• A Paid Ads Specialist for Dragon Shield to scale global campaigns (Meta, TikTok, Google, YouTube).

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Ad Careers is free, but paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies in their inbox every day! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

This one is from Jeep.

And it’s not your typical car ad.

They took a simple parking spot stencil and painted the lines directly over a set of stairs.

The creative makes you stop, do a double-take, and connect the dots by yourself.

City parking is a pain point we all know; this ad anchors it directly to what makes the vehicle different.

Here are a couple of variations of the ad that Jeep also ran:

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

SharkNinja’s New Growth Strategy Runs Through Comedy Creators
A countertop appliance brand is skipping traditional ads entirely to chase the exact fans who turned it into a viral kitchen phenomenon.

Why the Bot-Majority Internet Demands a Marketing Reset
When bots outnumber humans online, the old assumptions behind targeting, measurement, and engagement start to break.

Standalone Chatbots Including ChatGPT and Google AI Mode Will Generate Under $1B in 2026 US Ad Revenue
Despite the massive hype surrounding AI search interfaces, actual advertising performance is falling drastically short of original analyst forecasts.

Watch the 6 Ads Competing for an Emmy This Year
The shortlist reveals what top creatives believe “award-worthy advertising” looks like in the AI era.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This UGC ad uses a strong pattern interrupt and engages the viewer all the way to the end.

Option #2: This ad is very good at selling the result using a highly emotional approach.

Jeep made you connect the dots, but this next ad does it for you with picturesque storytelling.

Upgrade to premium to read it (and get the full Ad Careers list as a bonus):

❤️‍🩹 How to prevent divorce with storytelling

Read more

💰 Ad Careers

Advance your career and fill your pockets with these fresh opportunities.

Paid Advertising Specialist [Full time, US Remote]

• An agency Paid Advertising Strategist to run multichannel direct-response campaigns (Meta, Google, Bing) and manage client growth strategy.
  

Creative Strategist [Full time, US Remote]

• A US-based Creative Strategist for SCRL to lead paid social creative and high-velocity ad testing for their creator app.
  

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Ad Careers is free, but paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies in their inbox every day! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

Most health brands like to play it safe...

But this one sure doesn’t:

Dropping an F-bomb right at the top grabs you immediately.

However, shock value only buys you the first second of attention… so Grüns quickly pivots to logic by listing recognizable ingredients like Biotin and Zinc right underneath.

It hooks you with emotion, then gives a logical reason to buy.

Here’s the same example from a different brand:

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

Why Febreze is taking on soccer stink via podcasts, experiences
Procter & Gamble is breaking away from traditional, massive TV ad buys to build an entire experiential media strategy around unwashed sports gear and cultural subcultures.

Walmart Just Bought Its Way Into the Streaming Ad Wars
Retailers are quietly becoming the biggest new players in CTV, and Walmart’s latest acquisition shows just how far the land grab has gone.

Your Younger Audience Is Declining Faster Than It Looks
The data suggests brands chasing Gen Z on legacy platforms are fighting a losing battle they haven’t noticed yet.

How TikTok Shop is changing innovation for food and beverage brands
Major CPG companies like PepsiCo and Mars are bypassing traditional focus groups, using immediate social commerce data to completely dictate their new product development pipelines.

Google Just Told You Where It Thinks AI Search Really Lives
By folding AI visibility tracking straight into Search Console, Google may have quietly ended a year-long industry debate about “GEO.”

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad is pure storytelling — the headline alone makes the sale.

Option #2: This ad uses guerrilla marketing to convey a benefit without even showing the product.

Grüns relied on shock value to draw the prospect in.

This next ad, however, doesn’t have that luxury because the product is deemed inferior to its competitors from the get-go.

Upgrade to paid to see how to turn that inferiority gap to your advantage (and get the full Ad Careers list as a bonus):

⚔️ How to sell old-school products with “contrarian positioning”

Read more

💰 Ad Careers

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Paid Media Specialist [Full time, Remote]

• A full-time, AI-native Paid Media Manager role to run, test, and optimize Google, LinkedIn, and Meta campaigns.
  

Meta Creative Strategist for DTC Brand [Full time, Remote]

• A freelance or full-time Creative Strategist role for a scaling home & garden DTC brand to lead a high-volume direct-response pipeline.
  

