A murder mystery with 21 things changing in plain sight. A miniature world built entirely by hand. William Shatner making bathroom jokes about cereal. Somewhere, a creative team pitched each of these ideas, convinced someone they were worth producing and turned them into actual advertising. And while they couldn't be more different, each gives marketers something interesting to think about.
There's no universal formula for a great ad. Some of the most memorable campaigns break every convention in their category, while others take a familiar approach and make it feel completely new. Occasionally, an advertisement can be beautifully produced and wildly expensive but still leave audiences wondering what they just watched. Great creative isn't necessarily about how impressive something looks. It's about whether the idea connects with the people it's intended to reach.
At VI, we're constantly looking at advertising through that lens. During a recent Food for Thought discussion, our team shared campaigns that caught our attention and explored why they worked, where they fell short and what they reveal about consumer behavior. The conversation went beyond personal favorites and into something much more valuable: the strategic decisions and psychological insights that make advertising effective.
Great Advertising Starts with Understanding People
The most effective advertising doesn't always change what people know. Sometimes, it changes how they think about something they already understand. That's a principle rooted in behavioral science, and one that Rory Sutherland, vice chairman of Ogilvy UK, has explored extensively.
In his TED Talk, Perspective Is Everything, Sutherland examines how reframing an experience can change its perceived value. Businesses often invest heavily in improving products or processes while overlooking the psychological factors that influence how people experience them. His argument challenges the assumption that the most logical or expensive solution is necessarily the most effective.
For marketers, this creates an interesting opportunity. Consumers don't make decisions based solely on facts or rational thinking. Their behavior is influenced by expectations, emotions and assumptions they may not even realize they're making. Understanding those influences can reveal creative opportunities that would otherwise be overlooked.
A well-executed campaign might challenge an existing belief, make an unfamiliar product feel relevant or reveal a problem consumers never recognized in themselves. That's what makes behavioral science such a valuable part of creative strategy. It helps marketers understand not just what people do, but why they do it and what might influence them to act differently.
The Murder Mystery That Makes You Question Your Own Eyes
Most people consider themselves relatively observant, especially when it comes to something important like driving. We know we're supposed to watch our surroundings and pay attention to what's happening around us. But knowing we should be observant doesn't necessarily mean we're as good at it as we think.
The Awareness Test, a cycling safety commercial, challenges that assumption through an unexpected creative concept. The advertisement begins like a classic murder mystery, with a detective interviewing suspects while viewers attempt to determine who committed the crime. The setting feels familiar, and the challenge seems straightforward enough that audiences naturally concentrate on the dialogue and search for clues.
Meanwhile, the entire scene is changing around them. Clothing changes colors, objects disappear and decorations move. By the end, 21 changes have occurred, yet most viewers have noticed only a handful, if any. When the commercial reveals everything they missed, it creates a surprising and slightly uncomfortable realization about the limits of their own attention.
What makes the campaign particularly smart is how it addresses a behavioral challenge without relying on traditional road safety advertising. There are no dramatic accident scenes or lengthy warnings about distracted driving. Instead, the audience experiences the very problem the campaign is trying to address.
That approach matters because most drivers already understand the importance of watching for cyclists. The challenge isn't necessarily awareness of the issue. It's the confidence people have in their own abilities. By demonstrating how easily viewers can overlook something happening directly in front of them, the commercial creates a more personal reason to reconsider their behavior.
The campaign is a strong example of how advertising can move beyond delivering information and create an experience that challenges existing beliefs. For behavior change marketing, that distinction can make the difference between a message people understand and one they actually take seriously.
Oura Went Analog in an AI World
Technology advertising has developed a recognizable visual language. Sleek interfaces, futuristic environments and highly polished digital imagery have become familiar ways to communicate innovation. With AI expanding what's possible in creative production, those visual approaches are becoming even more accessible.
Oura took a notably different direction with its Wear Your Best Life campaign. Rather than using computer-generated environments to showcase its sophisticated health technology, the brand created an intricate miniature world by hand. Detailed physical sets and practical effects brought the campaign to life, resulting in a visual experience that feels tactile, imaginative and refreshingly different from what audiences might expect from a technology company.
