Question about why old Charmin and Bud Light spots felt real and the new ones feel like a focus group wrote them

Nathan Thompson · 2026-10-07T13:10:03.48215+00:00

Went down a rabbit hole rewatching 90s commercials on YouTube after a buddy sent me that Bud Light "Real Men of Genius" playlist, and the gap hit me hard. Back then brands let weird, specific people just be weird on camera, like the Charmin guy squeezing rolls in a fake store and saying "less is more" with a straight face. Now it feels like every spot is engineered to be a 15 second TikTok clip with a twist, so nothing sticks. I think the death of the 30 second setup killed the payoff. Did the pivot to short form ad reads actually make brand spots worse, or am I just old?

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Question about why old Charmin and Bud Light spots felt real and the new ones feel like a focus group wrote them | Ad Shade Room - SMM Buzz