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Ad Careers is free, but paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies in their inbox every day! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

This one is from Neil Patel for his SEO platform, Ubersuggest.

It starts with a bold hook right out of the gate: “#1 FREE TOOL” paired with a couple of fire emojis. This gives you an immediate reason to stop scrolling.

Who doesn’t want the best free tool for marketing?

Without skipping a beat, Neil immediately transitions straight into a POV screencast of the product in action.

Visually, it’s super native. It just looks like a guy holding his phone, showing you something cool on his laptop. It feels authentic and real.

Instead of just talking to the camera and listing off 10 different value props, he actually shows the audience what the tool can do.

So don’t just explain your software in the abstract. Walk the viewer through a real use case, and don’t be afraid to lean into ‘low-production’ territory. Sometimes it actually helps to be a little rough around the edges. The ad is more watchable that way.

Here are 3 examples of how you can adapt this concept to your own industry:

• B2B SaaS: A slightly shaky iPhone video pointing at a laptop screen, showing a user turning a chaotic spreadsheet into a clean dashboard with a single click. “Watch how I saved three hours of manual data entry before finishing my morning coffee.”

• Fintech: A native-looking mobile screen recording of a budgeting app, showing a thumb quickly dragging and dropping monthly expenses into custom folders. “Here’s the app I use to automate my rent and guilt-free takeout budget.”

• Fitness: A first-person view of a hand holding a phone in a gym locker room, generating a custom workout plan right before walking out to the gym. “Stop guessing which exercise to do next. Let this tool build your entire workout with 1 just click.”

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

5 Cannes Lions Takeaways as Marketers Wrestle With an Industry in Flux
AI’s eating the agenda again, but the real story is what agency leaders admit they’re still faking.

Read the weekly Digital Marketing News Updates
Healthcare ads, hacked Instagram accounts, a sneaky Reddit-Shopify integration, and more.

Meta AI Creative Ads at Cannes Lions 2026: A Playbook
Meta launched a new brand-aware AI creative ad ecosystem, which studies your past ads and starts generating new ones in your voice. Click to read more.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad uses a technique called counter-cultural positioning.

Option #2: This ad is a “disruptor”, aimed specifically at Gen Z and Millennials.

Instead of talking about the features, the first ad demonstrated them.

This ad also applies a similar approach, however, it takes it to a whole new level:

💩 “The Ugly Truth“ concept for instant differentiation

Read more

💰 Ad Careers

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Paid Social Media Specialist [Full-time, US Remote]

• An entry-level Paid Media Specialist and Campaign Coordinator role at Addendum, responsible for executing direct-response campaigns across Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat while bridging internal marketing and external creative studios.

Supplement DTC Advertorial copywriter ($35 - $75/h) [Full-time, Remote]

• A conversion-focused Supplement Advertorial Copywriter role at Holistic Growth Lab, responsible for crafting high-converting direct-response advertorial formats (listicles, exposés) that convert cold Meta and native traffic across the US, AUS, and EU markets.
  

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Ad Careers paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies every day — for free! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

We found a great example of advertising for the Andromeda era, and what it means for how you build your creative.

Quick context: Andromeda is Meta’s AI system that decides which ads even get a shot at reaching you. It scans billions of ads in milliseconds and picks what ads to show people.

Before Andromeda, Meta grouped users, then matched ads to groups. You picked an audience (interests, demographics) and Meta found people who fit. The targeting lived in your settings.

Now Meta matches ads to individuals, not groups. Andromeda reads the creative itself and predicts who’ll respond to it. Your creative is your new targeting.

That’s exactly what’s happening in this ad. The headline speaks to one specific avatar: a tired parent. That’s the targeting.

To win with the AI, you need to be as specific as possible (like signaling parental exhaustion) and diversify the angles instead of running the same ad on repeat for your campaign.

Want to see how this works in practice? Below are 3 variations of the ad above that Skool runs in parallel:

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

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Why traditional advertising is dead, according to Mastercard Senior Fellow Raja Rajamannar
If you think campaigns alone still drive growth, this interview challenges some deeply held assumptions about modern brand building.

New York now requires disclosure of AI performers in ads. Here’s what marketers should know.
This regulatory change could reshape how brands use synthetic talent and AI-generated creative in campaigns.

As AI reshapes search, TikTok turns discovery into a performance pitch
TikTok is making a bold case that the future of search may look less like Google and more like scrolling.