The creative decision becomes even more interesting when considering what Oura is actually selling. While the product collects detailed health information, consumers are ultimately interested in what that information can help them understand about themselves. Better sleep, healthier habits and more informed everyday decisions are much more personally relevant than the technical specifications inside the ring.
By building a world around familiar experiences, the campaign makes a highly technical product feel connected to everyday life. The production approach supports the message rather than competing with it, demonstrating that sophisticated technology doesn't always require a futuristic presentation.
There's also a broader creative lesson here. When brands have access to similar production tools, originality becomes less about technical capabilities and more about the decisions made with them. Oura's handmade approach works because it's unexpected, thoughtfully executed and relevant to the story being told. It's a reminder that staying ahead creatively doesn't always mean using the newest technology. Sometimes it means knowing when not to.
ChatGPT Made AI Look Like a Normal Part of Life
Much of the conversation surrounding artificial intelligence focuses on technical capabilities, new advancements and increasingly ambitious predictions about what the technology might accomplish. While those developments are significant, they don't always translate into messages that feel relevant to everyday consumers.
A ChatGPT Voice commercial featuring older women takes a more approachable route by demonstrating the technology through familiar situations. Rather than explaining artificial intelligence or emphasizing its technical sophistication, the advertisement shows people using it to manage appointments, communicate with others and complete everyday responsibilities.
The audience choice is particularly interesting. Older adults aren't always the people featured in advertising for emerging technology, and that representation challenges assumptions about who AI is designed for. Instead of portraying technology as complicated or intimidating, the commercial presents it as a practical tool that can fit naturally into an already active lifestyle.
The positioning also extends beyond functionality. The women featured in the commercial are independent, socially engaged and interested in pursuing their own activities. AI is presented as something that supports those experiences rather than replacing their ability to manage everyday life.
That approach addresses an important challenge in marketing innovation. People who are hesitant to adopt unfamiliar technology may not need another explanation of its advanced features. They may need to see how someone they identify with uses it comfortably and benefits from the experience.
It's a useful example of audience-centered messaging. Rather than beginning with the product and searching for ways to make it interesting, the campaign begins with recognizable human needs and demonstrates how the product fits into them. Making complicated technology feel approachable can be an important first step toward encouraging people to consider using it.
Ray-Ban Meta Found a Reason to Care
Smart glasses are an interesting product category because their capabilities can sound impressive without immediately feeling essential. Taking photos, accessing information and interacting with an AI assistant without reaching for a phone may be convenient, but convenience alone isn't always enough to convince consumers that they need another device.
A Ray-Ban Meta commercial featuring a U.S. Army veteran who lost his sight during Desert Storm introduces a very different way to understand the product. In the advertisement, the veteran explains how the glasses help him regain a sense of independence by assisting with everyday tasks. He demonstrates how the technology can read written information and identify objects, making activities that many people take for granted more accessible.
The campaign's strength is its ability to communicate the product's value through a specific human experience. Features that might seem like minor conveniences for one consumer can have a meaningful impact on someone else's daily life. By showing that difference, the commercial expands the audience's understanding of what smart glasses can accomplish.
It's also a reminder of why testimonials remain valuable when they're built around the right story. Brands often focus on finding increasingly elaborate ways to demonstrate their products, but an authentic experience can communicate benefits more clearly than a complicated creative concept.
Rather than asking viewers to imagine why the technology might matter, Ray-Ban Meta shows them an application they may never have considered. The simplicity of the execution allows the experience to carry the message, creating an emotional connection while still demonstrating the product's functionality.
Apple's Beautiful Ads Still Give Marketers Something to Argue About
Apple has built a reputation for advertising that feels as carefully crafted as its products. Its campaigns frequently rely on cinematic storytelling, thoughtful visual execution and music that contributes to the emotional experience. But beautiful advertising also raises an important question for marketers: Does impressive creative necessarily translate into effective communication?
Apple's Share Your Gifts campaign explores the experience of a young woman who creates artwork but struggles with the confidence to share it. The animated film, accompanied by Billie Eilish's come out and play, tells a visually compelling story about creativity and self-expression.
From a creative standpoint, there's plenty to admire. The animation is detailed, the narrative is thoughtful and the production reflects the craftsmanship consumers associate with Apple. But audience reactions to an advertisement aren't always determined by production quality.
