Technique
Plain folks
Ads that present a brand or speaker as ordinary and down-to-earth, just like the audience.
All ads
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2020The Bread Exam
Wraps the lesson in an ordinary recipe from a well-known baker, shared under an everyday question about baking bread.
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2018Nothing Beats a Londoner
Young Londoners from Dalston, Peckham and Brixton are the heroes, out-boasting each other while famous athletes and musicians are reduced to cameos.
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2016The Swedish Number
Puts ordinary volunteers, with no training or script, on the line as the country's ambassadors instead of polished tourism claims.
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2013Farmer
Still photographs of working farmers and a late broadcaster's tribute to their labour present the truck brand as one with ordinary rural Americans.
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2012Our Blades Are F***ing Great
Shot by a friend in a warehouse for a few thousand dollars, the founder's straight-talking pitch presents the startup as unpretentious and down to earth.
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2011Legend ("Ghost Chips")
Casts young Māori men as cool and ordinary at a house party, speaking in their own idiom, so stopping a drunk mate feels socially natural.
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Curators of Sweden (@sweden)VisitSweden and the Swedish Institute2011
Curators of Sweden (@sweden)
The country's official account is handed to a different ordinary citizen each week, picturing the nation as a mosaic of everyday voices.
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2006Bienvenido a la república independiente de tu casa
Uses shaky camcorder footage shot by ordinary families, with a child reading out the home's constitution, so the brand speaks from real living rooms.
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2002Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola
Drops slick Western cola imagery to speak to small-town and rural India in its own idiom and accents, claiming the everyday word for a cold drink.
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2000The Rant ("I Am Canadian")
A polite everyman called Joe in a flannel shirt speaks for the nation, making the brand feel as ordinary and proud as its drinkers.
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1999Whassup?
Casts the director's real childhood friends greeting each other in their own vernacular, so the beer belongs to ordinary mates rather than polished actors.
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1989Hamara Bajaj
Unknown faces, not stars, polish scooters, check their hair and haggle over fish, so the brand belongs to everyday Indians.
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1989Supermarkt ("Tina, wat kosten die Kondome?")
Set in an ordinary supermarket queue, it presents buying condoms as an everyday errand rather than something shameful.
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1988Just Do It (launch spot, "Walt Stack")
Launches the slogan with an 80-year-old distance runner at dawn rather than a star, suggesting effort matters more than equipment or fame.
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1984Come and Say G'day (Shrimp on the Barbie)
Sells a friendly, cheeky national character through barbecues, pubs and an invitation to say G'day, as if hosting viewers personally.
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1984Lalitaji
Set in a busy market, a thrifty homemaker haggling over vegetables gives the argument the voice of an ordinary, shrewd customer.
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1978Garoto Bombril (first spot)
Replaces the usual housewife or macho hero with a modest, fragile man speaking colloquially and claiming only a certain something in the formula.
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1972Three Brothers ("Mikey Likes It")
Three real brothers in a slice-of-life scene let a sibling's verdict, not an adult claim, vouch for the cereal.
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You don't have to be Jewish to love Levy's.Levy's (Henry S. Levy & Sons)1961
You Don't Have to Be Jewish to Love Levy's
Ordinary New Yorkers found around the city, not polished models, bite into sandwiches to show that people of every background enjoy the bread.
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1957Does She... or Doesn't She?
Wholesome mothers and daughters appear in the ads, showing that respectable everyday women colour their hair too.
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1943Use It Up – Wear It Out – Make It Do!
An ordinary couple patching trousers and mending a lawnmower presents thrift as everyday domestic life rather than sacrifice.
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1941Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases
Everyday settings such as a factory, a shop, an office and the Underground let ordinary people recognise themselves in the scene.
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1929The Pause That Refreshes
Pitched as a break any worker can afford, the drink is presented as an everyday comfort for ordinary people.
Plain folks: how it works
The plain folks technique presents a brand, product or politician as ordinary, unpretentious and just like the people it is talking to. It is one of the seven propaganda devices popularised by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis in the late 1930s, and it is still taught as a way to read advertising critically.
How to spot it
- Real or real-seeming people instead of models and stars.
- Everyday settings, plain speech and common-sense values.
- A brand that takes the side of normal people against the fancy, the corporate or the elite.
Why it works
People trust those they see as similar to themselves. Plain folks advertising also lets a big company appear small and human. Done well, it creates warmth and recognition; done badly, it feels like a costume.