Advertisers brace for the impact of a potential youth social media ban
A regulatory change aimed at protecting kids could trigger a massive reshuffling of billions in ad spending.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: A low-production ad that blends seamlessly into a social media feed.

Option #2: This ad shows how to combat issues your brand is facing.

While Skool’s ad is optimized for targeting, this next ad is optimized for viewer retention.

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🔄 A quick retention tactic

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Advance your career and fill your pockets with these fresh opportunities.

Direct Response Copywriter [Full-time, US Remote]

• Direct-response Copywriter writing VSLs, sales pages, and funnel copy with performance bonuses. Requires 3+ years DR experience, long-form sales page & advertising chops, and fluency with AI tools.

E-Commerce Creative Director [Full-time, Remote]

• Performance Creative Director leading ad strategy, scripts, and video editing across Meta, TikTok, and short-form to drive e-commerce acquisition. Requires proven DTC creative strategy experience, fluency in CTR/hook rates/ROAS. You must own creative outcomes measured by paid performance metrics.

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Ad Catalyst paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies every day — for free! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

Brands pay millions of dollars to make their logo easily recognizable.

And after they finally earn the right to be a household name, they can create new ad strategies just because they can.

McDonald’s creates something you don’t usually see by leaning entirely on its massive cultural equity in their classic ad. The ad below is one of them. Let’s analyze why it works:

McDonald’s knows you’re already familiar with their Big Mac. So they can get away with a layout that is pure, high-awareness minimalism.

There are no typical features you’d expect in a fast food ad, like a picture of a burger, a price point, or even a CTA to drive action.

Instead, by pairing the product name and the company logo, it forces you to recall the iconic burger’s distinct smell, look, feel, and taste.

In addition, oversized typography bursts past the borders to reinforce the message: a Big Mac is a BIG burger.

To adapt to your industry, command attention by scaling your font size, slashing the copy, and letting your audience finish the sentence. Something like:

• Media: A stark, high-contrast black background is dominated by massive, elegant serif text reading “...he New York Tim...” bleeding off the borders, with a small, iconic gothic “T” logo in the corner. Copy: “The truth is worth it.”

• Gaming: A vibrant blue billboard features massive, chunky white text reading “...layStatio...” spilling completely off the left and right edges, anchored by a small, classic four-color “PS” logo in the bottom corner. Copy: “Play has no limits.”

• Automotive Industry: A billboard with a solid, sleek matte black background features massive, cropped silver typography that reads “...911...”, with a tiny Porsche crest in the bottom right corner. Copy: “If you know, you know.”

  ---

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

Indeed Addresses Job Market Disconnect With Ads That Put People First
Instead of selling features, the brand is betting that empathy and human connection can cut through a cynical market.

DoorDash Ads Becomes a Global Commerce Media Platform with 400,000 Advertisers
The app you order dinner from just became one of the most ambitious retail media players on earth — and its pitch to brands is built on something Google and Meta can't offer: intent at the moment of hunger.

YouTube's AI Remix Push Exposes a Looming Reckoning for the Creator Economy
A fascinating look at how AI-generated content may reshape the economics of creators, brands, and sponsorships.

Apple Turns Rival Browsers' Trackers Into Creepy Chrome Stalkers
More than a privacy story, it's a masterclass in competitive positioning and brand messaging.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad is a short, high-energy video that reflects a premium supplement brand.

Option #2: This ad stops the scroll by reflecting the viewer’s reality back at them.

McDonald’s Big Mac ad is widely considered a classic.

But this next ad represents a widely popular format that creative strategists are using right now.

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🦷 DTC Advertising 101

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Advance your career and fill your pockets with these fresh opportunities.

Copywriter for B2B Brand (Different Channels) (Upwork account needed) [Part-time, Remote]

Copywriter for a 7-figure AI Startup [Full-time, US Remote]

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Ad Catalyst paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies every day — for free! (The subscription pays for itself with just one offer letter.)

We tore down a MrBeast ad a couple of weeks ago.

Now, the brand returns — this time as a client testimonial for Slack.

Slack pitches its new AI assistant by putting its best features front and center

However, the editing is what makes this ad exceptional:

It runs so smoothly, the video starts to feel like a conversation instead of an ad.

The ad was inspired by MrBeast’s signature, hyper-dynamic editing style and merges both brands for this target audience.

