Last night’s Super Bowl ads reminded me of one of the most crucial rules of effective direct response copy.
The ads that I paid attention to, the ones that resonated, the ones that I remembered — or better yet, went to the websites for — all had ONE thing in common…
They made me FEEL something.
They made me laugh. They made me angry. They made me reminisce. They made me hopeful or inspired.
Many of these hugely expensive ads didn’t do any of that. They felt soulless. (Yes, I’m looking at you Doritos and Pizza Hut and that overly convoluted, trying-too-hard Dunkin ad. Even Budweiser’s overdone, left-behind pony fell flat.)
Did I watch every single ad and take detailed notes? No, I was a bit distracted with my puppy wanting to bite and chew everything in sight, though much of the game she napped peacefully between hubby and I in front of the big screen TV.
But let me share the ones that I liked the best — and upon reflection, it was because of the aforementioned tactic of making me FEEL something.
I’m sure you can find links to these ads online if you want to go back and look at them. It may be worthwhile to do so as they could give you some ideas to apply to your own copy. So here goes…
Ads that made me laugh
➽ The Duracell ad with Tom Brady in his same sportscaster outfit he was wearing with his same co-host — when he fell asleep, at first I thought it was real!
➽ International Delight Cold Foam ad “Let’s go tongues” — weird and subversively funny in a John Waters kind of way (David Lynch would approve).
➽ The Hellman’s mayonnaise “Hit the Spot” sandwich ad with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal re-enacting that famous scene from “When Harry Met Sally” at Katz’ Deli (“I’ll have what she’s having”, spoken by a much younger woman than in the original movie scene). A classic!
➽ The Stella Artois beer ad with soccer star David Beckham and his newly-discovered twin, played by Matt Damon — with the humorous exchange at the end about being “Matt Damon-famous” vs. “Ben Affleck-famous”, and Matt’s response to the latter of “Too bad”… definitely made me laugh!
Ads that made me angry (in a good way)
➽ The Nike ad with top female athletes like Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, Jordan Chiles, and others, showing all the contradictions women are told from a young age about how they should act, what they can’t do, and who they can’t be — and how they keep doing the opposite (“You can’t fill a stadium — so fill a stadium”)… ending with “You can’t win — so win”. Love it! (and how the ad ends with a female gymnast adopting a pose that fits the Nike swish perfectly).
➽ The Power to the Patients ad featuring Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson calling for healthcare price transparency… definitely tapping into consumers’ frustration with high healthcare costs and insurance companies, and giving them a way to fight back (that doesn’t involve an extended stay at Rikers Island).
➽ The Hims & Hers ad that talks about obesity being an epidemic while showing a rapid series of images, leading up to the statement, “Something’s broken, and it’s not our bodies… it’s the system”. It’s like so many ads that talk about how “it’s not your fault” and then finds a common enemy or cause that’s the reason why whatever you’ve tried before hasn’t worked. A powerful, proven technique!
Ads that made me reminisce
➽ The NFL ad about making girls’ flag football a varsity sport at all high schools — it took place in 1985 and totally nailed what it was like back then as a teenager. (I remember playing flag football back then — my name on the back of my t-shirt was “Krazy Krause” and I still have it — but it was only one game each year.)
➽ Nerds candy ad with country star Shaboozey leading a brass band through a bright and colorful version of the French Quarter of New Orleans, while Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World” plays (it made me reminisce about my wedding, as this was our first dance song, but also past visits to NOLA and, of course, remember the recent victims in the New Year’s Eve attack).
Ads that made me feel hopeful or inspired
➽ The Pfizer ad with the young boy who just knocked out cancer (yes, a big pharma company actually made me feel positively towards it!)
➽ The Dove soap ad with the 3-year-old girl running, but by age 14 she doesn’t feel the same about her body, and how that needs to change.
➽ The Jeep ad with Harrison Ford that talked about how freedom isn’t free, differences make us stronger, and how you should choose what makes you happy (plus a bit of humor at the end when Harrison joked about his last name).
And the WORST ad of all…
➽ The ChatGPT ad — made up of black dots and other animated graphics on a white background — was as dull, soulless, and uninspiring as you’d expect. Supposedly it was made by human artists without the use of AI. But it was overly self-serving by comparing itself to the greatest human achievements of all time.
In the previous examples I shared, you can see how important it is to use emotion in your advertising.
Making your prospect feel something is like opening the door and finding a way in to their conscious mind — by sneaking in through the subconscious.
But once you’re into their conscious mind, the next step after making them feel is to make them BELIEVE.
Because, as I’ve said so many times before, without belief there is no sale.
That’s why research is such a critical step in the copywriting process. You not only have to get deep into your prospect’s mind and tap into their deepest emotions… you need to go deep into your product and be able to build the best, most logical and believable case.
Even the late, great Clayton Makepeace — who was known for writing some of the most powerful, emotionally hard-hitting copy — taught me this valuable lesson:
Let the steel trap of the brain open up by hitting the prospect’s emotional hot buttons, then let the logical part of the brain take over and make the decision to buy.
But the first step is getting in through that steep trap of a door. Hopefully these ads — and this Copy Insiders issue — gave you some ideas on how to do so.
Yours for smarter marketing,
Kim
P.S. Keep an eye out this weekend for a special holiday bundle deal. If you’ve had your eye on my Research Beast program and want to get “dangerously good” at writing copy — while racking up higher-paying clients on the regular — this special holiday bundle deal gives you all of that and more! So stay tuned.