Hey - It's Carson.

I’m back in NYC for an event and a buddy’s birthday. Every time I come here, I am reminded why it’s the greatest city on earth.

There’s nothing like it, and there’s definitely nothing like the people, lol.

Fun fact: Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender. He’s the only U.S. president with that distinction. In 1833, he co-owned a tavern in New Salem, Illinois, called Berry and Lincoln, and obtained a liquor license to sell alcohol. He sold his equity in the business shortly after its founding due to his partner's alcoholism and the resulting debt, which Lincoln later paid off.

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t all that big a partier, but still….

Anyway, let’s get into this week’s ads.

Ads of the Week

Grubby, Pluto, Nikon, Crayola, Dettol

Grubby

🧠 Principle: Reframing

🖋️ Definition: A technique used to shift a person's perspective on a situation, thought, or event to alter their emotional and cognitive responses, often by finding a different, more constructive, or positive interpretation.

💡 Why it works: This ad takes a common negative self-talk trigger (“ordering pre-made meals = laziness”) and reframes it into a form of intelligence and efficiency.

Instead of guilt, it associates convenience food with being smart and productive.

By renaming what most think is laziness as “hyper-efficient dinner out-sourcing protocol,” they turn the meaning of the behavior from shame to pride.

It makes people feel like they’re not failing at cooking, but hacking life and saving their time.

People don’t expect “laziness” to be glorified as efficiency. But that’s why it’s funny and the humor catches attention, lowers defenses, and makes the brand feel relatable (and like they actually wanna help).

Now my personal favorite part of this is the phrase itself “hyper-efficient dinner out-sourcing protocol,” because it’s poking fun of “corporate” and “tech-bro” slang, while flattering the audience’s cleverness.

A lot of people feel guilty buying ready meals because they “should” cook. But this is reframing the behavior not as being lazy, but strategic.

Pluto

🧠 Principle: Vanity Appeal (Attention Bias)

🖋️ Definition: A logical fallacy that uses flattery or appeals to a person's pride and self-esteem to persuade them, rather than using sound reasoning.

💡 Why it works: People love products that make others notice them. If it boosts their confidence and ego, they will be wayyyyy more drawn to the appeal.

The ad openly tells you these shoes will make people ask, “Where’d you get those?”, and is feeding your ego directly.

Because we are wired to seek validation and social belonging, we make purchases not just for functionality, but to communicate identity and gain recognition (status) from others.

This ad is basically just using a golfer’s desire to stand out and be admired, even if their swing isn’t perfect. It makes them a status signal on the course.

Nikon

🧠 Principle: Emotion Appeal (Pathos)

🖋️ Definition: A persuasive technique that uses emotions to evoke a response from an audience and influence their decision-making.

💡 Why it works: People don’t buy cameras for specs. They buy to capture emotions, stories, and meaning.

This ad makes you feel the soul of photography.

Rather than pushing megapixels or zoom ranges, Nikon tells a micro-story: a boy passionate about capturing moments by the river.

Storytelling creates a relatable emotional connection and immerses people in narratives that are more memorable and persuasive than plain facts.

This ad doesn’t show a polished professional photo. It highlights a young creator (Lungisani) with passion and dedication to photography.

The relatability and authenticity make you feel like “If he can create powerful work with Nikon, so can I.”

Just remember this: stories are the single greatest lever to create a connection with your audience.

And if you think you can’t do that with statics, well… use this ad as your reference.

Crayola

🧠 Principle: Visual Metaphor

🖋️ Definition: Images that represent an idea, feeling, or concept by applying the qualities of one thing to another, unrelated thing.

💡 Why it works: The brain processes metaphors by linking two unrelated domains (exercise → creativity).

This makes the abstract idea of “mental muscles” tangible and concrete so people can visualize what you are conceptually blending.

It also allows people to instantly understand that Crayola doesn’t just build artistic skills, but it also strengthens cognitive ones.

Crayola is showing you how creativity is something you “work out,” reframing art as equally important as physical education. It turns crayons from “toys” for kids to tools for growth for any age.

Then, they back it all up with social proof of studies just to drive their point home and prove to you it’s legit.

Dettol

🧠 Principle: Negativity Bias

🖋️ Definition: The tendency for negative events and information to have a greater impact on a person's psychological state and mental processes than positive or neutral ones, even when they are of equal intensity.

💡 Why it works: We’re wired to pay more attention to potential threats or losses than to potential gains. Even a tiny risk can feel disproportionately large when health and safety are involved.

Highlighting the “99.99%” safety claim (which usually sounds great) but reframes it negatively. If it’s not 100%, you’re still at risk.

Now, a strength of competitors (hand sanitizers claiming 99.99% germ protection) is turned into a liability, positioning Dettol as the safer, risk-free choice because it doesn’t leave a single % for error.

How information is framed changes perception. “99.99% protection” is typically framed positively, but here, it’s framed negatively. By framing the same statistic as uncertainty, Dettol makes competitors look unreliable, and yes, even 1% can make a difference.

It’s crazy how such a small tweak can alter perception with framing, which is why it’s one of my favorite principles to use.

Here's an ad I made for Crocs

That’s all for this week. If you enjoyed this week’s newsletter, let me know by replying to this email with a “👌🏻” emoji.

And if you know anyone who’d enjoy it, I’d be incredibly grateful if you sent it their way.

Till next week!

Stay Mad,

-Carson 🧪

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