When Did the Best Ads of All Time Stop Roaming the Earth?

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Whatever happened to the best ads for companies?

Remember ads like “Got milk?” or “Plop, plop. Fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is.” for Alka Seltzer?

Or the timeless and always welcome “Just do it” ads for Nike or Apple’s “I’m a Mac. I’m a PC.” campaign?

When did the best ads take a vacation and move to a remote exotic island for an extended stay?

The Best Ads are Like Long-lost Friends We Invite for a Drink

One of the most enduring and memorable campaigns was the “Most Interesting Man in the World” for Dos Equis.

We all fell in love with him and the bravado of his persona.

Here are just a few of the brilliant bits of copy that built up the bigger-than-life aura of this 100% fictional character who always ended an ad with “Stay thirsty, my friends”:

1. He lives vicariously through himself.
2. He once had an awkward moment just to see how it feels.
3. His beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man’s entire body.
4. If he were to mail a letter without postage, it would still get there.
5. Mosquitos refuse to bite him purely out of respect.
6. His business card simply says, “I’ll call you.”
7. He has won the lifetime achievement award, twice.
8. If he were to punch you in the face, you would have to fight off the urge to thank him.

An Important Question Every Brand Must Ask Itself

When was the last time you saw an ad and told others about it?

Or one that made you smile and think, “I didn’t see that one coming. That was brilliant.”

Those days seem so much in the distant past.

3 Steps To Creating Memorable Ads Again

When I work with clients (after I have established that it is a product or service that adds value to a specific person or company and how it is different from what’s out there), I seek to create ads that have three traits to make them memorable:

1. An element of surprise
2. Intelligence that speaks our language (and our minds)
3. Insightful humor or commentary. 

Recently, I’ve been able to put this three-pronged strategy into practice for Nimbl Vehicles, a brilliant new company that builds and manufactures Expedition Vehicles.

The Forest from the Trees

Here is an example of a holiday message created for them. 

At first glance, people commonly see trees. 

A little farther away from their screens, they see the company name and logo appear in the trees.

Don’t see their name in the trees? 

Just step back from your device, and presto, it’s there.

Below are three more ads for Nimbl that show this strategy in action:

After learning that the entire hemisphere has 9,096 stars in the sky, I realized one theoretically has about half of those to enjoy under the night sky.

Which led to this question: Why settle for 5-star lodging when you can enjoy over 4,500-star lodging?

When in doubt, go bigger.

This was the inspiration for this ad. Compare a Nimbl to one of the most recognized landmarks in all of outdoor travel: Mount Rushmore.

As you see, each of these ads incorporates these three key traits:

1. An element of surprise
2. Intelligence that speaks our language (and our minds)
3. Insightful humor or commentary. 

I hope you found this helpful in creating ads and content that are memorable and effective in rising above the noise.

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