Your Brand Doesn't Need Another UGC Ad
The first time you hear a great joke, it’s funny.
The hundredth time? Not so much.
Familiarity has a way of dulling even the funniest ideas.
UGC works the same way.
A few great ads got copied…then the copies got copied.
And the brands behind this content become ignorable by their target audience.
Why UGC Is Flooding the Feed
UGC took off for a reason. A real customer talking about a product usually feels more believable than a polished brand commercial.
That part never stopped being true.
The problem is that a lot of brands saw what worked and immediately turned it into a template.
The same hooks. The same testimonials. The same unboxing videos. The same “I was skeptical at first…” setup.
At some point, the creator stopped being the differentiator. Everyone was following the same playbook.
That’s why so many brands find themselves constantly searching for new creators while getting the same results.
How Can Your Brand Stand Out?
You’ve probably seen some version of these:
“I can’t believe this product actually worked.”
The fake-surprised unboxing.
The creator who swears this isn’t an ad right before it becomes very obvious that it is.
The testimonial that starts with a problem, builds a little tension, and ends exactly the way you expect it to.
None of those formats are bad on their own.
The problem is that so many brands are using the same handful of approaches that they start blending together.
At some point, people stop paying attention to the content because it’s predictable.
That’s when the content becomes easy to scroll past.
Why Some Content Doesn’t Feel Like Advertising
One thing we’ve learned from making skits is that people don’t always decide to keep watching because of the product.
They watch because the content itself is entertaining.
A character says something ridiculous. Someone completely misunderstands what’s happening. A conversation takes a turn nobody expected.
The audience isn’t thinking about the product yet. They’re trying to figure out what happens next.
That’s what separates a lot of entertainment-first content from traditional UGC. Instead of leading with the pitch, it creates a reason to keep watching.
When the content gives people a reason to stay, the product doesn’t have to carry the entire video. It becomes part of the experience instead of the only reason the content exists.
Attracting True Brand Fans
A clear sign a skit is working is what happens after the video ends.
When one of the videos we created for a character set called the Southern Sophisticates started taking off, the comment section became part of the joke.
People weren’t just reacting to the content.
They were talking about the characters, the jokes, and the world the content had created.
We’ve seen the same thing happen across a lot of the content we make. When a skit lands, people quote lines back, recognize recurring characters, and continue the joke long after the video ends.
That’s very different from how most formula-driven ads get discussed, if they get discussed at all.
And that’s really the opportunity. When people are engaging with something bigger than the product pitch, the content stops feeling like just another ad in the feed.
The Honest Trade-Off
There’s a reason so many brands keep coming back to the same UGC formats.
They’re predictable. You know what the brief looks like, how the video will be structured, and roughly what you’re going to get.
Entertainment-first content is harder. You’re testing characters, scenarios, jokes, and ideas that don’t come with a template.
That’s also why it can break through when everything else starts looking the same.
A lot of brands keep trying to find a better version of the same ad.
Want content people actually remember? Let’s talk.
Connect With Our Team