Everything is fast-paced and hooks you instantly by flashing through multiple high-budget studio sets and heavy equipment in just the first 3 seconds.

Movement drives every frame. In most shots, Spencer strides through the space. When he stops, either the camera sweeps around him, or there’s an overlay of Slackbot being used in real time. Sometimes all three actions happen at once.

There’s never any stillness, which keeps the viewer’s attention anchored all the way to the end.

To apply this to your own industry, make sure every frame reignites the viewer’s curiosity by using the concepts laid out above.

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

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Ferrari Just Pulled a Jaguar
When a luxury icon changes its visual identity and the stock market reacts badly, it raises a deeper question: where does brand equity end and brand damage begin?

Marketing Trends for June 2026
Five seismic developments are reshaping how brands show up, spend, and measure results right now with these major market shifts.

ChatGPT Ad Delivery Struggles Are Testing Advertiser Patience
Early adopters of AI-native advertising are discovering that buying media inside chatbots may be messier than expected.

OpenAI Needs Two CMOs Because It Has a Problem Marketing Can’t Solve
What would usually be a slam-dunk marketing setup has actually become an unexpected nightmare requiring OpenAI to think outside the chatbot.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad makes the viewer connect the dots to infer the message’s meaning.

Option #2: This ad gives you an easy framework for selling in the DTC industry.

Slack’s ad rested on highly engaging and fast-paced editing — the kind that takes a lot of work to create.

By showing the messy side of parenting, this next ad takes a reverse approach to sell a major life purchase.

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🤨 How to sell … a dirty car?

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Advance your career and fill your pockets with these fresh opportunities.

Full Time Copywriter for 8-figure Ecom Brand ($20/h -$35/h) [Full-time, Remote]

Digital Demand Generation Marketing Strategist [Full-time, US Remote]

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(AdCatalyst paid subscribers get 5 additional job vacancies every day — for free!)

At my favorite steakhouse, my partner and I always request the same waiter…

Although every server there provides a great experience, our favorite waiter gives us the best service (shout out to Michael 🧑‍💼🍽️).

Most ads focus on price and features… but what really keeps your customers coming back is your customer service.

That’s what this local Grand Rapids company highlights in their ad:

Pro-Tech owners Andris and Lisa pull back the curtain to reveal their company culture and core values, highlighting the brand’s trustworthiness.

Homeowners see a community-minded business that treats its staff well. The employees are happy at work and feel appreciated, which results in superior, friendly service.

And prospects want this reassurance before they buy – especially when it comes to home repairs.

To adapt this ad to your own industry, show authentic behind-the-scenes company culture:

• Boutique Hospitality: A hotel chef gently correcting and encouraging the kitchen staff during prep work, cutting directly to a beautifully plated, gourmet room-service meal being delivered with a genuine smile.
  

• Residential Roofing: A crew leader huddling with his team for a morning safety briefing and coffee, followed by a shot of them meticulously sweeping a homeowner’s driveway for stray nails.
  

• Childcare & Early Learning: A preschool director handing a teacher a handwritten note of appreciation, cutting to that teacher sitting on the floor, fully engaged in a creative storytelling session with a group of toddlers.

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

Google’s latest commerce moves deepen the battle over agentic shopping
The search giant is rolling out a “Universal Cart” system that lets users add items and complete cross-retailer purchases directly in Gemini, YouTube, and Gmail, without ever bouncing to a merchant’s site.

Campaign Trail: Skittles stays surreal for ‘uncomfortably soft’ gummies
To capture Gen Z’s attention, the candy giant is strictly banning CGI and artificial intelligence in favor of bizarre, unsettling puppetry that provokes genuinely uncomfortable human reactions.

Designing for Conversion: How Brand Experiences Unlock Paid Traffic Value
Top-tier media planners are shifting budgets toward immersive, physical, and community-centric brand touchpoints to combat the dwindling efficiency of purely algorithmic digital ad channels.

As OpenAI’s ChatGPT ad delivery improves, the doubts it created aren’t so easily fixed
Even as conversational ad units achieve surprisingly robust conversion numbers, media planners are pushing back against the black-box nature of conversational placements.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad targets new moms’ changing buying behaviors to sell a $30,000 product.

Option #2: This SaaS product takes you behind the scenes at MrBeast’s company to highlight why you need their product.

Pro-Tech built trust by showing who they are.

