Ad Professor Profile picture
Dec 27, 2023 25 tweets 8 min read Read on X
23 creative ads I collected this year:

1. Nescafe Image
2. Luxor

Principle: Show, Don't Tell.

Genius way to advertise a highlighter. Image
3. Nike

Principle: 4 Words

"If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter" - Cicero Image
4. Loctite

Principle: Topical Event Hijacking Image
5. New Balance

Principle: The Unexpected Connection Image
6. KFC

Principle: Anti-Fragile

Turn your copiers into sexy social proof. Image
7. Lewis Capaldi

Principle: The Humble Brag

Balance out your bragging with self-deprecation.

People prefer 9/10 over 10/10. Image
8. Nicotinell

Principle: Appeal to their vanity

If you want someone to quit smoking, don't give them an emotionless statistic.

Hit their fear of looking old. Image
9. British Airways

Principle: A picture paints a 1,000 words

"The world's fastest airline"

London > Singapore in a blink of an eye. Image
10. Stadetler Highlighters

Principle: Lollapalooza effect

Charlie Munger has a concept called Lollapalooza: It's when you combine multiple persuasion techniques at once.

This ad combines iconic association, storytelling, AND showing the product in action. Image
11. iPod Shuffle

Principle: The Product Map Image
12. KitKat

Principle: User Interface Hacking

Looks like a Google calendar that their brain sees every day -- and then you realize it's an advert. Image
13. Surreal

Principle: If you can't afford celebrity endorsements, think outside the box. Image
14. Innocent

Principle: Ride Waves

Innocent launched this ad while Apple was announcing their new iPhone.

Let your ads ride the wave of topical events. Image
15. X Box - Life Is Short

Principle: Nothing increases virality like a banned ad

This ad was banned from TV in 2002.

It then got shared 1 million times via email -- making it one of the first ever viral ads.
16. Barilla Pasta

Principle: The Greatness Stack

Show the icons... and then take a sudden left turn. Image
17. Iceland anti-drink driving

Choose who will drive you home: Ambulance, police, funeral hearse -- or taxi.

It feels like an open question, but you've already given them the answer. Image
18. Lego

Principle: Inelastic Budgets

If you're selling to parents -- frame your product as an investment in their child. Image
19. Band Sports - 24-7 Sports Channel

Principle: The Subtle Joke

People love British humour because of how subtle it is.

This is gold. Image
20. Coca-Cola Light

Principle: The 10x

10x the benefit you are trying to advertise to make the point. Image
21. Bose - Noise Cancelling Headphones

Principle: Contrast your selling point with the most extreme setting

It's impossible to view this ad without a change in your heartbeat Image
22. Keloptic Glasses

Principle: POV hacking

Everyone has had the experience of putting on glasses and seeing differently.

Notice how this ad was done with the viewer in mind. Genius. Image
23. Nike - No Excuses

Principle: The Plot Twist

Take the customer down one road... And then do an aggressive hand break turn.

The best ending to an ad ever?
I've assembled the X-Men of advertising and influencer marketing.

3 billion dollar companies have had their best performing ads after working with the Ad Professor agency.

Apply here:

(7-11 figure companies only) audit.adprofessor.com
Image
Just want free content? Get my ad collection when you join my newsletter.

Read by advertisers at Lego, Nike, Red Bull, Ogilvy, and Pepsi.

Join here:

adprofessor.com
adprofessor.com

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Ad Professor

Ad Professor Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @The_AdProfessor

Sep 1, 2025
The 23 best ad copy examples of all time:

1. Fiverr Image
2. BMW

Principle: The Rule of 3

Use the 3rd line to take an unexpected left turn Image
3. Hyposwiss

Principle: Punchline First

Write the punchline: "They like us because of our honesty"

Then write the set up: "We like our clients because of their money" Image
Read 24 tweets
Aug 27, 2025
The most creative social media ads of all time. Which one is your favourite?

1. World Wildlife Foundation Image
2. The Ice Pod

Principle: Meta Marketing

Being out of ideas can be the idea. Image
3. Sunnei

Principle: Multi Tab

Use Multiple iPhone Safari tabs to showcase your product.

Smart. Image
Read 23 tweets
Jul 21, 2025
13 most creative ads from last week and beyond:

1. McDonald's Image
2. Heineken

Principle: Hijack Memes

Instantly recognisable, instant scroll-stopper.

"Not the beers, just a professional yapper." Image
3. Alzheimer's Foundation - Buffering face

Principle: Hijack Familiar Frustration

Take a digital cue we all recognise (like buffering) and recontextualise it to visualise a deeper emotional truth, in this case, memory loss. Image
Read 13 tweets
Jul 4, 2025
Car brands spend over $35B a year on advertising, more than almost any other industry.

Here are the 23 funniest car ads I’ve ever collected:

1. Daihatsu Image
2. Range Rover

Principle: Create an Exclusive Club Image
3. Volkswagen - Precision Parking

Principle: The 10x idea

Think of your new feature -- and then find the 10x absurd metaphor. Image
Read 26 tweets
Jul 2, 2025
The most creative ad copy of all time

21 examples and their lessons:

1. Nike

Principle: 4 Words

"If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter" - Cicero Image
2. Depression awareness

Principle: The Small Text Reveal

Step 1 - Reader sees the big text

Step 2 - Reader thinks it's the sad looking person nearby

Step 3 - Reader sees the small text

Step 4 - Reader realizes Steffen is the person smiling in the distance Image
2. Land Rover

Principle: The U-Turn

Step 1 - Take them down a predictable path (Returns policy)

Step 2 - U-turn to something they didn't predict Image
Read 21 tweets
Jun 30, 2025
Advertisers spend billions every year on social media trying to stop people scrolling...

The 21 best scroll-stopping ads (last one should be illegal)

1. Meshki Image
2. LEGO

Principle: The Intentional Accident

Step 1: Make a mistake on purpose, prompting the audience to look for an explanation

Step 2: Slot in your product Image
3. McDonald's

Principle: Interface Hacking

Use a familiar interface - eg. a Spotify playlist. Image
Read 22 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(