It’s easy to think people hate advertising. It’s not true. People hate bad advertising. People hate being screamed at by a sea of beige messages that aren’t interesting enough to merit a response. We’re sick of tricks. Sick of AI generated falsities, sick of AR, VR and whatever Meta black hole Zuck’s cooking up next. Sick of a zillion shouty headlines with asterisks and roundels and trying-to-be-funny-but-we’re-a-brand-who-just-wants-your-dollar voices. Well, that felt good to get off my chest. Saved me at least £70 in therapy.
So what ads do people like? I’m so glad you asked. I’ve seen three recent examples that the good people of social media have applauded. That real humans who don’t work in advertising have gone out of their way to upload and say, hey – that’s cool. And do you know what’s consistent across all of them? Simplicity.
First up, Cadbury’s. VCCP divided the wrapper of their Dairy Milk bars up into three witty sections, with the greatest portion going to the biggest hero in each scenario, for instance: the person ‘who presented the slides’ gets the lion’s share, the one ‘who took notes’ gets a fair chunk, but the legend who just ‘contributed a ‘cheers all’ at the end’ only gets a few squares. Stunning. This is warm. This is relatable. And above all, it only relies on a few keylines and a total of fifteen words to get the message across. 10/10, no notes.
Next, Kelloggs. They’ve cropped in on a section of their logo, so the entire ad is two words and a rooster. ‘The OG.’ Fabulous. This is, as Mark Elwood, the CCO Of Leo Burnett says, ‘true big brand behaviour. People love it. The audacity, the swagger and a chicken called Cornelius. Can you name another cornflake brand? Thought not.
Finally, McDonalds. McD’s have done some bold OOH work with big images and a select couple of words like ‘Hack Brown’ or ‘The Rogue Dip’ that demonstrate the individual ways people enjoy their meals. There’s a beautiful long copy press ad that talks about the ‘gherkin transfer.’ Let’s hear it for the strategists. They’ve uncovered tiny truthful nuggets(!) of takeaway life – like sticking chips in milkshakes and fobbing off the bits you don’t want to someone else. Lovely.
It’s interesting that these are all food brands. And they’re all advertising with a simple sophistication that belies their goods’ retail price. Perhaps they think detoxing their ads compensates for the calories in the products. Either way, it’s tasty work. So let’s keep giving the people what they want. What do the people want? LESS. Or if you’re gonna be like that, FEWER things to focus on. We want simplicity. We crave it like a chunky bar of Dairy Milk. Give us one beautiful idea that makes us think, sob or chuckle. Because, when it comes to advertising, less is, and will always be, more. Now pass the fries.
If you’re looking for a simple idea, get in touch.
