Why 90s Ads Sold Like Crazy While Today’s Get Ignored

Classic Examples Inside!

Author

Andy at Growth Catalyst Club
December 05, 2024

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Something just feels different. Doesn’t it? 

Ads today don’t hit the same. They’re everywhere, on your phone, your laptop, even before you can skip a YouTube video. 

But, do they ever make you feel anything? 

I bet not! It’s so rare to find an ad that will make you stop in your track and say… “Wow, you get me!”

Recently, I was going through some 90s ad (I will show you 3 of them in a moment from now) and I noticed something they had in common. 

Back then, copywriters had one big advantage;

Focus.

No social media.

No scrolling culture.

No distractions every 2 seconds.

So when a sales letter lands in someone’s hands, they read it. Every word had the chance to do to what it was meant to do.

Fast-forward to today, things are completely different.

Shorter attention spans.

Content overload.

Platforms fighting for every second of your time.

And with how sophisticated everything became, you’d expect copywriters to do the extra work to earn their audience attention. Right? 

Sadly no.

Instead, most rely on AI to write quick pieces of copy.

Relax, don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing AI.

So this isn’t another of “those hot takes” bashing AI.

AI can be helpful, it is in fact, very helpful because it reduces the time it takes to write a copy compared to the 90s. 

But, there’s a problem. Too many copywriters rely on it ENTIRELY. They skip the research. They skip the edits. They skip the emotions. 

The result? 

Generic, lifeless copy that doesn’t speak to anyone. That’s why so many ads and emails today sound the same. 

No personality. No connection. Just empty words fighting for attention on your screens! 

In the 90s, copywriters knew their audience deeply. They spent hours understanding their problems, their desires, their fears. 

Think otherwise?

Look at this ad from Apple dated back to 1997.

Forget the visuals, I admit they didn’t have great tools then 

But listen to every word of the ad copy. You can feel it. 

Even with the old visuals, you can still feel the range of emotions in the video. It’s speaking directly to you. 

Here’s another one, although dated back to the 80s;

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Done that? Good! Moving on to this 80’s ad.

“We make digital watches you don’t have to look out for” with a visual of the wearer dipping his hand into a river trying to fetch a tennis ball. Classic!

And here’s another 90s ad, communicating the benefit of the product in the most humorous way ever without losing the essence.

They knew what made people tick, they knew what kept people awake at 2 am in the midnight, they knew their worries, their pain points, their desires, their fears and objections and they used that knowledge to write words that sold. They didn’t rush the process. 

And it’s why their work still feels timeless. People read those ads and felt seen, understood, even inspired. That’s rare today.

So here’s the disappointing truth; while tools have made copywriting faster, they haven’t made it better;

Great copy still takes time, effort, and a human touch. 

That’s why ads in the 90s sold. Not because they had fancy tools, but because they made you feel seen. Understood. Heard. And that’s what copywriting is supposed to do.

Until next time,

Chao!

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