Hey - It's Carson.

To say it’s been a wild past week would be an understatement.

I’m ripping ads, slinging lots of content across platforms, taking meetings, and managing client work 24/7.

But honestly, I’m loving every minute of it.

I even started a podcast with my good pal Luke on all things advertising, creative, and psychology. You can check it out and subscribe here!

Fun fact: You can make a diamond out of peanut butter.

Both contain carbon, so a scientist named Dan Frost in Germany decided to see if he could convert the carbon from peanut butter into a diamond. After he exposed peanut butter to 2,000°F (the same intense heat and pressure a diamond undergoes in the earth), he was able to produce a crystallized diamond.

*Insert mind blown emoji*

Okay, now that you know what it takes to turn peanut butter into diamonds, on to this week’s ads.

Ads of the Week

Vacation, Panadol, Point, The North Face, Dyson

Vacation

🧠 Principle: Hedonic Appeal (Pleasure Principle)

🖋️ Definition: The innate human drive to seek immediate gratification.

💡 Why it works: Humans are wired to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Most sunscreen ads lean on pain avoidance (sunburn, skin damage, cancer).

But Leisure positions their sunscreen as a way to enhance leisure, linking it to positive emotions like freedom, relaxation, and paradise.

Instead of warning us about UV rays like we always get inundated with, the copy and picture romanticize sunscreen as part of the vacation experience.

“Leisure Enhancing” and “Feels Like Paradise” make you feel aspirational and inviting instead of clinical.

Rather than framing sunscreen as protection (defensive, loss-prevention), it’s framed as enhancement (gain, joy). It feels like an upgrade, not a chore to apply it.

Because our brains link products to experiences, if sunscreen = paradise, using it feels exciting since it’s now associated with Vacation fun.

Panadol

🧠 Principle: Reframing

🖋️ Definition: Changing the way you perceive a situation to alter its emotional context, often shifting from a negative or challenging viewpoint to a more positive, constructive, or realistic one.

💡 Why it works: The ad literally shows a “problem” (headache, pain, discomfort) being crossed out, leaving only the positive outcome: “fine!”.

This creates a kind of visual metaphor for the product, removing the problem from your life. Your brain processes the ad as if it were an actual resolution, almost as if the headache were erased like the words.

By striking through the negative words, Panadol reframes the situation from pain to relief because you understand what life can be like with it and without it.

The brain naturally wants closure. At first, “I’m having headaches…” feels incomplete and ‘uncomfortable’. Striking it out creates closure by leaving only the resolution: “fine!”

The ad simulates the experience of moving from tension (unfinished) to resolution (finished), just like Panadol relieves pain.

The message is stripped down to its absolute core. No one needs to think hard because it conveys its message in under a second.

Point

🧠 Principle: Simplicity Bias

🖋️ Definition: The tendency to trust and prefer simpler options than more complex ones.

💡 Why it works: The human brain craves simplicity and avoids cognitive load. When a message is stripped down to its most basic form, it’s easier to process, more memorable, and more trustworthy.

The ad literally “crosses out” unnecessary words (cats and dogs), visually demonstrating the brand’s promise to “get to the point.” The highlighted “It’s raining” is straightforward, clean, and instantly understandable, aligning with the message they’re selling.

People are going to remember what stands out (Von Restorff Effect), and the yellow highlight and red strikethrough create a strong visual contrast that your eye is drawn to.

And because our brains fixate on incomplete or interrupted tasks until they are resolved, the strikethrough interrupts the sentence flow, forcing you to resolve the ‘tension’.

The North Face

🧠 Principle: Framing Effect

🖋️ Definition: People make different decisions based on how information is presented (framed), rather than on the information itself

💡 Why it works: We have a tendency to overvalue products that last longer because they provide security, reduce uncertainty, and feel like a smarter investment (This is tied to loss aversion).

Since this ad positions North Face products as ‘indestructible’, it frames them as a “buy once, wear a lifetime” solution and hits on our desire for quality over quantity while also subtly mocking fast fashion.

Because if you’re like me, and shopping is rare, your purchase needs to feel even more worthwhile. I don’t need or want to be buying shit all the time.

People want their purchases to reflect who they are. By aligning with the “smart, practical, outdoorsy” tribe, the ad flatters buyers into thinking they’re savvy, instead of frivolous.

Rather than appealing to shopaholics, it targets people who pride themselves on practicality and long-term thinking, the “smart” purchasers.

Dyson

🧠 Principle: Von Restorff Effect

🖋️ Definition: A psychological phenomenon where an item that stands out from its surroundings is more likely to be remembered.

💡 Why it works: Like I said earlier, people remember what stands out.

By fading out the phrase “All other vacuums clog” into a gray, disappearing font and leaving “Not a Dyson” in crisp, bold text, it makes Dyson the only memorable brand in your mind.

The contrast in the copy doesn’t just illustrate the problem, but literally embodies it. Other vacuums fade away into irrelevance because they clog all the time. Meanwhile, Dyson is clear and dependable because it DOESN’T clog.

We are motivated to avoid pain and solve frustrations. The “clogging” issue is instantly relatable to anyone who’s owned a vacuum (I’d say almost all of us since we’re all adults here).

They first state the frustration (“All other vacuums clog”), then provide the relief/solution: “Not a Dyson.”

Here's an ad I made for Hormbles Chormbles

That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading.

I’ve been going crazy posting on all other socials. If you want more content from me (you’re a saint if so), check me out on all other platforms!

Till next week.

Stay Mad,

-Carson 🧪

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