11 Commercial Ads That Are Exquisitely Persuasive
- Diane Mi
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Whatever the product or service promoted, commercial ads must drive viewer engagement, attitude change, and purchase intent. However, trade-offs are inevitable. In this case, between reach and persuasiveness.
For every 1M views, relative commercial advert persuasiveness drops by about 10%. It hinges on pride, joy, connection, and utility, aka problem-solving, which aren’t always share-attractive.
Moving from PR in theatre to content strategy in video, I was surprised to find that the two have so much in common in terms of persuasiveness building. Commercial advertisement examples, too, emphasize executional cues, audience retention strategies, and storytelling.
In this blog post, I’ll focus on the strongest recurring theme that makes the brand feel human, which is storytelling. Kenzo goes artistic. Coinbase and ASICS are emotional. Mercedes and Lay’s use a high-concept gag and a live stunt, and Nintendo and Heinz use nostalgia and personality.
The persuasive commercial examples below blend celebrity authenticity and clever demos, inciting buzz and cultural resonance.
But let’s first discuss the reasons for the success of these commercial ads.
How Commercial Adverts Become Persuasive
Storytelling isn’t a technique per se. It’s just the means to deliver impact. As analyzed in 141 MasterClass scripts, it’s the mode of discourse and its building blocks that transport the message and produce an impact. Speaking of techniques in commercial ads, these include repetition, colloquial & inclusive language, rhetorical questions, connotations, jargon, anecdotes, hyperboles, similes, and generalizations.
Audiovisual features also matter. In commercial advertisement examples below, they drive consumer engagement behaviors, while animated commercial examples enhance recall.
11 Most Persuasive Commercial Examples from 2011 to Now
Apple’s “Fuzzy Feelings” Commercial Advertisement
2023-2024
🏆 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award, Clio Award for Film Craft, AICP honors
This whimsical 2D/3D animation of workplace frustration was a holiday sensation. It not only boosted awareness of iPhone & Mac synergy, but also became a feel-good hit.
Released as a holiday film, the piece is set to George Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity.” While the story evolves, fostering empathy, the viewer can’t help but think of how great an iPhone 15 Pro Max is.
Technique-wise, the four-minute commercial advertisement blends live action with stop-motion puppet animation. The latter was created by Anna Mantzaris; the film portion was directed by Lucia Aniello.
Lay’s Chip Cam with David Beckham & Thierry Henry
2024
🏆 3 Silver Lions and 2 Bronze Lions at Cannes Lions, plus 18 shortlists
Filmed during the UEFA Champions League season, the stunt took place in front of 75,000 fans at San Siro. The real-time spectacle got massive UEFA buzz (sports events love live stunt commercial advertisement examples).
Stadium fans were excited to be engaged, and now Lay’s chips are part of a game-day ritual.
Ed’s Heinz Commercial Advert
2020
🏆 Music & Brand Partnership at the 2020 Music Week Awards
This Heinz campaign didn’t just star Ed Sheeran but also included a limited-edition “Edchup” bottle, which sold out in a flash.
Craft-wise, the work leaned on celebrity authenticity because the whole joke came from Ed’s genuine affection for Heinz. This charming credibility made the campaign feel like an authentic, relatable collaboration. Ed’s fans loved it.
Mercedes-Benz “Chicken” Magic Body Control
2013
🏆 Auto Express Best Car Ad (51% vote), also described as “German Ad of the Year.”
Flexing chickens aren’t just perfect for visualizing the suspension system. They are instantly memorable. The absurdity of the metaphor stuck and even sparked Jaguar parody.
The ad’s core trick is visual humor. Bumps don’t matter when you drive a Mercedes-Benz chick.
ASICS, “The Desk Break”
2024
🏆 Shortlisted at D&AD, Silver in PR Global and Gold in PR Influencer & Celebrity at The Drum Awards
This is one of the commercial ads that work despite not even mentioning the products they promote. Centered on the workplace environment and mental health, its storytelling approach is advocacy-driven.
The ad reframes a desk break as a well-being necessity, which consequently leads to a more active lifestyle. The latter, of course, needs sportswear, which ASICS is happy to produce for us. Such advocacy for “Sound Mind, Sound Body” drives purpose-led loyalty, which is the strongest of all.
A Coinbase Musical “Everything is Fine”
2025
This musical-theatre-style campaign is based on satire. While the song and ensemble movement make the whole spot feel theatrical, the tongue-in-cheek seriousness makes one consider their own financial frustration and sparks self-identification.
The intrigue positions Coinbase as a financial alternative, disrupting the widely accepted crypto volatility narrative.
Using comedy to critique governments, financial institutions, and corporations is a long-standing tradition. Mark Twain and Joseph Heller would have approved.
Tile & Life360’s “Family-Proof Your Family” Commercial Examples
2024
🏆 One Show 2025 shortlist (creative team honors); selected by Good Ads Matter for storytelling impact
These 3 commercial ads, “Funeral,” “Curfew,” and “Coat,” nurture strong family-safety awareness via dark humor.
With slow-build tension, swelling music, moody lighting and color grading, and deliberate pacing to heighten misunderstanding, these commercial ads underscore a SOS utility for family emergencies.