This next brand built it by exposing who to avoid.

Upgrade to premium to read it:

🥊 How to deal with second-rate competitors

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Advance your career and fill your pockets with these fresh opportunities.

Social Media Ad Specialist for B2B SaaS [Part-time, Remote]

Creative Strategist for a Marketing Agency ($3.8k - $6k/m) [Full-time, Remote]

Want more opportunities like this? Paid subscribers get the full list every week.

The ad below is structured a little differently from others.

It’s a pattern-interrupt meme and a B2B service-pitch hybrid.

And for the first few frames, the viewer doesn’t even know it’s an ad at all!

This ad works because it uses an unorthodox hook to grab the viewer’s attention right from the start.

When you’re scrolling on social media, conventional ad hooks you’re used to will probably fail to capture your attention.

RocketDevs’ ad starts as a chaotic prank gone bad.

And like a train wreck, it’s hard to look away.

Once the viewer is hooked, the ad switches back and forth between the pitch and the prankster’s fate, retaining the prospect’s interest.

To adapt this type of B2B growth-hacking ad to your own industry, use a chaotic hook. It doesn’t need to be super relevant to the ad; it just needs to stop the scroll:

• Logistics/Freight: A toddler absolutely destroying a birthday cake with both fists while adults stand frozen — hard cut to a dispatcher watching shipments route themselves on a live map. “Total control. No cleanup required.”
  
  

• Fintech (Expense Management): A man frantically chasing a loose grocery cart downhill through a packed parking lot, full sprint — the camera slowly pans sideways to reveal a CFO standing at the edge of the lot, approving a quarterly report in three taps, completely unbothered by the cart chaos still unfolding behind him. “Stop chasing. Start closing.”
  
  

• HR/Recruiting: A woman trying to parallel park a U-Haul while six strangers shout contradicting directions — hard cut to a recruiter closing her laptop after a single shortlist lands in her inbox. “One signal. No noise.”

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

OpenAI opens ChatGPT ads pilot to financial services brands
The tech giant is quietly expanding its highly restricted native ad experiment to include heavily regulated fintech players like Robinhood while shifting toward standard cost-per-click bidding models.

Google upgrades AI search ads: What marketers need to know
The tech giant is rolling out conversational formats that turn sponsored links into hyper-personalized, direct answers to winding consumer queries.

Coinbase’s new thriller ad reflects their new product-focused marketing strategy
Rather than generating a sterile, corporate brand to deflect regulatory heat, the major crypto exchange is launching a provocative, voyeuristic thriller-style campaign that aggressively targets legacy finance.

Marketing teams must own AI, or workslop will take over
A critical look at how blind executive mandates for corporate automation are muddying brand values with high-volume, low-quality copywriting.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad leverages the “community aspect” to sell local services.

Option #2: This ad uses defensive marketing to justify a premium price point.

RocketDevs won the viewer over by ambushing them with chaos before they could scroll away.

Feastables skips the obvious buyer entirely to win over the person who actually controls the cart.

Upgrade to premium to read it:

🧠 Mr. Beast’s clever ad strategy

Read more

Introducing Career Catalyst – our new section where we share our top picks for job opportunities for creative strategists, ad managers, and more.

This week, we’re kicking things off with a creative strategist role at a brand with a 7-figure budget. 🚀

❗ Million Dollar Creative Strategist Job ❗ [Contract, Remote]

Senior Performance Marketer | $100k+ [Full-time, USA Remote]

Want more opportunities like this? Paid subscribers get the full list every week.

Let’s face it: most products aren’t exhilarating by themselves.

But you, as the creative strategist, still have a ton of opportunity to make them exciting.

Here’s how Liquid Death sold a water bottle – a boring product – with a thrilling hook

Two Liquid Death refillable bottles. That’s the whole ad.

And it works because it’s an identity ad, not an ad for their water bottles.

The Slaughter Bottle tells you exactly who this is for. Not everyone… just the people who see that and think: “yeah, that’s me.”

Liquid Death doesn’t try to appeal to everyone. They pick a lane – rebellious, anti-establishment, even aggressive – and they drive straight into it. The government angle isn’t really about the government. It’s a shorthand that says: “We’re on your side, not theirs.”

We buy things that reflect who we are, or who we want to be. The Slaughter Bottle is a personality statement. And for the right person, that’s more persuasive than any list of features.

