WOW: Spring Horse - Ad Analysis
AI Editor notes
Straight from the gut!!
“Okay, this is weird in a good way. It gets the point across without a single mention of download speeds or bundles. Who are these guys and why are they so absurdly happy? It’s a smart way to communicate 'fun' and 'sharing' for a cable company, which is usually the opposite of fun. The referral offer feels like an afterthought, but the feeling of joy is what sticks. It's a solid piece of challenger brand thinking.”
Quick Summary
This ad uses a simple, absurd visual metaphor—two adults experiencing manic joy on playground spring horses—to make a transactional referral offer feel memorable and emotional. It effectively positions WOW! as the fun, unexpected alternative in a category defined by consumer frustration, turning a mundane $25 discount into a shareable moment of happiness.
Executive Summary
In the notoriously disliked telecommunications sector, challenger brand WOW! needed to separate itself from giants with far larger marketing budgets. This 'Spring Horse' ad, part of the broader 'Not what you'd expect from a cable company' campaign, is a masterclass in using creative absurdity to drive a performance goal. The strategy is to sidestep the industry's conventional—and often negative—conversations about price, speed, and bundles, and instead build the brand around a single, positive emotion: unexpected joy.
The core insight is that people don't just share services; they share experiences. While a $25 referral bonus is a rational incentive, it’s not an emotional one. The ad’s job is to attach an emotion to the act of sharing. The insight is that the feeling of introducing a friend to something genuinely good is a reward in itself, a moment of shared happiness. The playground setting reinforces this, tapping into a nostalgic, pre-cynical idea of fun for a millennial audience.
The execution follows a simple Hook-Value-Proof-Ask structure. The Hook is the bizarre visual of two men experiencing ecstatic joy on spring horses, set to an ironically wholesome cowboy tune. It’s weird, it’s loud, and it immediately poses a question: what is going on? The Value is delivered not through product features, but through emotion. The on-screen text, 'What's more fun than having fun? Sharing the fun with a fun-loving friend,' explicitly frames the ad's premise. The Proof is the final tagline, 'Not what you'd expect from a cable company,' which serves as the strategic anchor. It validates the viewer's likely surprise and positions this unexpected fun as the brand's core differentiator. [7] The Ask is the transactional offer: 'Refer a friend… and you BOTH save $25'. The creative wrapper makes this simple offer feel like part of the fun, rather than a dry sales pitch.
The debrief for the team is clear: emotional branding can be an effective vehicle for performance marketing. Instead of leading with the offer, they led with a feeling that made the offer more palatable and memorable. For a challenger brand, being forgotten is a greater risk than being misunderstood. This ad ensures WOW! is remembered as the fun, slightly weird alternative, creating brand affinity that can drive consideration long after the specific $25 offer is forgotten.
Theme Keywords
Brand Position
The surprisingly fun and human cable company.
Brand Archetype
Jester
Creative Game Plan
Use an absurdly joyous visual metaphor to make the transactional act of referring a friend feel like a memorable, emotional experience.
Diagnosis: Issues & Solutions
Primary Issue: Strategic Sense
The Problem:
The ad does such a good job of selling the emotion of 'fun' that the actual product or service (internet/cable) is almost completely disconnected from the creative. A viewer could easily remember the funny ad but have no idea what it was for, a classic pitfall of highly conceptual creative.
The Solution:
Integrate a subtle product cue earlier. For example, have one of the men pull out a phone to film his friend, with a flawless stream indicating a strong connection, before the main offer appears. This would ground the 'fun' in a product-relevant benefit without disrupting the comedic flow.
Secondary Issue: Clarity of "What's Next?"
The Problem:
The URL 'wowway.com/friends' is shown at the end, but the path to claiming the $25 is left entirely to the viewer's initiative. The ad builds high emotional energy but gives it a relatively low-energy outlet.
The Solution:
Strengthen the call-to-action with more direct language. A simple voiceover at the end saying, 'Visit wowway.com/friends to start sharing' could have provided a clearer, more urgent directive, converting more of the ad's creative momentum into action.