'This Is A Generic Millennial Ad' Created From Stock Footage Is Everything Wrong With Advertising
A cliche ad created by And/Or studio titled "This Is a Generic Millennial Ad" using stock footage from licensee company Dissolve is everything wrong with advertising in today's modern world. It is hilariously cutting in its clever depiction of the often misguided attempts by major brands to win over this coveted demographic.
As Dissolve, and design agency And/Or, ad notes how brands are doing everything wrong with their advertising campaigns, they're a generation who, due to social media, are easy to find and target. But while that may be, there still remains the problem of just because you can find them doesn't mean they care. As—which is itself now a cliche, of course— many millennials don't put much priority on spending their money on the products a lot of brands are selling. Because, the cliche runs, they don't have much of it to spend (unlike those pampered baby boomers!). Dissolve know this and have been here before creating a cliche Generic Brand Video back in 2014.
But that doesn't mean to say brands won't try. And their lazy efforts, attitude and everything wrong with their approach are what's being attacked here. So using Dissolve stock footage and photography we're treated to a running list of cliches that millennials supposedly like doing. Like the fact that they might erupt into joyous dancing because, wow, they're just so happy! Whether that might be in a club setting, or perhaps atop a mountain. It's a brilliant demonstration of how to get everything wrong with targeting.
Everything Wrong With Millennial Advertising
Plus the idea that they are so plugged in, everyone of them uses hashtags to communicate online, be it political protest, vacation snaps, or just talking about how great life is! It also amusingly spoofs marketers' grasp (or lack of) of their supposed vernacular—with terms like BRB and totes thrown about with cringeworthy abandon.
Add to this the many shots of millennials doing such cliched Instagrammable activities like taking pics of cups of coffee, or just hilariously pointing and laughing at their phones, and it's more than enough to make brands feel utterly ashamed if they're using any of these hooks. If you ever wanted a 101 tutorial on Everything wrong with making a millennial ad then you couldn't do much better than Dissolve's example.
As for Calgary-based Dissolve, well, they've totally nailed the many obvious and very tired tropes, visual and technological, that are used endlessly to try and rope in millennial dollars. And seen together like this in one generic horrorshow just makes them even more hackneyed. This spoof should make a lot of advertisers cringe for how much they actually exaggerate, it's a disturbingly perfect everything wrong with advertising lesson.