The more clearly your ad signals who it’s for, the harder it hits with that person.

Not everyone will get it. That’s the point.

Here’s how you can adapt Liquid Death’s identity ad to different industries:

• Running Shoes: A close-up shot of a runner’s mud-splattered legs splashing in a puddle. “For those who rain can’t stop.”
  

• Noise-Cancelling Headphones: A shot of a bus commuter with headphones on, happily ignoring small talk from another passenger. “Before you’re pestered with boring small talk.”
  

• Sprinkler System: A photo of two lawns. One is dry with patches of yellow, the other is perfectly green and healthy. “The grass really is greener on your side.”

The best ads don’t describe a product. They describe a person.

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

Apple apologizes for iPad Pro “Crush” ad: “We missed the mark”
Discover why the tech giant’s attempt at a creative metaphor ended up feeling like a gut punch to the global artist community and forced a rare corporate apology.

DoorDash delivers memes, reality TV moms for Mother’s Day campaign
DoorDash is ditching the "perfect parent" facade to salute the actual, messy chaos of motherhood with a satirical campaign that values a relatable laugh over a sentimental card.

Meta’s AI-scaled ad engine drives 33% revenue surge in Q1 2026
See how the social media titan is successfully using "agentic" optimization to extract record-breaking value from its existing audience without needing a single new user.

Papa Johns’ CMO on driving cultural relevance with a ‘Toy Story’ tie-up
Learn how a legacy pizza brand is leveraging Pixar’s nostalgia to pivot away from price wars and toward a "creative-first" identity that targets family movie nights.

📢 Ad Pick

Vote for the ad you want us to tear down next week by clicking on the option you want to see.

Option #1: This ad never once speaks to the person using the product… and that’s the whole strategy.

Option #2: This ad leans into meme culture to sell a standard B2B service.

Instead of focusing on the product, Liquid Death held up a mirror and let the right people see themselves in it.

This next ad takes the opposite approach by letting the product speak for itself.

Upgrade to premium to read it (and get the full Career Catalyst list):

🔩 What a metal box gets right about selling

Read more

Vote for the ad you want us to break down next week.

Option #1: This ad leans into conspiracy theory to position a mundane product as something special.

Option #2: This ad uses the product’s packaging to prove the selling point.

To help me lower my screen time, I’ve been focusing on analog hobbies these past couple of months.

With addictive algorithms, it’s hard to stay off social media and enjoy the physical world around you.

That’s why Pinterest’s new anti-social media ad has audiences raving with their counterintuitive hook.

Watch how Pinterest stands in a class of its own here.

In this nostalgic ad, Pinterest sells their own platform by unexpectedly arguing against social media.

This ad works because it differentiates Pinterest as a social media tool for inspiration that leads to real-world action rather than the typical doomscrolling.

By showing how they’re different from other social media platforms, Pinterest creates their own “category of one.”

So instead of fighting their competitors for market share, Pinterest brilliantly shows how they’re in a whole league of their own.

With people craving more real-world experiences, here’s how you can hop on the trend with other products:

• Cooking: A phone lies face down with its camera active. As the phone is picked up, it records a messy kitchen counter and a half-eaten cake, with the copy “Tastes so good, you forget to take a picture.”
  

• Outdoor Apparel: A hiker stands at the top of a snowy mountain, completely unfazed by the cold. The copy can read: “Made for you, not your online persona.”
  

• Headphones: Show a shot of someone dancing wildly in their living room with high-end headphones on, completely oblivious to their surroundings. The ad’s tagline could be: “The sound that always takes you to a world of your own.”

The best brands make something worth putting your phone down for.

P.S.

If you’re interested in learning how hobbies help fix your brain rot, check out Dr. Izzy’s video where she breaks down the neuroscience behind it.

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

Lay's World Cup marketing strategy focuses on 'scaled intimacy' with fans
Discover how a global snack giant is leveraging a custom-built WhatsApp group and star-studded watch parties to turn massive soccer fandom into actionable first-party data.

These Marketing Concepts Have Become Meaningless—and They're Sabotaging Your Strategy
If you've said "insight," "disruption," or "engagement" in a meeting this week, professor Mark Ritson has some uncomfortable news for you.

Meta and Google ad revenues soar thanks to AI, but big picture is blurry
As the digital duopoly reports massive Q1 gains, analysts are questioning whether their staggering, multi-billion-dollar AI investments will ultimately cannibalize their core advertising businesses.

