4 creative lessons from a viral smart gummy ad

Hey everyone, Chase here.

And today we’re talking creative.

More specifically…

The fact that behind every breakout ad is a balancing act:

Attention vs. clarity, branding vs. benefit, curiosity vs. coherence.

And sometimes, this line gets blurry.

Take this Gruns ad:

A wildly scroll-stopping ad with bears, bright green, and the words “Smart Gummies.”

It's playful, disruptive…

And just off enough to leave you wondering.

But right under the surface?

A series of small missteps that make the ad harder to trust, remember, and convert.

So today, we’re going to break down how to spot these micro-breakdowns inside your best-performing creatives - so you can fix what’s not working before your audience scrolls past.

Let’s dive in.

The visual hook earns the scroll.

Green background. Cartoon bears.

It’s the kind of aesthetic chaos that makes your thumb freeze.

That first moment works hard, and it earns it.

But discipline means recognizing why it works:

• It sparks curiosity (“what are these bears?”)

• It delivers a fast reward (“Smart Gummies” appears quickly)

• It invites the viewer deeper

Memorability without meaning is noise.

This one starts strong - with meaning still loading...

The benefit section fumbles the payoff.

After the intrigue, the copy tries to deliver outcomes.

But it’s overwhelmed by:

• Poor font alignment (making it hard to read)

• Weak visual contrast (copy blends into the background)

• Redundant stats (“91%” appears twice - instantly kills believability)

This is the moment trust is won OR lost. Because clarity signals credibility. And when everything looks slapped together, audiences subconsciously assume the claims are too.

Stats don’t sell. Outcomes do.

“Improved skin health.” “Reduced free radicals.” “Better gut bacteria.”

The language is scientifically vague.

Worse: it’s emotionally flat.

Instead, I recommend focusing on what the user FEELS.

• Better cognition

• Thicker hair, skin, and nails

• Better gut health

Not only are these tangible and specific, but they’re human.

Great ads do an incredible job of translating the data into desire.

The brand comes too early in the story.

The logo shows up quickly.

Too quickly.

Because most brands think the job is:

“Show them who we are.”

But the real job is:

”Show them how we fit into their life”

Your name means nothing without a narrative.

Gruns isn’t Louis Vuitton.

Recognition is earned through resonance.

Design is your clarity engine. Don’t underpower it.

The layout misses key fundamentals:

• No background treatment behind copy

• Lack of hierarchy in text

• Claims competing visually instead of flowing

Design is how attention gets guided and comprehension gets earned….

So every visual choice is a storytelling one.

If people have to work to read, they won’t.

What this teaches us about Creative Discipline

Groons built a bold idea…

But didn’t protect it with precision.

And that’s the heart of creative discipline:

Not just making something great, but making it LAND. To do that, you have to earn attention, hold trust, and guide the viewer all the way through.

When creative gets lazy in the middle, it wastes what was working at the start.

This ad was 80% there. But discipline lives in that final 20%.

That’s where clarity is forged, trust is earned, magic becomes memory…

And where good becomes great.

Until next time,

Chase