Advertising Needs an Anti-Hero Enema

With the start of Breaking Bad, to the recent success of The Boys, antihero figures are rampant, if not dominant in content. Is Joker now a hero?

Yet we hear about the relevance of humor and escape that advertising can provide. What if we leaned in the opposite direction? What would advertising look like?

We overuse the word authenticity in advertising, yet if we were truly trying to be true and honest in representing the human condition, would it all be riches and roses?

We all battle with our inner psyche, outward health conditions, and how we reconcile our interaction with societal dissonance. A brand will never be authentic, nor should it ever use the word unless it attempts to discover and express its inner antihero.

It’s easy to take this notion to a more competitive place — thinking about foils, either communicated via a competitor’s flaws or by personifying a category evil you’re defeating.

However, this only deflects the matter at hand, and will potentially dilute your actual existing brand identity.

We all seek out better versions of ourselves, and brands and products historically have tasked themselves with aligning their products to your aspirations.

That’s all current strategy is — connecting with aspirations to inspire action, purchase, payment. A brand solution will be fleeting if it’s only considering the aspirational.

What does a smile mean without a frown?

Your brand’s antihero expression in comms and culture does not start with thinking about the elements that might drive negative sentiment. It starts with asking the right questions.

Which celebrities best embody my brand? What are we lying to ourselves about? What’s my brand’s antihero story? Hint: it’s not an arc, it’s a zig zag.

If we could successfully crack a brand’s Walter White, we could start to embed ourselves organically into a person’s — not a consumer’s — mind.

This points to the future of strategy: find the consistent human conditions you want to trigger to become a part of a person’s habits.

The idea of re-marketing should become obsolete, the in-market conversion loop will be wasted money, because you can now use comms and media to express your antihero story.

If you want the magic three steps or a checklist or roadmap, you’re going to be severely disappointed. The goal is to inspire you to chart this new territory with your own perspective and intention.