TikTok expands Out of Phone campaigns
The short-form video behemoth is aggressively moving beyond the mobile screen by partnering with Vistar Media to project creator campaigns onto over a million digital billboards and screens worldwide.

Pinterest carved out a category of one by arguing against the very thing they're a part of.

This next ad does something just as bold by making their customer’s biggest insecurity the punchline.

Upgrade to premium to read it:

🫣 The first stage is denial

Read more

Vote for the ad you want us to break down next week.

Option #1: This ad uses humor to boost urgency.

Option #2: This ad cleverly utilizes “anti-social media” marketing to sell … a social media platform!

Everyone has a moment they wish they could go back to or fast-forward through.

The fantasy of controlling time isn’t new, but few brands ever find a way to truly harness this universal desire.

This retro AI ad not only pulls it off… it makes you feel every second.

Watch the full ad here.

Even though this speculative watch ad is 100% AI made, it’s not hard to see why it went viral.

This ad works because of its powerful emotional storytelling.

By positioning the watch as the hero, the ad helps each character become the version of themselves they need most at that exact moment.

The campaign achieves this by using an imaginative device to express a completely real emotion through the hallmark of great storytelling: show, don’t tell.

With the constant shuffling of emotional ups and downs, the ad earns its tagline without ever needing to spit out a single technical feature.

Watch the full ad here and see if the tagline lands the way we think it does.

The concept isn’t unique to watches. Here’s what this looks like across other industries:

• Fitness: A woman effortlessly lifts heavy weights as her older, confident self steps forward to guide her younger, hesitant self through the rep. Pair it with copy like: “Strength doesn’t come with age. It comes with reps.”
  

• Education: A nervous first-generation college student walks across a stage, and as they grab their diploma, they briefly become the wide-eyed kid who first dared to dream it. The copy can read: “You’ve been working toward this your whole life.”
  

• Healthcare: A parent rushes through their day running on empty until their rested, healthier self takes over – present, patient, fully there for their kids, with the copy: “Take care of you, so you can take care of them.”

The real question isn’t what your product does… it’s which version of your customer it unlocks.

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

X Announces a Rebuilt Ad Platform Powered by AI
Elon Musk’s X is still trying to woo back advertisers — this time with a rebuilt, AI-powered ads platform that started rolling out this week, as forecasts show its ad business is finally trending upward again.

Predictive Analysis and Performance Go Hand in Hand
How the “guessing game” of television reach is being replaced by a precision engine that calculates ROI before the first ad even airs.

How Ford brings American values to life as nation’s 250th birthday nears
The automaker’s Global CMO explains why they are ditching “loud and proud” commercials for an action-oriented strategy that proves brand values through community work.

Coors Light elongates name to celebrate World Cup goals
Watch a classic beer brand literally stretch its physical identity across its packaging to mirror the high-octane energy of a global soccer summer.

The watch ad uses emotional storytelling to show a transformation over time.

This next ad skips the story entirely and makes you feel the transformation in a single frame.

Upgrade to premium to read it:

🥵 This ad will make you sweat

Read more

Vote for the ad you want us to break down next week.

Option #1: This “retro AI” ad creates a cinematic masterpiece to position a watch as the hero of the story.

Option #2: This ad features a striking visual metaphor to highlight its main selling point.

If you’ve ever tried plant-based milk, you know most of them taste horrible on their own…

Which is why most people mask it with protein powder or hide it in a smoothie. That’s exactly the pain point Whole Moon goes after in their provocative ad.

Watch the full ad here.

In their hilarious ad, Whole Moon attacks a preconceived customer belief … with a social taboo!

This ad works because it uses public nudity as a literal metaphor to make the USP (unique selling proposition) land harder.

Being naked in public isn’t normalized… neither is drinking plant-based milk on its own.

By showing the two simultaneously and making them seem completely ordinary, Whole Moon makes their case that their plant-based milk tastes great without adding anything.

Watch the comparison here.

(Then you’ll understand this week’s subject line.)

Here’s what the idea looks like across industries:

• Coffee: In a café where the menu has over 40 customizations, show a customer walking in and ordering a simple black coffee with the copy: “You don’t need 3 sugars to make it taste good.”
  

