# Ad summary
A creator visits The Ordinary's headquarters and comically attempts to produce a new skin serum.
# Brand positioning
The Ordinary is presented as a brand that prides itself on being scientifically accurate, yet accessible and playful. The ad uses a comedic tone and emphasizes the brand's commitment to effective ingredients and formulations. It highlights the brand's fun and relatable culture through creator inclusion and in-office antics. The brand appears to follow category norms by creating effective skincare, yet pushes against the norms by including accessible pricing, humorous engagement, and transparency in production.
# Product
The ad focuses on The Ordinary's skincare formulations. It emphasizes the brand's commitment to effective ingredients and scientific precision. While no specific product is highlighted, the ad showcases the behind-the-scenes process of formulating a product, which creates a value proposition for all existing and future products. The formulation process is shown with lab equipment, such as beakers and homogenizers. A bottle of niacinamide is shown. The ad also addresses purchase barriers with humor, indicating that despite the scientific approach, the brand is relatable and down-to-earth.
# Visual style
The ad uses a hybrid style, blending UGC elements with polished commercial production. The editing rhythm includes quick cuts and static shots with smooth transitions. The overall aesthetic is modern and clean, with a white backdrop and simple lab setting, which supports The Ordinary's brand ethos of transparency and science-backed skincare. The pacing is quick, keeping the viewer engaged with the comedic banter.
# Hooks
Spoken: You may remember that time I became a scientist at The Ordinary headquarters in Toronto.
Text overlay: you may remember that time / I became a scientist at / The Ordinary headquarters in Toronto
Visual: 00:00–00:03 Close-up, selfie-style shot of a fair-skinned person with dark, wavy hair and dark eyebrows, wearing a brown hoodie over a white collared shirt. The background is a plain white wall with an air conditioning unit in the upper left corner and a white door in the background. The lighting is bright.
# Funnel stage
Middle of funnel (Consideration)
# Pain points
The ad pokes fun at the idea that skincare formulation is too serious or inaccessible, suggesting that even scientific processes can be approached with humor and relatability.
# Value propositions
- The Ordinary provides scientifically tested skincare, all while maintaining a strong, fun company culture.
- The Ordinary products are scientifically made and up to code for industry standards.
# Benefits
- The ad shows the brand is up to code
# Features
- The ad shows the brand's presence in both Toronto and London
- The ad shows the brand is scientifically accurate
# Call to action
None used.
# Social proof
- "You may remember that time I became a scientist at The Ordinary headquarters in Toronto."
# Point of view
- Customer 100% – The entire video is from the perspective of a customer of The Ordinary, with a selfie-style camera angle and casual tone.
# Storyline
- 00:00–00:03 The creator starts by telling the audience that they may remember the time that he became a scientist at The Ordinary headquarters in Toronto.
- 00:05–00:08 He continues, sharing that they invited him to London, England, to ensure their labs were up to code. This implies a level of trust.
- 00:08–00:11 He questions whether they would regret the decision to have him there, answering "probably."
- 00:12–00:19 The creator continues with a story about his past New Year's resolutions being about whether the Queen was going to make it. He states that he was wrong every year until he was right.
- 00:19–00:22 An employee of The Ordinary questions how New Year's resolutions work.
- 00:23–00:27 The creator tries to guess the ingredients of a new product being formulated, naming vitamin B12, water, maple syrup, and flour.
- 00:27–00:35 The Ordinary employee corrects him on maple syrup, and the creator humorously quips, "You will be hearing from my agent, and God save the king."
- 00:53–01:00 He states that The Ordinary employee doesn't trust him, pointing to the fact that he wasn't given gloves.
- 00:48–00:51 The employee holds out a bottle of niacinamide, and the creator jokes that it looks delicious.
- 00:51–00:53 The creator asks if the employee ever gets tempted to eat the ingredients.
- 01:06–01:12 He questions, "Would you rather be acidic or basic with the vibes?" The employee responds, "Acidic always." The creator states, "You don't want to be basic, but you want to be Ordinary."
- 01:12–01:25 The employee explains that the homogenizer blends ingredients at high speeds, and the creator says, "If you're hetero, you're different, and if you're homo, you're the same. Don't look at me like that's offensive; that's science."