The Art of (No) Deception

While completely anecdotal, I believe we are seeing a shift in the status quo for what makes a good social media ad. In my opinion, ads should now be so far removed from advertising that it is just entertaining content. Either that or it should be obviously and transparently an ad. For example, satisfying rug cleaning content would work well to advertise a rug cleaner or a rug cleaning service, because it doesn't disrupt someone 'doom-scrolling' on social media. The alternative is what brands like PaperRepublic are doing, producing EGC (Employee-generated content) that is honest and transparently an ad.

I feel with the prevalence of ads on social media, people are used to seeing them. They just don't want to be lied to about it anymore.

The Absurd Perfection of a Delaney Rowe Ad

Delaney Rowe (@delaneyrowe) is an Instagram content creator with a unique and undeniably entertaining style and theme for her content. Making oddly accurate parodies of classic rom-com tropes that are incredibly engaging, better yet, the acting is on par with some movies too.

Some big brands like Gucci, Acne Studios, Dove, and T-Mobile (to name a few) have taken note and commissioned ads from the creator.

The best part of these ads is that they do not at all feel like ads and better resemble product placement in a movie. It's not deceiving the audience because it is entertaining content regardless of being an ad.

Delaney nails the concept of making an ad not feel like an ad, even once people realise it is an ad, the reaction isn't negative like you'd expect, because it's actually just incredible content.