• Hospitality: Feature a traveler who always packs their own pillow, neck roll, and sleep mask. Once they arrive at the hotel, they look at the bed, unpack nothing, and immediately fall asleep. The copy can say something along the lines: “Leave yours at home.”
  

• Paint: Your ad can show two people at different paint stores. One loads their cart with primer, sealant, and a top coat. The other buys a single can with the copy: “We meant it when we said ‘one coat.’”

If your competitors need extras, add-ons, and workarounds to make it palatable… your product's simplicity is the angle.

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

Brand Safety vs Free Speech: The New Battleground for Advertisers
What started as a safety measure is now a legal flashpoint that could redefine how brands control risk.

Lidl and Iceland ads are first banned under new UK junk food rules
A new era of ad regulation is here – and brands are already getting caught crossing invisible lines.

Apple Maps ads: A new frontier for local discovery
Searching in inside Maps is turning into a high-intent ad surface – arguably more valuable than social feeds.

Love It or Hate It: Sydney Sweeney returns with second American Eagle campaign after backlash
Instead of retreating, the brand doubled down and reframed criticism into a narrative asset.

Whole Moon got attention by stripping everything away and daring you to judge the product on its own.

This next ad takes the opposite approach by using the noise your audience is already drowning in to deliver a message they've been avoiding.

Upgrade to premium to read it:

🫣 The art of selling to someone in denial

Read more

Vote for the ad you want us to break down next week.

Option #1: This ad uses a major social taboo to sell its main benefit.

Option #2: This ad leverages something you never ignore on social media to deliver a health message many women overlook.

Last night, I woke up to a firetruck racing down my street.

I ran to my window to make sure everything was okay (and thankfully, everything was 🚒).

But it was too hard to see, so I had to run outside barefoot in the snow to make sure.

In my neighborhood, it's not uncommon for a neighbor to check on things through their window.

It’s exactly the kind of “good enough” thinking OmniCam roasts their audience for in their ad:

In their ad, OmniCam features an old neighborhood watchdog grandma surveilling her block from her window.

The ad works because it exposes why the solutions customers already rely on aren’t actually solving the problem.

While most security camera brands brag about specs, OmniCam proves it’s more reliable than a neighborhood watchdog – especially at night.

Your competitor isn’t just other products like yours, but the other solutions people use to solve the same problem.

Here’s how you can handle other failed solutions across other industries:

• Cybersecurity: A password manager can highlight someone clicking “Forgot Password” for the third time, digging through a notes app filled with variations like Netflix2, Netflix3, and NewNetflixFinal with the copy: “Your memory isn’t a security system.”
  

• SaaS Product: A project management ad can feature a chaotic desktop covered in sticky notes, Slack pings, and half-written to-do lists as one sticky note falls to the floor with the copy: “Your sticky notes aren’t a system.”
  

• Finance: A commercial can show someone scrolling their banking app, mentally subtracting purchases while holding their breath at checkout with the copy: “Guessing isn’t budgeting.”
  

• CRM Software: An ad can feature a salesperson scrolling through old emails trying to remember the last conversation with a lead while the phone rings with the copy: “If it’s lost in your inbox, it gets forgotten.”

When trying to position yourself as the best solution, don’t forget to explain why you’re better than other failed alternatives.

🔥What’s Hot in Advertising Right Now

Stay up-to-date with the latest advertising trends and news.

The next wave of digital advertising is being taken over by predictive targeting
Instead of just reacting to past consumer behavior, discover how the newest LLMs are empowering platforms to instantaneously anticipate exactly what your audience will do next.

TikTok Adds New AI Video Generation to Symphony Ad Toolkit
See how ByteDance’s latest tech integration enables marketers to rapidly conjure hyper-realistic, fully-synced promotional clips using nothing more than a text prompt.

The Measurement Gap Is Becoming a Budget Problem
Confidence in digital attribution is plummeting, and boards are starting to pull the plug on marketing spend because they can no longer “prove” it works.

KFC Debuts “Finger Lickin’ Machine” as a Full-Fledged Music Video
Sanders trades the boardroom for the dance floor in a 90-second rhythmic fever dream that positions the Colonel as a populist hero fighting for “Value Feast” pricing.

OmniCam uses the technical limits of an alternative solution to position its product as the best on the market.

This next ad shows why it’s the best on the market by highlighting that there are no limits to its product capabilities.

Upgrade to premium to read it:

🔓 Limitless

Read more