Psychology
Underdog effect
We root for the small challenger against the big favourite, and brands that cast themselves as the underdog borrow that support.
All ads
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2023The Everyday Tactician
Follows a 23-year-old tour guide and a National League club to promotion for the first time in 132 years, and viewers cannot help rooting for both.
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2021The Unfiltered History Tour
Slips an unofficial tour into the British Museum without its knowledge, and people relish a cheeky outsider using phone filters to outwit a great institution on its own floor.
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2019Burn That Ad
Turns the media of a rival that outspent it four to one into triggers for free Whoppers, and people love watching the smaller chain outwit the giant.
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2019Stevenage Challenge
Invites gamers to take charge of a club at the bottom of English football's fourth tier, and the lure of lifting a lowly side made it the most-played team in career mode.
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2017Daughter
A girl in a battered helmet takes on a field of boys in a downhill soapbox race, and viewers cheer her all the way to the win.
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#NuggsForCarterWendy's2017
#NuggsForCarter
Pits an ordinary 16-year-old against Ellen DeGeneres's celebrity selfie record, and millions rallied behind the kid trying to beat the star.
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Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference.State Street Global Advisors2017
Fearless Girl
Sets a small bronze girl staring down Wall Street's huge Charging Bull, and people instinctively side with the little figure facing the giant.
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2016Sheep View 360
Pits a tiny tourist board, tired of waiting for Google's cars, against the giant, and people cheered the small islands on until Google answered.
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2015The Greatest Interception Ever
Takes on the night's biggest advertisers without buying a single slot, and people enjoy watching a brand turn rivals' $4.5 million spots to its own ends.
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2015McWhopper (an open letter to McDonald's)
Burger King, the challenger, publicly offers its oldest rival a ceasefire, and when McDonald's declines, people side with the one who reached out.
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2013The Scarecrow
Sends one lowly scarecrow, forced into factory work, to bring wholesome food back against a giant, and viewers instinctively root for the little guy.
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2012Our Blades Are F***ing Great
A $4,500 video shot in a warehouse squares up to a century-old category leader, and viewers enjoyed backing the scrappy newcomer against the giant.
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2011Born of Fire ("Imported from Detroit")
Has a bankrupt carmaker from a written-off city lay claim to luxury, and viewers rallied behind a town that had been to hell and back.
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2010Dutch Dress
Ejecting 36 women over a nearly unbranded dress while Budweiser held the official rights made the outsider brewer the one people rooted for.
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2009Free Doritos
Two unemployed brothers with under $2,000 beat more than 50 professionally made spots, and people love cheering amateurs who topple Madison Avenue.
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1994Yebo Gogo (Windmills)
Lets the roadside vendor the yuppie talks down to turn out to be the one holding the new phone, and viewers relish seeing the underestimated man come out on top.
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19841984
A lone runner takes on a hall of identical marching figures, and viewers root for the newcomer against the giant of computing.
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Avis is only No. 2 in rent a cars. So we try harder.Avis1963
We Try Harder ("Avis is only No. 2")
Casts Avis as the hungry number two chasing the leader, and people enjoy backing a challenger that has to work harder for their business.
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1926They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano
Starts with a guest jeered at the piano, and readers who root for the mocked outsider long to be the one who silences the room.
Underdog effect: where it comes from
In a series of studies, people backed whichever side was described as the underdog, in sport and beyond, and felt more for it (Vandello, Goldschmied and Richards, 2007).
In ads it shows up as small brands taking on giants, challengers who admit they are second, and heroes who start out with the odds against them.