Some viewers may connect with the story and its message about creativity, strengthening their emotional association with the brand. Others may find the narrative slow or struggle to understand how the story relates to Apple. Those different reactions highlight the distinction between appreciating creative work and evaluating whether it accomplishes a marketing objective.
Apple's 2024 Crush! advertisement offers an interesting contrast. The commercial featured a hydraulic press flattening musical instruments, art supplies and other creative objects into an incredibly thin iPad. The intended message was that the device contained an enormous range of creative capabilities, bringing multiple tools together in one product.
However, many viewers interpreted the imagery differently. Rather than seeing technology as a tool that supports creativity, they saw creative instruments being physically destroyed. What Apple intended as a demonstration of innovation became a source of criticism.
These campaigns demonstrate how strongly audience interpretation can influence advertising effectiveness. Brands develop creative work with a particular message in mind, but consumers bring their own experiences, expectations and cultural perspectives to what they see.
For marketers, that creates an important responsibility during creative development. It's not enough for an idea to make sense to the people who developed it. We also have to consider how audiences without the context of the creative brief might interpret the execution. An idea can be strategically sound in theory while communicating something entirely different in practice.
William Shatner, Raisin Bran and the Case for Weird Ideas
Somewhere in a creative meeting, someone pitched William Shatner making bathroom jokes to sell Kellogg's Raisin Bran. And somehow, that idea made it all the way to the Super Bowl.
The 2026 commercial, Will Shat, leans into the cereal's fiber benefits with an intentionally ridiculous concept built around Shatner's name. The campaign embraces bathroom humor, celebrity recognition and a healthy dose of absurdity to make a familiar breakfast cereal part of the conversation. It's unexpected for a brand like Raisin Bran, but that's precisely what makes the creative interesting.
Behind the humor is a legitimate marketing challenge. Raisin Bran is an established product in a category where differentiation can be difficult. Most consumers already understand that fiber is beneficial, but knowing something is good for you doesn't necessarily make it appealing. By turning a functional product benefit into entertainment, Kellogg's gives audiences a reason to engage with a message they might otherwise overlook.
The casting also raises an interesting question about audience strategy. Shatner brings familiarity and nostalgia for older consumers, while the irreverent humor has the potential to appeal to younger audiences who may not typically consider Raisin Bran. Rather than abandoning the product's established positioning, the campaign finds a new way to make that positioning relevant. Whether it ultimately changes purchase behavior is another question, but the creative demonstrates how a familiar benefit can become more interesting through an unexpected execution.
There's also a lesson here about which ideas make it out of the conference room. Creative teams can become so focused on anticipating client reactions that unconventional concepts get dismissed before they're fully explored. But memorable advertising rarely comes from repeating what's already familiar. The strongest ideas still need a strategic foundation, but they also need people willing to take a chance on something different.
And if a cereal brand can turn a William Shatner bathroom joke into a Super Bowl commercial, it's probably worth hearing out the weirdest idea in the room.
What Great Advertising Actually Has in Common
The interesting thing about these campaigns is that they don't share a particular creative style. Some rely on humor, others use emotional storytelling and some challenge the audience through unexpected experiences. Their approaches are different because the audiences and marketing objectives behind them are different.
What connects the strongest examples is a clear understanding of the people they're trying to reach. The cycling awareness campaign challenges overconfidence. Oura makes sophisticated technology feel connected to everyday life. ChatGPT makes an unfamiliar tool more approachable, while Ray-Ban Meta demonstrates a meaningful application audiences might not have considered.
Even the campaigns that sparked disagreement offer valuable lessons. Apple's advertising demonstrates how much audience interpretation matters, while Raisin Bran shows why unexpected creative approaches deserve consideration when they're connected to a relevant marketing challenge.
At VI, studying advertising is about more than finding creative inspiration. It's an opportunity to examine how brands approach complex problems, understand audience motivations and turn strategic insights into ideas people actually want to engage with.
The best creative conversations don't end with deciding whether everyone likes an ad. They lead to better questions about why an idea works, how audiences might interpret it and whether it supports the behavior a brand wants to influence.
Because great advertising isn't simply about getting noticed. It's about knowing your audience well enough to make that attention meaningful. And occasionally, the smartest way to accomplish that starts with the weirdest idea in the room.
