Do It Like They Do - Ad Analysis
AI Editor notes
Straight from the gut!!
“This is textbook PETA. It’s designed to be unignorable, juvenile, and talked about. But does it actually convince anyone? The connection between horny rhinos and a human vegan diet is a ridiculous leap. It feels less like a serious argument and more like a stunt to generate press mentions. It's an ad that's proud of its own outrageousness, but the core message gets lost in the joke.”
Quick Summary
PETA uses classic shock-and-awe tactics, combining an innocent children's song with a montage of animals mating to make the audacious and unforgettable claim that going vegan will improve your sex life. It's a strategy built for noisy, online environments, prioritizing shareability and controversy over nuanced persuasion.
Executive Summary
This PETA ad is a deliberate exercise in provocative communication, built on a simple, almost crude, creative framework. It's less about persuasion and more about hijacking attention. The strategy relies entirely on the power of juxtaposition to create a message that is impossible to ignore and highly shareable, even if its central claim is scientifically dubious. It's a campaign that understands internet culture: the louder, cruder, and more shocking the message, the more likely it is to be seen.
The Core Insight: The ad operates on a cynical but often true insight: self-interest is a more powerful motivator than altruism. While many of PETA's campaigns focus on the ethical argument of animal suffering, this one pivots to a direct, personal benefit for the consumer: a better sex life. [4, 8] It attempts to reframe veganism from an act of sacrifice to an act of self-enhancement, aiming to appeal to a primal human desire.
The Execution (Setup-Turn-Payoff): The ad is structured as a classic bait-and-switch. The Setup uses the familiar, innocent tune of 'The Teddy Bear's Picnic' alongside sweeping, David Attenborough-style nature footage. This creates an expectation of a wholesome, perhaps nostalgic, family-friendly clip. The Turn is immediate and jarring. The visuals abruptly switch to a rapid-fire montage of animals mating, while the singer's gentle voice continues the children's song. This creates a powerful cognitive dissonance—the clash between what we hear and what we see is the engine of the entire ad. It's designed to make the viewer uncomfortable, amused, and above all, unable to look away. The Payoff comes in the final seconds with the on-screen text: 'Vegans have a bigger sexual appetite. Do it like they do. Go vegan.' This resolves the dissonance by revealing the punchline and the brand's message. The final animation of the rabbits in the PETA logo serves as a comedic exclamation point, ensuring the brand owns the joke.
The Debrief: The key lesson here is the power and peril of shock advertising. The ad was certainly successful in generating views and discussion. [5] However, the team must recognize that while shock gets you in the door, it doesn't always make the sale. The lack of a credible bridge between the 'proof' (mating animals) and the 'claim' (vegan benefits) makes the ad feel more like propaganda than persuasion. It reinforces the brand's identity among its existing supporters but likely fails to convert anyone on the fence, who may be entertained but ultimately unconvinced.
Theme Keywords
Brand Position
The uncompromising and provocative champion for animal rights.
Brand Archetype
Rebel
Creative Game Plan
Create a viral controversy by juxtaposing an innocent children's song with graphic footage of animals mating to make an unforgettable link between veganism and libido.
Diagnosis: Issues & Solutions
Primary Issue: Strategic Sense
The Problem:
The ad's central claim—that a vegan diet leads to a higher sex drive—is presented without a shred of credible evidence, relying solely on the visual non-sequitur of mating animals. This massive leap in logic undermines the entire argument, making it easily dismissible as a joke rather than a point to be considered.
The Solution:
Even within a humorous framework, adding a thin layer of justification could have made the message stickier. A quick-flash title card like 'Fact: Cholesterol clogs all arteries' or 'Plants boost blood flow' would have provided a pseudo-scientific anchor for the joke, making the leap of faith slightly smaller for the viewer.
Secondary Issue: Emotional Connection
The Problem:
The ad successfully generates shock and humor but fails to create any genuine emotional aspiration. The viewer is left amused or bemused, not inspired. Because the execution is so focused on the gag, it doesn't connect the supposed benefit (better sex) to a more profound human feeling like intimacy, confidence, or vitality.
The Solution:
Instead of focusing exclusively on the graphic act, the ad could have included a brief, humorous scene of a human couple exhibiting newfound energy or confidence in a relatable way. This would help translate the abstract animal behavior into a tangible, desirable human outcome.