Steve Ayson directed this straight-faced drama. None other than Hoyte van Hoytema was the DP.
Along with 2 other commercial ads examples of the same campaign, “Funeral” led to a 33% lift in consideration. The commercial adverts brought a 65% CPC drop versus prior content.
Nintendo’s Commercial Advert “Two Brothers”
2019
The commercial advert presents Nintendo Switch as a symbol of sibling bonding. The classic storytelling with warm pacing, memory-driven structure, and a reveal that shifts from childhood rivalry to adult reconciliation builds emotional reconnection across generations.
The nostalgia in this commercial advertisement reinforces the console as a bonding tool for long-distance friends.
HARIBO’s “Goldbears” Football Commercial Advert
2024
This commercial advertisement premiered during the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.
Using its signature “kids’ voices” style of commercial adverts and a sports stadium setting, HARIBO extends joyful brand affinity in adult contexts.
The comedic contrast between the huge sporting occasion and kid-like behavior may not resonate as much, but it certainly is laughable. Meaning: sticking in memory.
“It Starts With You” Commercial Advert by Starbucks
2021
It’s one of the rare commercial ads that focus on customer connection through nontrivial visual solutions.
Fluid 360° camera rotations and revolves allow for seamless transitions that transform a mundane cafe into a magical place. Remember Molly Weasley’s kitchen? That’s what I thought about when I saw all these flying spoons, morphing ingredients, and shapeshifting cups.
The dominant emotions are surprise and delight, solidified by the POV appeal. Commercial ads showing abstract joy with a first-person view always reinforce customer agency.
Kenzo World with Margaret Qualley
2016
🏆 Major Cannes Lions haul: the Titanium Lion and 8 awards overall
The commercial advertisement was tied to the launch of Kenzo World fragrance and directed by Spike Jonze.
When The Substance’s trailer was first released, I knew Margaret would be terrific because I’d watched this ad more than once.
Such commercial ads are intentionally kinetic and surreal because their main goal is to convey untamed individuality or freedom.
Margaret’s long, escalating solo performance and expressive camera movement made a paradigm shift in conventional beauty-ad imagery, elevating Kenzo’s fragrance prestige. Her wild dance and the genre-blurring direction made it feel more like an art film than one of perfume commercial adverts.
Persuasive Commercial Examples | Techniques | Metrics | Top Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|
Apple “Fuzzy Feelings” | Stop-motion puppets iPhone-shot 2D/3D blend | 4M+ organic views Holiday awareness | Empathy and joy |
Lay’s “Chip Cam” | Live stunt: a hidden cam surprise Crowd spectacle at San Siro | 75K live engagement UEFA buzz | Surprise + Beckham & Henry Game-day ritual association |
Ed’s Heinz Ad | Celeb authenticity: Sheeran’s simple charm | Edchup sold out | Authentic Sheeran fandom Relatability turning ketchup into a cultural staple |
Mercedes “Chicken” | Visual gag | 26M+ views 502K likes (YouTube alone) | Absurd metaphor + memorable humor |
ASICS “Desk Break” | Advocacy PSA | 10M+ views +25% association +32% recommend | Purpose-led advocacy + mental health reframing "Sound Mind, Sound Body" tying movement to wellbeing |
Coinbase “Everything is Fine” | Musical satire critiquing finance norms | Crypto intrigue alignment | Self-ID with finance frustration Bold critique fuels crypto curiosity |
Tile's “FUNERAL,” “Curfew” & “Coat” | Commercial ads with moody colors and tension pivot | +30% MAU 71% CTR 680% ThruPlays Traffic spikes | Drama-to-humor misdirection Family emergency practicality |
Nintendo “Two Brothers” | Nostalgic warm pacing “Travel in Time” structure | Nostalgia shares | Emotional bonds Cross-generational reconnection Switch as a lifelong gaming loyalty symbol |
HARIBO “Football” | Playful contrast | Athlete social collabs | Kids’ voices vs. a stadium Joyful brand recall |
Starbucks “It Starts With You” | Object animation symphony Visual dynamism | 83% completion Delight dominance | Visual wonder VFX First POV “Your” empowered experience |
Kenzo “World” | Expressive cinematography Facial intensity | Fragrance prestige lift | Surrealist Dance intensity Untamed individuality showcase |
Something I didn’t specifically touch on in my overview of these commercial ads is prioritizing low-load persuasion stimuli. These features collectively drive higher engagement because of what they do in our brains.
4 Cognitive Impacts of Commercial Ads
Informal, relatable language lowers processing effort via fluency heuristics. Viewers of the commercial ads examples perceive familiarity as trustworthiness.
Rhythmic speech patterns enhance narrative absorption and recall, per EEG studies on narratives in commercial ads examples.
Saturated palettes grab attention and increase likes and shares while evoking stronger associative memory.
In commercial examples, visual dynamism, achieved through cinematography techniques and editing, such as motion, cuts, and zooms, directs eyes to key elements and heightens emotional arousal.
If you have allocated a budget for commercial ads but fear an amateurish production studio will ruin it, reach out to VILKA Agency for a detailed conceptual treatment and storytelling perspectives.
