Unhinged
A masterclass in weirdness
Hello! Welcome to your weekly dose of INSPO ✨
Every now and then a brand breaks away from what’s expected and leans into something wonderfully weird that only they could get away with.
Liquid Death had their partying kids ad and Heinz had people licking random objects.
Well, weird is back and this time, it’s Vibram in the driving seat.
Ad breakdown
Weirdness works in advertising because of the Von Restorff Effect.
The Von Restorff Effect, also known as the "isolation effect", predicts that when multiple homogeneous stimuli are presented, the stimulus that differs from the rest is more likely to be remembered.
This Vibram ad featuring a toe wresting competition is definitely the one thing I remember seeing on the internet today.
Whilst their 5 finger shoes are growing in popularity, there’s no hiding their weirdness, but instead of trying to fit in, Vibram went in the opposite direction.
There’s no product benefits or features anywhere to be seen and no' ‘here’s the life you could be living’, it’s more along the lines of something you’d see in a Louis Theroux documentary.
And it’s brilliant.
Here’s why I think it works so well…
👉 Weird, in the right way: it’s not offensive or dehumanising, it’s weird but in a way that turns a sport most of us probably had never heard of into a cultural moment.
👉 Authenticity: a brilliant example of how weirdness done well fuels culture. The balance between weirdness/humour, culture and product storytelling is perfect and that’s what makes it feel genuine rather than tacky or try-hard.
👉 Divisive: the product (Vibram 5 fingers) is already divisive, so why not go harder in that direction? After all, if you’re for everyone, you’re for no one.
I know this isn’t strictly performance creative, but diversity is key when it comes to paid social and that means taking inspiration from as many weird and wonderful things as you can.
How to make this format work for your brand
I know I don’t need to tell you this but there’s nothing to copy here. This ad works because it’s deeply rooted in culture and community, which means the answer is to find your own version of weird.
🪩 One way to do to this is to identify something you and your most loyal customers would love but that is considered to be a bit odd/extreme. This will nearly always lead you to an idea of some kind.
Please let me know if you come up with something, or send me the link once it’s live, I’d love to see your weird ideas.
Thanks for reading,
Katherine 🪩
P.S. If you found this email useful, please do pass it on to your team 🙏
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Brilliant