Hey - It's Carson.

I’m heading to the Bahamas next week for vacation, but fear not, I’ll still be sliding into your inbox.

Fun fact: You’re 10x more likely to get bitten by a New Yorker than a shark. You're also more likely to get bitten by a New Yorker than you are a rat in New York too.

Moral of the story: keep your head on a swivel in NYC.

Now that we’ve covered the important stuff, let’s dive into this week’s 5 best ads.

Ads of the Week

Built Different, Jamby’s, Particle, Happy Mammoth, & Dermazen

Built Different

🧠 Principle: Expectation Violation

🖋️ Definition: A situation where someone's behavior deviates from what was anticipated or expected.

💡 Why it works: There are a few things at play here, but for the most part, you expect brands to promote 5-star reviews.

Showing the opposite (a negative review), changes what you’re used to and gets your attention because it breaks a norm.

Because of our negativity bias (we pay more attention to negative information), it makes you want to know: “Wait, what happened here?”

But when you keep reading, you solve the “puzzle” - it’s actually a product drop announcement.

Using a customer complaint as a headline is unexpected (violation), but the brand turns it into something funny (benign).

Lean into your negative reviews, frame them in a funny way, and you’ll earn people’s trust (and business).

Jamby’s

🧠 Principle: Self-Disclosure Effect

🖋️ Definition: Sharing personal information (self-disclosure) on relationships and well-being helps earn trust and connection with others.

💡 Why it works: Confession time: I have hyperhydrosis, which means I sweat a ton. So obviously, this ad got my attention and I was abel to connect with it.

“I sweat really easily so I started wearing Jamby’s,” doesn’t feel like marketing. It feels like a real person talking to people who share the same problem (me).

Instead of saying “these are breathable shorts,” it leads with a pain point (sweat).

Then clearly lays out the fixes:

• "No accidental crotch-flash tech"

• "Jambys-exclusive breathable non-sweat fabric"

• "Deep stretch iPhone-14-big pockets"

Each feature is a solution to a real-life problem, which is more persuasive than listing specs nobody gives a shit about.

I’m gonna sound like a broken record here, but specificity = trust & $$$. It shows you actually understand your customer’s life.

Don’t be afraid to get specific.

Particle

🧠 Principle: Incongruity Theory of Humor

🖋️ Definition: Humor stems from perceiving something that is unexpected, absurd, out of the ordinary, or bizarre.

💡 Why it works: I think we can all agree we’ve seen this picture before in real life. I see it every time I go to the beach without fail.

“You’re not a clown.” paired with an image of a grown man covered in white sunscreen like war paint = visual hook.

The incongruity is what triggers “surprise”, which leads to humor, which leads to engagement.

You laugh, you relate, you read on.

The emotional/relatable problem: The embarrassment of looking ridiculous at the beach.

Then it instantly follows with the solution: Particle Invisible Sunscreen = No white marks. No smell. 100% invisibility.

Leaning into mild, slightly funny public embarrassment that “you’re THAT guy” moment gets people to stop and listen to wtf you have to say.

By framing the issue as visibly clown-like, it makes you look into your self-image because we don’t want to look stupid, especially in public spaces like the beach. . The benefit bullets are skimmable.

*I saw this ad at the perfect time to make sure my dad is NOT this person next week on the cruise.

Happy Mammoth

🧠 Principle: Framing (a lot of different framing)

🖋️ Definition: The phenomenon where people's decisions and perceptions are influenced by how information is presented, rather than just the information itself.

💡 Why it works: The list of framing principles at work here:

1. Problem-solution framing

2. Cognitive reframing

3. Identity framing

Let’s break this one down by each type.

Problem-solution framing:

Rather than hitting you with “weight loss” or “fat-burning” like a bootcamp ad, this reframes the core pain point as something more human and habit-based (The science of not raiding the fridge at night).

It doesn’t make it about weight, but about self-control. And it shifts your mindset from shame to empowerment, which is giving your brain more positive emotions to not make you feel like shit.

Cognitive Reframing:

This ad swaps: “Weight loss = guilt, punishment, restriction” with “Weight control = peace, nature, balance”

Instead of making you feel bad about yourself, they want you to feel good, so they don’t mention weight, just lifestyle problems.

Identity Framing:

You're not someone “failing” at weight loss with late-night cravings... You're someone who wants to use supplements to stay in control.

It frames your identity into a smarter, more evolved one: the kind of person who solves problems naturally and lives in harmony with their body.

If you’ve ever stood in front of the fridge at 11:42 PM with a spoonful of peanut butter, wondering what went wrong in life… then same.

Dermazen

🧠 Principle: Mirror Effect

🖋️ Definition: How we perceive ourselves through the lens of others' perceptions and reactions, often leading to unconscious imitation and a sense of connection.

💡 Why it works: Sometimes, just calling shit out works. It’s clear, it doesn’t dance around anything, and it calls to a specific person.

It’s like hearing someone say exactly what you’re dealing with out loud. That “oh sh*t, this is for me” moment triggers attention and connection.

By plainly stating: “Made for people with seb derm…” …the ad instantly mirrors people’s identity and condition back to them.

Legit, all this ad does is just say:

✔ who it's for

✔ what it does

✔ where it works (face + scalp)

And instead of casting a wide net (“all skin types!” 🙄), it just homes in on seb derm sufferers, who are a niche audience that often feels overlooked.

Here's an ad I made for Nathan’s Hot Dogs

That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.

If you wanna see more stuff from me, check me out on other socials, til next week.

Stay Mad,

-Carson 🧪

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