Hey there!

I hope your week has been amazing! Mine was definitely hectic with a lot of stuff going on in the agency, new hires, client account management and a lot of stuff more with regards to internal processes being refined.

I think this week has been my favorite so far in terms of finding ads to review for this week’s edition of AdVenture. We’re reviewing negative spin ads. I know a lot of founders are hesitant to run them as to a 1-star review being in their ad but we have seen some of the big spenders out there running these.

So buckle up, you’re up for a treat this week with 2 great statics and 1 video that’s crushing.

Flings

So we actually made this ad for our amazing client Flings who are crushing it. I secretly call them the new Magic Spoon of toaster pastries 😅

We’ve just created this ad and have yet to see the results, but I think this one will be crushing it as it’s using its main competitor in the ad copy (Pop-Tarts) and directly saying how much better it is due to the low amount of sugar. This is an angle we’ve found working really well for this brand as people almost never seen a better-for-you Pop-Tart that lives up to its hype.

Then visually this ad just stands out. It’s bright, colorful and touches on all the points this product is better than regular Pop-Tarts.

Copywriting - 9/10
Visuals - 9/10
Likeliness to convert - 9/10
Overall rating - 9/10

Possible improvement points: I might be biased with the rating above lol. But we will have to see the initial data when we run this ad. However one thing we will for sure do is showcase all the 3 flavors in this ad as we have seen that perform really well.

Possible variations:

1. Multiple flavors inside one image

2. Different headlines

3. Change it to a 5-star review with a matching headline

Click here to see the full ad.

The Ridge

The Ridge has some amazing direct-response ads for a multi-9-figure brand. I’m always thinking at that stage aren’t there people saying this ad must be on brand lol. We even get this with clients doing 6 figures only, guess it’s a calculated bet on what drives revenue we go with.

I like how they know that their wallet is the most knocked off wallet and saying theirs is just superior. The colors on this ad are great to, the background is the same as the wallet but you can still see the wallet very well which presents itself in an amazing looking ad visually.

Then they have the social proof showing 80,000+ 5-star reviews which shows they’re the go-to for simple and good wallets. The patented design emblem helps streghthen this point even more to finish off the social proof part of this ad.

I’d say great ad which a ton of iterations can be made of.

Copywriting - 8.5/10
Visuals - 9/10
Likeliness to convert - 9.2/10
Overall rating - 8.9/10

Possible improvement points: The only thing I’d say about this ad is its showcase of the wallet itself and the copy explaining the features. You can’t see if this wallet could carry cash or not as only cards are displayed. I’d definitely add something in there explaining its features a bit more.

Possible variations:

1. You can add a lot of variants with Ridge’s multiple colours. Want to test red, simply change the colours to red and see how that impacts metrics.

2. Change the headline

3. Add more info about the products, being able to carry cash etc…

Click here to see the full ad.

True Classic

3 Reasons Men Hate True Classic. Love this. It gives people a ‘wtf moment’ and makes people stick. Would love to see the hook rate on this one.

After this good opening scene they go into a scene showing why people like to blend in with a focus on a dude with a big oversized not really that well-fitted t-shirt.

The next point is really funny:

They talk about why people would hate having people constantly in their DMs. A great way of strengthening the negative spin what could happen when you wear True Classic.

Then the second point is the point of people not liking other people as True Classic tees are a magnet for attention and people coming close to touching the soft fabrics. After that it goes into if people love wasting money they shouldn’t buy it as True Classic comes at the same quality as designer brands without the big logos.

The reviews at the end are just class. They show some one-star reviews in there and one had me laughing: "I just bought a 6-pack and now I'm getting married next year. Damn it. I had summer plans bro. You guys suck." The disclaimer had me dying telling people True Classic won’t guarantee you a wife lol. Amazing humour and great execution.

Copywriting - 9.5/10
Visuals - 9.5/10
Likeliness to convert - 9.5/10
Overall rating - 9.5/10

Possible improvement points: To be honest this ad has it all so I won’t mention any improvement points.

Possible variations:

1. Different hook, a possible positive spin or something like: “3 reasons why you will throw away these shirts after you bought them”

2. Focussing more on women where it tells more about why women would love a guy in True Classic.

Click here to see the full ad.

Boom, that’s a wrap. Loved checking out these negative spin ads and I would recommend you try one of these for your brand!

All the best,

Dennis 💚

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