Every pitch begins: “We can’t be average.”
Every deck promises “bravery,” “disruption,” “freshness.”
And yet, what lands in market looks like a remix of the same “bold” idea with different lipstick.
Because most agencies don’t fight average — they sell it, package it, repeat it.
We’ve built a pandemic of sameness so profitable no one even wants to name it.
(So easy to criticise. So fun to write yet another article claiming everything is the same. So Average Adman. I hate how much we love this shit.)
This isn’t exhaustive research. But hopefully it’s enough to keep you reading.
Honestly, we’ve seen enough of this:
1. Cropped hero assets — the “you know us by half a logo” flex
Brands flaunt how boiled-down they can get.
The “new bold” of 2025 isn’t bold at all — it’s recycled confidence.
Everyone wants to be British Airways: so famous you can crop your logo and still get applause.
McDonald’s, Tesco, Coca-Cola — showing less, meaning more.
Minimalism as self-worship.
When your asset is so “iconic” you only need to show half a fry, you’re not innovating.
You’re showing off your fame rent.
2. Ethnographics as vanity metrics
Brands send teams with cameras into living rooms, skate parks, laundromats — “discover culture.”
They film “real life” moments: kids texting, someone dunking fries, an outfit change.
Then they pitch it back as “radical insight.”
Heinz. McDonald’s again. JD Sports.
They sit in mirror rooms, thinking culture = me filming you consuming me.
It’s quiet, self-referential.
It feels authentic until you see a few big brands doing the same.
Brands gazing at their own belly buttons, mistaking lint for insight.
Pop culture doesn’t orbit around your logo. It doesn’t even notice it.
As an aside: you’ll see this stuffed into “behind the scenes” reels, as proof of originality.
But it’s not. It’s rerun.
3. The zoo outbreak
Animal mascot ads never died. They just went underground.
Every few months, Cadbury’s Gorilla escapes LinkedIn and triggers a new wave of animal ads.
Now they’re back — more polished, more “character storytelling,” more safe.
Virgin Broadband, British Gas, PG Tips Monkey returns, pharma, insurance…
They wield nostalgia + emotional shortcut to bypass critique.
You see a fox, a bear, a dog — and your brain thinks “empathy.”
But all the brands are lining up at the same zoo.
The trick: pick an animal nobody’s used (or twist one into dissonance).
But agencies copy. They all want the “cute beast that sells.”
When I see a campaign with an animal, my first question: Which brand?
Often I don’t know.
4. Puppet mania
The BBH-Levi’s yellow puppet has grandchildren now — Lidl, the Meerkat, telcos, utilities.
Argos. The Specialist Works.
All swearing they’ve found their “distinctive asset.”
Yes, research says characters are top distinctive brand assets.
No, that doesn’t mean you should build the same bloody one.
Hey, sound is top in the ranking. And we still haven’t heard much about it beyond articles.
At least the Marvel and Star Wars phase is dying. Small miracles.
Unspoken Contract
You see it: agencies preaching radical thinking, then clicking “Duplicate Slide” on the same deck template as their neighbour.
You see it: creatives running trend reports, pattern-matching to the last campaign, then “re-interpreting” it.
You see it: clients asking “Is this safe?” and the agency pivoting to version B, version C — until it’s bland enough to survive.
The unspoken contract is this: boldness is the veneer, safety is the deal.
You’ll sell us “innovation.” We’ll limit you with metrics, brand guides, KPIs, risk aversion.
You’ll give us animals or puppets. We’ll make them bland.
We all whitewash, polish, comply — and call it radical.
So the herd behaviour you mock in culture?
We’re inside it too.
We’re the herd.
Punchline
The good thing is that all this is anthropofagia for average admen — but the real consumer doesn’t give a shit about any of it.
So you don’t need to defeat average or deny it.
Because average isn’t the disease.
It’s the vaccine.
And the agencies selling the cure?
They’re the biggest carriers of the virus.
So here’s your prescription:
Go average.
That’s where the real work begins.
