Professional looking ads or ugly ads tweet
Updated on
Jonathan Martinez
@jon4growth·Oct 31
Professional-looking ads hurt your conversions.
They're also expensive to make.
Make ugly, interface-hijacking ads that cost nothing to produce instead.
All you gotta do is take an interface we all recognize (ex. Apple Notes) and turn into ads.
But why do they work?
A thread by Jonathan Martinez breaks down a weird truth: pretty ads often flop, while ugly, “homemade” ones crush it. Think clunky screenshots, plain backgrounds, and text that looks like someone typed it on their phone.
The psychology behind ugly ads
Ugly ads stop the scroll. They blend into the platform instead of screaming “ad.” When people see something that looks like an iMessage or Notes app, it feels native, relatable, and trustworthy.
Why it works
- Feels authentic, not corporate
- Matches the user’s environment (pattern interruption)
- Costs $0 to create and is fast to test
- Signals “real person,” not “brand trying too hard”
Real-life proof
- UGC-style TikTok ads outperform high-end edits by up to 80% in CTRs
- Meme-style static ads drop CPMs for DTC brands like Feastables
- Craigslist-style ads helped Airbnb’s early viral growth
- Notes-style graphics drive cheap clicks for indie app launches
Analyzed by Swipebot
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