Don’t make another ugly ad before reading this

Hey guys,

Scroll the organic feed for 5 minutes and you’ll realise that there’s a pretty big difference between what advertisers think is ‘ugly’ content and what actually is ugly content.

There are small but significant things you’re leaving in your creative that signals to your customers that THIS IS AN AD. And it’s killing your conversions.

Recently I did a training with my team on ugly ads, and today I’m sharing exactly what I told them.

Rather watch the training instead? I turned it into a YouTube video here.

But first, here's what I've found interesting this week:

• You can now manage Meta Ads campaigns directly through Claude or ChatGPT - Meta dropped their Ads MCP and CLI

• Higgsfield MCP now lives inside Claude - you can generate prompts, scripts and full scene outputs all from one chat

• Nick Shackelford dropped a great take on the 48-hour window to eliminate first-month churn

Making ugly ads in 2026

Ugly ads had to change. Here's why…

In 2022 and 2023, traditional UGC worked because it mimicked what was happening on the organic feed.

Back then, the feed was social - not discovery. It was people you followed sharing their lives, talking about products they liked.

Then everyone caught on. Ad libraries filled up with all the same formats. Creators all started shooting with the same angles, styles and lighting.

The feed evolved. It became more raw, authentic, and real than ever. It had to be - because creators needed a way to signal that they are real and not fake.

The organic feed moved on, but UGC did not.

Brands' ugly ads have not evolved

In 2026, real ugly content on the organic feed often has:

• No soundtrack

• One headline running through the whole video with no captions (or none at all)

• Little/no editing

• Mostly unscripted

• No end card

Yet most brands' ugly ads (UGC) have the opposite:

• Heavy use of soundtracks

• Full captions

• Over-edited

• Mostly scripted

• End cards

If you're going for an ugly ad, you have to lean all the way in and produce something that ACTUALLY looks like it would blend in on the organic feed.

The importance of the first frame

Look at these two ads for the same protein bar concept. One involves the creator trying a product with a tripod setup from a high angle. The other is shot handheld from a low angle in the car.

Same concept, shot in different ways, drastically different results.

If you were trying food on the organic feed, would you set up a tripod or would you hold your phone in the car on the way back from the gym?

Be intentional with your first frame visual direction:

• What location are they in?

• What are they filming with?

• Is the camera/phone handheld or setup?

These seemingly small factors have a huge impact on the subconscious decision the viewer makes in the first few milliseconds.

The organic feed is your ad inspiration

As advertisers, we over-index on inspiration from ad libraries and under-index on inspiration from the organic feed.

Ad libraries are a closed loop of advertisers copying advertisers who are copying advertisers. And none of us know what's actually working.

The organic feed is different. It's algorithmically validated proof of what real humans actually engage with.

I get a lot of my ugly ads inspiration from TikTok shop creators. While we're trying to emulate what's in the organic feed, these creators have to make things that work today because it's how they get paid.

Creator selection is really important

You could have the best ugly ad brief in the world, but if you don't have a good creator to fulfill it, the ad isn't going to turn out well.

We use a combination of Insense, Backstage, TikTok, and tracking down creators directly to find ours.

The top 10% of creators are better with more freedom. The bottom 90% are better with more direction.

When you find someone who can speak authentically about your problem without feeling scripted, you will create ads that scale and last in your ad account for a very long time.

The future of ugly ads

In a world where AI content is becoming more prominent on the feed, I am increasingly bullish on ugly ads.

People will always crave raw, authentic, and real content. It's why we're doing more in-person shoots - we want to create ads that AI can't replicate.

That is until AI gets to the point where it can make truly indistinguishable ugly ads. What happens to the organic feed and paid ads after that is anyone's guess.

Before you approve your next ad, remember to ask yourself one thing - would this ACTUALLY happen on the organic feed?

And if you want more inspiration, here are 25 of my favourite ugly ads that pass the test.

Announcements

🇫🇷 I’ll be in Paris at the end of May! If you’re around, let me know! May do a lunch/meetup if there are enough people in town.

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See you next week,

Alex

P.S. If you're spending $100k+ monthly on paid social and want help implementing ugly ad strategies like these, my team at Adcrate is accepting applications to work with us. Check out our case studies at adcrate.co.