The ads in this article are the Big Boys. They are a master class in how to advertise on social media. We have gone back to these videos over and over again and they have heavily influenced the way that we create content.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that these commercials have changed the way that audiences buy and what they expect from brands.
Dollar Shave Club
In 2010 Old Spice did a Super Bowl commercial that broke the mold. Remember the guy… “the man your man could smell like”… at the end he says “I’m on a horse”.
That style set the tone for thousands of ads to follow. It certainly influenced this first social media example from Dollar Shave Club, but the amazing thing about this ad was it gave you the feeling that this was something ANY business could do.
No one knew who Dollar Shave Club was until this… and then everyone knew them. This video created a ton of copycats (including us). You’ve seen them… one spokesperson talking to camera with lots of zany stuff happening around them.
The benefit on social media like YouTube and Facebook of course, is that Dollar Shave Club was not restricted to fifteen or thirty second time slots. And they didn’t have to spend the same kind of money on production that Old Spice did to get the same result.
Chatbooks
We have watched this ad dozens of times. We’ve taken notes, and we’ve borrowed a LOT.
Like Dollar Shave Club, it’s one spokesperson talking to camera with lots of jokes and zany stuff happening. But they increased the production value, and they made the customer the hero.
In fact, this persona work is masterful.
Squatty Potty
Chatbooks had created a very specific style and a very effective SALES formula. Every business and agency who had a camera started trying to emulate both the style and the formula. At first, it was great, there was a lot of really fun new content in the newsfeed instead of the noisy ads we were used to.
But then, this became the pattern. It was expected. We didn’t laugh as much.
Squatty Potty found the solution by taking the World-Building to the next level. They took the same effective formulas and put Hollywood level production quality on top of them. Not just anyone can copy this strategy.
Aviation Gin
Before Chatbooks… people didn’t know they could get books of their Instagram photos delivered to their door. It was a new concept.
Before Squatty Potty… no one knew they needed to put their feet on something when they pooped.
Both of those companies had to introduce brand new concepts to their audiences, which required a complicated sales formula.
Aviation Gin does not have that problem. Everyone knows what Gin is and how it works. They don’t have to explain much… they just need to create a feeling around their product.
Also, it doesn’t hurt to have Ryan Reynolds as your spokesperson.
Burger King
Is it just us, or is the shade-throwing in the fast food industry really entertaining?
If you don’t know, McDonald’s had taken a lot of heat because their burgers allegedly didn’t “age” after days, weeks, months… or years. It seemed that they weren’t using real food, or their preservatives were a little too “preservative-ey”, or something.
Burger King knew just what to do. The main note on this ad is: Show Don’t Tell.
Geico
This is how you do a hook.
This ad, made for YouTube, shows us how to get people to skip the skip button and watch deep into the video.
It helps that you can say your entire sales message in under five seconds and people have heard it so many times by now they can say it with you.
Everybody now: “fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more with Geico”
After that… it’s just pure joy. A dog having the best day of his life and a bunch of actors trying to stay perfectly still… Oh… and a big fat Geico logo.
Sandstone Chiropractic
Well, we had to throw one of our own ads on this list. Based on what we’ve already covered above, here are some ways that this ad uses the same advantages on social media:
- This ad is longer than TV.
- It’s for a local business… anyone can do this!
- The customer is the HERO!
- There is some World-Building (even if it doesn’t come with a Squatty Potty production level price tag).
- We had to explain some stuff, and we used jokes to do it with a familiar sales formula.
- We have a hook.
If you’ve watched all of these examples and you’ve seen the light…
You want to try and create a funny social media ad for your business… boy are you in luck.
We have a free training where we give some of our top tips. Watch it now!
FREE Training: How to Use Funny Videos to Increase your Sales!