Love
Ads and videos written to this emotion: 134. 86 make the Say move, 8 make the Avoid mistake.
What it is
What two people build when they drop their guard, let each other see everything, and handle it with care. How you treat yourself caps how well you can love someone else. In ads it is mostly family love: parent and child, partners.
Where it shows up
Gifts, Mother's Day, a parent feeding a child, a wedding, a valentine.
Say
Show love as something people do for each other: the meal cooked, the gift chosen, the call made. The product is the tool, not the hero, and the people stay at the centre. Talk about the time or care it makes possible, not what it costs.
People in 19 countries and 15 languages described the same feeling of being moved, with warmth in the chest, tears or chills, when they saw or lived a sudden act of closeness (Zickfeld and colleagues 2019, 3,542 people). Limit: self-report; it maps the feeling, not its effect on ads or sales.
Avoid
Making the product the proof of love: "a good mother buys this", or the price as the measure of care. It puts the reader on trial and turns love into guilt or shame. Blaming the viewer shrinks the effect and angers people, and people do not feel more appreciated for a pricier gift.
Guilt appeals that blamed the audience averaged about a fifth of the effect of those that only showed the harm (Peng and colleagues 2023, 26 studies, 7,512 people), and a second review found guilt appeals raise anger (Turner and Rains 2021, anger measured in 8 of 26 studies). Limit: neither review is specific to ads or family products, and the blame gap was only marginal once other factors were controlled.
Gift givers expected pricier gifts to be appreciated more, but recipients' appreciation did not rise with price (Flynn and Adams 2009, three studies). Limit: gift appreciation, not response to ads, and the abstract does not give sample sizes.
Sources
- Zickfeld, Schubert, Seibt and colleagues (2019). Emotion 19(3).
- Peng, Huang, Mao, Lun, Malova, Simmons and Carcioppolo (2023). Frontiers in Psychology 14.
- Turner and Rains (2021). Communication Studies 72(4).
- Flynn and Adams (2009). Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 45(2).
Doing it right
Ads that make the Say move.
Sunlight Soap 'For Mother' ad, illustrated by Fred Pegram
A small girl carries the soap home 'For Mother', and the copy talks about the rest and leisure it gives a mother who works for everyone's comfort, so the people stay at the centre.
Mobily: Home 5G at 200 Mbps for 287.5 SAR a month
A father leans over his daughter's homework while the router sits almost unseen in the background, so the care is the scene, and 200 Mbps and 287.5 SAR a month are stated once below.
"Longing Won't Bring Him Back Sooner" war job poster
It meets a wife's longing for her man and turns it into something she can do for him, a war job through the U.S. Employment Service, framed as the way to bring him home sooner.
Al Rajhi Bank: A graduation gift waiting, car financing options
The car tied with a blue ribbon is a gift waiting for a graduate throwing her cap, so the financing stays the means and her moment stays at the centre of the frame.
The picture shows care being done, a Y.M.C.A. man pouring your son a hot drink with a hand on his shoulder, so the gift is the tool and the boy stays at the centre.
Samir Mother's Day gift issue ad, al-Kawakib 1962
Samir gives the child a flower chain to hand to mum on Mother's Day, shown worn four ways, so the act of giving stays at the centre and the magazine is only the means.
Red Cross "Your Red Cross is at his side" poster
The soldier smiles over a hot cup while ghostly Red Cross workers stand behind him, so the care is shown being done and the gift is the tool, not the hero.
West End watch ad, al-Kawakib 1968
The watches sit in a white box tied with a pink bow beneath a woman resting on a man's shoulder, so the watch is the gift chosen, with durability, not price, as the reason.
A smiling father and son sharing a meal fill the sheet, so the banquet is sold as time together, and 30 cents a plate sits in its own tab as a plain fact.
Egyptian General Insurance Organization life insurance ad, al-Kawakib 1970
The line 'it helps your child build his present and support his future' makes the policy a tool of the parent's care, with the child at the centre and no test of that care.
Crisco vegetable shortening ad, Good Housekeeping, 1932
'What's my Darling eating now?' puts the husband at the centre, and the fried potatoes men order out become a meal cooked for him at home, with Crisco as the tool in a four-step strip.
Ika sweets gift ad, al-Kawakib 1963
It turns Roshies chocolate, OK gum and Ika mint into a parent's gift to a dear child, with two girls in party dresses at the centre and the packs shown as the tool.
iPhone 17 Pro.كل لحظة معه أحلى 📸لحظاتك الاستثنائية تستحق كاميرا الاحترافية والمزوّدة بأقوى المميزات!
The love is shown as something the mother does, rushing through the crowd to film her daughter, with the iPhone as her tool and the two of them, not the phone, at the centre.
Love is shown as things the mother does every day, the hair, the meal, with the people at the centre and the oil kept in the background rather than made the proof of care.
The duet has the girl asking for her yogurt and the mother singing that she will watch her grow, so the care between them leads and Yamani is only the food that serves it.
Love is shown as things father and son do together, praying, eating, a goodnight hug, with the people at the centre and no product pushed into the scene.
اعلان ڤودافون رمضان ٢٠٢٤ - الكلمة الحلوة - عمرو دياب
Amr Diab's song centres the small words people hold back, sorry, I miss you, I love you, and the phone appears only as the road they travel, a message bubble beside a smiling stranger.
بلمسة نمّكن الحياة | بنك الإمارات دبي الوطني - الصراف الآلي الوردي
Love is shown as acts women do for each other, and the pink ATM is only the tool that turns that care into a booked check.
Doing it wrong
Ads that make the Avoid mistake.
Egyptian General Insurance Organisation policy ad, al-Kawakib 1970
'A mother's tenderness toward her children is not enough' puts her love on trial and makes the insurance policy the proof of care, with no price or policy detail to act on.
Guilt heavier than the lapse · Puts the problem on the reader
Third Liberty Loan poster: "My Daddy Bought Me a Bond. Did Yours?"
A girl hugging her father says 'My Daddy bought me a bond', then asks 'Did Yours?', making the bond the proof of a father's love and putting every other father on trial.
Puts the problem on the reader
Kesma perfume ad, al-Kawakib 1959
'Win her heart in the new year' makes the Kesma bottle, held out on an open hand, the way to earn her affection, so the gift stands in for love instead of expressing it.
Samir children's magazine ad, al-Kawakib 1956
It tells the parent not to deprive their own child of Samir while hundreds of thousands of others wish every day were Sunday, so buying the magazine becomes the measure of care.
إعلان عافية: "وراء كل عافية قصة امرأة - مها"
Maha's care is proved by her refusing anything but Afia, and her husband is proud of her choices, so the product becomes the measure of a good wife and mother.
Sun Gold Old Commercial Ha kul tabeekhek law HD اعلان زيت الصن جولد قديم
The jingle's condition, I will eat your cooking if you go buy Sun Gold, makes the oil the price of a partner's approval rather than a tool for the meal the couple share.
إعلان عافية: "وراء كل عافية قصة امرأة - غادة"
Ghada's care for her family is measured by her oil, 'غادة ذكية عرفت تختار', so buying Afia becomes the test of a smart, devoted wife.
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