We’ll jump right in, folks, since I may fall asleep at this desk otherwise (long night of SD&R&R). Kidding, it was bluegrass.

Today, I’ll walk you through despicable ads from the most loathsome people on Earth. But you’ll remain a decent human and marketer. Yes, we can learn from political ads that use character assassinations on opponents. 

These dirty-fighting ads reveal how to find faults in your competitor’s offers and show off how your offers are different and better. Don’t worry — I hate politics as much as you do — if you don’t, please reconsider.

After the Feature Story, I’ll feed you Monday Marketing News with insights.

Punching Holes in Your Competitors’ Offers

Again, don’t use vile attacks. Not cool, and they’d backfire anyway. Just try to look deeper into why political ads that use personal attacks strike a nerve.

Political character assassination techniques in ads often involve:

1. Taking statements out of context to portray the opponent negatively

2. Highlighting past mistakes or scandals, even if minor or long ago

3. Using unflattering images or video clips of the opponent

4. Employing ominous music and voice-overs to create a negative tone

5. Connecting the opponent to unpopular figures or policies

6. Exaggerating or distorting the opponent's positions on issues

7. Using loaded language and negative framing

8. Attacking opponent's family, associates, or supporters

Obviously, don’t employ number eight. Unless your competitor’s fan base listens to Travis Kelce’s podcast. Then, all bets are off!

Seriously, don’t use unethical tactics. 

Instead, look to the deeper insights in those techniques. I’ll drop a few below.

Out of Context

Say you’re selling health supplements. You see an ad with ridiculous fitness claims - scan YouTube for five minutes - you’ll find plenty.

Then, rant on those claims in your ads. Don’t name the brand or person making the wild claims. Just highlight the claims themselves and go on the offensive. 

• Highlight how people are wasting their time on products that are all hype

• Show the truth of what good supplements can help users achieve (not achieve for them!)

• Tell people that lies are running rampant so they can be aware

You’d be surprised how much attention you can get by pointing out fraudulent claims. This tactic made previously unknown Coffeezilla famous, and crushed the career of a fitness guru I won’t name. Ok, it’s the Liver King. Dude was roided outta his mind, allegedly, but claimed eating liver makes you look like The Rock.

Using Unflattering Images

This one’s easy. 

Use screenshots of unflattering competitor reviews - blur out the brand’s name. All you want is to show the difference between your products and lesser ones. 

Also, this is a great use of UGC. User-generated video reviews of products or services can highlight the shortcomings not found in your offers. All you have to do is link to the review. But…

This could make you look bad since the reviewer is mentioning the brand’s name that fell short. Again, you don’t wanna come off as a jerk. If you can bleep the name of the brand out or blur the image in the video, that’s one work-around. Another is quoting the verbiage in the video, leaving out the brand name and not linking to the video.

Connecting Competitors to Unpopular Figures

With this one, you can use humor. No chance of offending anyone that way, not in our thick-skinned nation!

Lots of options here.

If I ran ads for a hair regrowth product in California, I’d (vaguely) connect my competitors with this guy.

If I were advertising a  “How to Be a Lethal Debater” book, I’d (vaguely) connect my competitors with this gal.

Lastly, if I were running ads for an NFL podcast, I’d connect all other NFL podcasts to, once again, Travis Kelce. Now, am I attacking Kelce’s character? Yes. He’s the worst😁. Do as I suggest, not as I do.

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Thanks for reading. Please forward to another friendly marketer.

Shane McLendon - Copy Kingpin, Inbox Hacking

P.S. Most ridiculous thing I’ve read lately: “Those seeking to reach and persuade prospective Gen Z voters ought to take heed and seriously consider reliable news [cable news] as a key platform for their outreach, because, that outreach can benefit from the aura of reliability🙄 placed in responsible news organizations by their audiences.”