Demand Curve - Growth Newsletter #222

The Growth Newsletter #222

The best "political" ad I've seen

Yep, lots of politics talk in the air. Too much, in fact.

Today, I'm not talking politics. Instead, I'm tearing down one of the best examples of a "political" ad I've seen.

It does a lot of things really well.

And the concepts can be used whenever you need to make someone care about a problem a lot more than they are.

Let's dive in 💊

– Neal

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The best "political" ad I've seen

Insight from us. Ad by Progress Action Fund.

We’ve never analyzed a “political” ad before—for many reasons.

But this one is just completely different than any other I’ve seen.

As a fair warning, the first 2 seconds are NSFW, as you can tell from the thumbnail below.

Click here to start after that point.

tl;dr is that a man tries to use the contraceptive drug Plan B, and a grumpy Republican senator appears and tells him it has been banned.

Here’s what this ad does incredibly well:

#1. The Hook

The average person scrolls ~43.25 feet of content daily on their phone.

If you fail to hook someone in the first few seconds, they’re gone.

This ad’s opener is very hard to ignore, both visually and aurally.

#2. It cuts to the chase

Most stories are terrible because they meander endlessly with useless context.

The stories that captivate give you only what’s critical.

This is what Wes Kao calls the Minimum Viable Backstory:

It didn’t waste precious time showing how the couple got into this scenario.

Instead, it cuts to the critical moment where the main character’s problem begins with just enough context for you to understand what’s going on and be invested.

#3. It’s laden with suspense

They hook you.
They introduce the problem.

They get you invested.

Suddenly, an old man in a suit appears in the man’s bathroom.

(And the scream the man emits is delightful 😂)

You have no idea what you’re really watching or why.

It’s only 2/3 into the video do they finally introduce the “why.” By then, you’re really invested, and the surprise is hilarious.

#4. It engages an audience that is otherwise checked out

Most men ignore topics related to women’s reproductive rights. Although it’s a problem that affects all of us, it doesn’t directly affect men.

This ad does an excellent job making it their issue too.

It made the guy the main character of the ad:

• He’s the one trying to grab the Plan B.
• He’s the one being confronted by the grumpy man in the suit.
• He’s the one who will have to break the news to her.
• He’s the one being called “daddy.”

This ad does a perfect job of making the target audience acutely feel the problem.

#5. It’s relatable

The minimal viable backstory doesn’t explain the status of these two people. They could have just met. They could have been dating for a year. They could be married.

It leaves you to fill in that blank.

On top of that, according to studies, condoms break 2-5% of the time. And at least 45% of women have had pregnancy scares in their lifetime, with 25% of women having used Plan B at least once.

It’s a relatable problem the target audience has experienced first- or second-hand.

#6. Most importantly, it shows, not tells

Most ads of this type are just someone talking at the camera trying to either:

1. Shame you
2. Educate you
3. Convince you

This ad isn’t a man staring you down and bashing you over the head with their opinions about how the other side is evil/wrong.

Instead, it tells a relatable story designed to empathize with the problem.

A far more effective way to convince someone.

#7. It attempts to simplify the decision

Politics is extremely complicated. There are infinite possible combinations of opinions that someone can have about how a country should be run. 

Unfortunately, in many countries, we're only given two options.

Given that, it can be extremely difficult for someone to weigh all the pros and cons of stuffing a round or a square peg into the amorphous blob of a hole that is your political opinion.

This ad attempts to simplify the problem by making you care first and foremost about a single issue.

And our brains love simplicity.

A study showed that a single thing can heavily influence people's voting in the final days to hours before an election.

Politics aside, I hope you found this inspiring

I leave it up to you to decide whether you agree or disagree with the ad’s message.

Regardless, this ad is a masterclass in making someone care about something they might not be paying attention to.

Takeaway:

Make them painfully aware of a problem or danger through creative storytelling.

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Neal O'Grady

Justin Setzer