When memes meet ads
Creatives are forgoing high production values to harness the addictive power of memes—and it seems to be working, says Sassy+'s head of content solutions, Andrew Grayshon.
American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis has long argued that culture has collapsed into a generalised stream where everything is flattened into ‘content’. In 2025, this has never been truer. Art, news, personal updates and ads compete on the same scroll. So why not pick the most addictive medium to sneak in a bit of brand action?
2025 isn’t the first time I’ve noticed advertisers mimicking memes, and earned social is nothing new, but this is the first time brands are truly nailing the style and virality of ads masquerading as actual memes.
Some of the ads that I’ve been most drawn to of late - the ones that truly compete for my attention - have been (and we need to find a term for them) ‘Memevertisements’ (there you go, that’ll do for now).
A Memevetisement is distinct from Organic Social. We’re not talking about Aldi hijacking a popular social phrase, or Nike putting up a speedy post referencing last night’s big match.
Memevetisements adopt the look, feel, and behaviours of organic internet reels, and may very well pass off as one.
This might sound like a simple formula to emulate, but it turns out we’re a fickle bunch that can sense inauthenticity at the roll of a fingertip.
To paraphrase Morpheus in The Matrix: when a Memevertisement is good enough, you won’t even care that it’s an advert.
Hidden memeing
A good Memevertisement usually has certain similarities. Rather than striving for cinematic perfection or slick studio production, they disrupt feed space with deliberately rough, “ugly” content designed to mimic the language and pacing of native social media trends.
They thrive on relatability, authenticity, and in-jokes that reward those “in the know.”
When brands lean into meme-style formats, embracing lo-fi aesthetics, rapid cuts, or absurd setups, they blend in with the frenetic, unpolished material users select by choice.
Exhibit A-ds
“Enough setup, now show us some examples!”.
Check out Wants and Needs Brand, which exploded in visibility with video ads that looked intentionally bad, and yet it's undeniably amusing and creative, fostering a community cheering for its “rough & ready” approach.
An even more hot-off-the-press example is Aminé x New Balance’s “Performative Male” campaign. The whole ad is staged to look like the sort of vintage footage you might scroll across at random.
Drawing on the ‘performative male’ meme, parodying men’s social signalling in a knowingly absurd way, the ad’s script and delivery feel like a viral TikTok, with quirky pop culture references and bookish satire.
Brands disguising their adverts as memes, or outright adopting meme DNA, are perhaps the ultimate in stealth advertising because they feel authentic, interrupt patterns, and are truly ‘earned’.
Sure, like any meme, they might well be forgotten in a short space of time, but the good ones will endure, and in a world where temporary content is often our content of choice, your brand wins either way.
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