People might have problems with this campaign

And you might too

Author

Andy at Growth Catalyst Club
July 23, 2024

People might have problems with this campaign 

And you might too.

Because of the secret, yet so powerful technique it uses to drive sales. This technique is called misdirection.

If you don't know what it means...It is a form of deception whereby someone draws their audience's attention to one thing to distract them from another.

Before I show you the campaign, It is important to know that this technique is used in different industries like sports, and entertainment.

Misdirection is also used in comedy. And one of the masters of this art is Anthony Jeselnik.

One of his famous jokes on Instagram which has 4.2 million views, 119k likes, and 113k shares illustrates this technique:

“I was in a bar last night and saw this beautiful woman. Looked like a supermodel.

I walked up to her and was like, where are you from? What do you do?

She goes, Oh me? I live here in San Francisco. I am a brain surgeon.

Now I don't know if this makes me sexist but I was like really impressed you know.

I mean...Most women can't pull off sarcasm.”

Anthony Jeselnik.

Link to the joke:

Another example:

When magicians perform..there are three parts to their tricks; the pledge, the turn, and the prestige.

The pledge is when the magician takes something ordinary like a dove(Uses no misdirection)

The turn is when the magician takes the dove and makes it do something extraordinary like making it disappear(Uses misdirection)

The prestige is where the magician tops that disappearance and makes the dove reappear(Uses misdirection)

But what happens when it is used for advertising?

Sureal, a cereal brand that provides a healthier alternative to other breakfast cereals, launched created "fake celebrities" since they couldn't afford A-List celebrities

P.S. If you’d like Adsora to make ads like this for your brand, use the link to book a free growth audit → adsora.com/book-a-call

The asterisk on the billboard shows that the main Serena Williams, Michael Jordan, or Christian Ronaldo aren't the people we all know.

They are regular folks who were paid to try out the cereal and give a nice review.

Although this campaign created a lot of buzz on social media, skyrocketing sales and increased brand awareness for the brand.

Some people have problems with it because they feel it crosses a line.

What do you think?

Send me a reply and let me know your thoughts!

- Andy

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