Why the Claude Keep Thinking Ad Worked: An Advertising Man's Analysis

2025-09-23

Just make it sound like you wrote it that way on purpose.

An advertising man and a Claude enjoyer's 2 cents on why the Claude ad worked - going viral while being done in good taste.

There is a mountain of psychology below the surface of the exquisite production.

The underlying message

If I talk to a normal human on the street who's not in the AI/SF bubble, their sentiment on AI is firmly negative. They think:

  1. AI will take my job
  2. It's all BS hype by billionaires who will probably cause a financial crash like the dotcom bubble
  3. It makes people dumber and replaces thinking

Not a good start if the company is literally AI. How did Anthropic solve that? Well, in marketing we don't challenge people's beliefs head on. They get defensive.

If we say: "We're here to empower you not to replace you trust me bro"

They read that and think "I see news thousands losing their jobs, kids getting dumber. These people want to take my job and livelihood and ask me pay them for that? Fudge right off"

So instead of challenging beliefs directly, we play-into their beliefs. Aikido them.

1) "There's never been a worse time. (repeats 7x)" → Immediately they acknowledge the world sucks. That life is hard. Most humans believe that. Problems, problems, problems. 99 of them.

The pain crescendos with more visual distress and the soundtrack - until they're hit with a classic reframe.

"There has never been a better time. A better time to have a problem."

The good old "It's hard. But it's never been less hard"

2) It continues: "To be stuck. To be overwhelmed. To be impatient. To be out of ideas or out of your depth. Out of breath. There has never been a better time to have a medical condition. Just look at the research being done. To have no qualifications, no resources. To not understand. To feel insignificant. To feel restless. Right now, there really has never been a better time."

Incredible. Describes the pain we ALL feel and relate to. With simple words real humans use.

Whatever the problem, excuse, it makes them feel understood. Gives back agency. Inspires. Again, they do it indirectly, without preaching or challenging beliefs.

3) "Keep thinking."

Addresses the objection "It makes people dumber and replaces thinking". Not with generic corporate speak "empower you with *bleughh*". But with simple, real words for real humans.

This whole ad is written at the Grade 1 level!!

Two more points:

"The opposite of slop is Care"

@nabeelqu

Every second here screams effort. To record so much instead of a lazy screenshare. To edit so well. The SFX. The music. So, so good.

People perceive this money & time cost signaling unconsciously. Viral content screams this too: I spent X hours. Y dollars. Tried every food at Z.

It's exceptional, and yet I don't think the editing is not the main reason why it works. Every big budget corporation since Apple's Don't Blink ad did the fast-paced video.

Yes, the production is in great taste. But it's the message. The Care. Care is conviction. The corporate ads lack that. That's where they screw up. They don't "have something to say". And we can't make a good ad without having something to say. Without meaning it.

"And empty words are evil" - Homer, The Odyssey.

Not showing the product

"omg beckyyy they spent all this time and money and they don't even show the product? lolll"

Nah. That's why it works.

  1. One issue with corporate comms is there's too much "how to build a boat" and not enough "why you should should yearn for the vast and endless sea" @lulumeservey

  2. The best ads don't look like ads.

  3. Don't sell the plane ticket, sell the dream vacation.

  4. "Making a sale without making a convert does not count for much. Sales made by conviction - by advertising - are likely to bring permanent customers." Claude Hopkins, Scientific Advertising, 1923.

In other words, Anthropic is making a cult. All great companies are cults.

The cult's message is "if you are a true problem solver, a creator, an aspirer, you're using Claude".

Not "hi XYZ technical feature is possible with Claude", but "If you use Claude you are the problem solver, the creator, the aspirer."

If you possess this virtue, or want to possess it, you use Claude. It ties the product to an ideal image of self they want to be.

It's just like this great 1967 Rolex ad:

A picture of the The UN building At Geneva where The League of Nations convened and the headline:

"If You Were Negotiating Here Tomorrow You'd Wear A Rolex"

The best modern ad I've seen in a while. An ode to creation. A cathedral.

If you liked this analysis, it'd be cool if you shared it on Twitter :)

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