Ad Creative Newsletter #86 - Less Selling, More Showing.

Good Ranchers

The Star Spangled Banner isn't a gimmick, it's a shortcut straight to the gut of an audience that cares about where their meat comes from. Letting type and audio do the heavy lifting before a single USP lands is a great test to steal. Know your audience well enough and you don't have to sell them, you just have to make them feel seen.

Full version here

Sweet Green

No music. No voiceover. Just crunches, chops, and food noises doing the flirting. The quick-cut visuals feel tactile and intentional, like flipping through a very expensive cookbook at 2× speed. It’s calm, aesthetic, and confident enough to let sound design sell the craving. Quiet ads rarely shout this loud.

Full version here

Bathhouse

The peaceful audio does most of the work here, while clean typography and restrained overlays elevate the footage into something quietly premium. It's less about selling amenities and more about selling a feeling. When the visuals are strong, subtlety scales.

Full version here

Artist Studio Agency

The fisheye lens, rapid cuts, and techno soundtrack hit like a sensory assault. It feels more like an art project than an ad, which is exactly why it works. Proof that sometimes vibes are the value prop.

Full version here

Max Beauty

This isn't AI trying to pass as real. It's AI being obviously, intentionally fake, and that's the point. The gorilla and helicopter aren't glitches, they're the hook. Own the artificiality so hard it becomes the joke, and by the time the real UGC kicks in, you're already locked in.

Full version here

Ridge

We always do what we're told not to, Ridge knows this and they're counting on it. But the real move here is in the third hashtag, which sends curious viewers on a little scavenger hunt of their own. Make your audience work for it and they'll feel like they earned something. Spoon-feed them everything and they'll scroll past. Engagement isn't just a metric, it's a design choice.

Full version here

Is your brand self-aware?

Pitch us your brand to find out! If your brand’s identity isn’t backed up by data and performance insights, it’ll never achieve the growth it’s capable of. We’re now accepting new clients who want data-informed rebrandings. We’ll test logos, looks, copy, audiences, and more to get you on the path to the top of your category.

Subscribe to Art & Algorithm

You can subscribe to our quarterly newsletter for people who love performance here.

Related Article

One prompt isn't enough. The anatomy of a winning ad.

One prompt isn't enough. The anatomy of a winning ad.

Cosmin Serban

Related Article

Ad Creative Newsletter #85 - Caught by the Hook

Ad Creative Newsletter #85 - Caught by the Hook

Addie Maurer

Related Article

Ad Creative Newsletter #83 - Would you breastfeed on a toilet for brand awareness?

Ad Creative Newsletter #83 - Would you breastfeed on a toilet for brand awareness?

Addie Maurer

Continue learning from our team

No items found.
Close button

Let's talk...

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Ready to grow?

Pearmill — © Copyright 2026