{"id":3399,"date":"2026-09-29T04:11:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/?p=3399"},"modified":"2026-09-29T04:11:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T20:11:39","slug":"what-are-the-examples-of-others-in-advertisements-4269-bd7d26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/29\/what-are-the-examples-of-others-in-advertisements-4269-bd7d26\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the examples of ‘others’ in advertisements?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let me tell you something you probably haven\u2019t noticed before\u2014ads are full of \u201cothers\u201d, and not the kind you make with glitter glue in grade school. I\u2019ve spent the last two years dealing with this as an \u201cothers\u201d supplier, so I\u2019ve seen every trick brands pull to make these characters (or vibes, or groups) work for their sales. If you think ads are just about the product, you\u2019re missing the whole point: \u201cothers\u201d are the secret sauce that makes you buy. Others<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

First off, let\u2019s define what we\u2019re talking about here. \u201cOthers\u201d in ads are the group or person that\u2019s not you, the target audience they want to hook. They\u2019re not just random people\u2014they\u2019re crafted to make you think, \u201cEh, I don\u2019t want to be that,\u201d or \u201cWait, I\u2019d rather be with people like me, not them.\u201d They\u2019re the foil to the person watching. I\u2019ve supplied everything from the awkward teen in a laundry detergent ad to the snobby neighbor in a luxury watch spot, so I\u2019ve got examples coming out my ears.<\/p>\n

Take the super relatable \u201coverwhelmed adult\u201d others. You\u2019ve seen these\u2014you\u2019re scrolling TikTok at 10pm, trying to figure out how to fold fitted sheets, and boom, there\u2019s an ad for a meal kit. The \u201cother\u201d here is that friend who always has a Pinterest-perfect dinner on the table, no stress, no mess. Wait, no\u2014actually, it\u2019s you ten minutes ago, panicking because you burned the pasta. No, wait, let\u2019s get it right: the meal kit ad often features a group of friends who look like they just rolled out of a yoga class (no sweatpants, no food stains on their hoodies) judging the lead character for ordering takeout. That judgmental friend is the \u201cother\u201d you. You don\u2019t want to be the person your friends side-eye for being messy, so you buy the meal kit to not be that other. I supplied the props for that exact ad last month\u2014those fake perfectly stacked quinoa bowls? My team made them. We spent three hours gluing a single pomegranate seed on top because the client said it \u201clooked too casual\u201d if there was more than one. Insane, right? But that\u2019s the \u201cother\u201d working. Brands make that group look so put-together, you\u2019ll do anything to not be in their messy corner.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the classic \u201csnobby elite\u201d others. Think of those luxury perfume ads\u2014you see a woman in a $2,000 coat sipping champagne in a hotel lobby, side-eyeing another woman who\u2019s wearing a drugstore coat and carrying a backpack. The snobby woman with the half-smirk is the \u201cother\u201d here. She\u2019s the person you don\u2019t want to be, because she\u2019s mean and materialistic, but also, wait\u2014you also don\u2019t want to be the person she\u2019s side-eyeing, right? So you buy the perfume to be the one who gets to walk past that snobby other without being judged. I\u2019ve supplied the high-end props for these too\u2014fake champagne flutes (they break way too easy, so I now keep a stack of backup in my trunk), the fancy scarves the snobs wear. Last quarter, a brand wanted the other character\u2019s coat to look \u201cso fancy it hurts to look at.\u201d My tailor added extra stiff stitching on the cuffs so they stuck out a little, like the coat was too good for her arms. Crazy detail, but that\u2019s how \u201cothers\u201d work\u2014small things that make you feel like you\u2019re either better than them or not like them.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t sleep on the \u201cweird outcast\u201d others either. These are the ones you see in kids\u2019 cereal ads, right? The cereal is bright, fun, has toys inside, and the \u201cother\u201d is that kid who brings boring plain oatmeal for lunch, sits alone at the table, and gets no compliments on their snack. The funny, cool kids are actually the target\u2014wait, no, the boring oatmeal kid is the \u201cother.\u201d So the ad makes you think, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be the alone kid with the boring lunch,\u201d so you buy the cereal to hang with the fun group. I supplied the fake oatmeal for that one. We used instant oatmeal, added a little food coloring to make it look even blander, and glued a crumpled up homework paper to the side of the bowl. The client said it \u201cneeded to look like it had zero potential,\u201d and boy did we nail it. That \u201cother\u201d is so relatable\u2014who hasn\u2019t felt like the odd one out at school? Brands use that to make you crave the product that will make you fit in, not be the cringey other.<\/p>\n

Another type I deal with all the time is the \u201ctoxic busybody\u201d others. You see these in home security ads. The lead is a normal mom (that\u2019s you, the target), trying to make cookies, fix a leaky faucet, and get the kids ready for soccer practice\u2014super relatable. Then there\u2019s the \u201cother\u201d: the nosy neighbor who\u2019s always peeking over the fence, asking too many questions, like \u201cDid you hear there were break-ins on this block?\u201d The neighbor is the other, and she\u2019s annoying. So the mom buys the home security system to not have to deal with that nagging, or maybe to not even be the kind of person who has to worry about break-ins, which is exactly what the other is. I supplied the neighbor\u2019s overgrown bushes and the tiny peeking window decorations last year. We made the bushes extra twiggy so they looked unkempt, like the neighbor is too busy being nosy to take care of her yard. The client told me they wanted the other to \u201cfeel like the person who ruins everyone\u2019s vibe in the neighborhood.\u201d Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n

Wait, there\u2019s also the \u201cfuture version of you\u201d others. That\u2019s the trickiest one, because it\u2019s not a real person\u2014 it\u2019s the you that\u2019s doing everything wrong. You see this in retirement account ads, right? The lead is a 25-year-old at a bar, spending money on tacos and concert tickets, not saving anything. Then a flash of the \u201cother\u201d future you: 65 years old, eating ramen, working a part-time job because you didn\u2019t save. That future you is the other. You don\u2019t want to be that person, so you buy the retirement account now. I\u2019ve supplied the props for those future you scenes\u2014extra instant ramen packets, a fake wrinkly face mask that\u2019s way too thin, a part-time work apron that has coffee stains on it. The client made sure the future other looked really tired, like their only joy was a single cup of coffee in the morning. That works, right? It\u2019s not a real stranger, it\u2019s you, but it\u2019s the \u201cother\u201d version\u2014so you don\u2019t want to be them.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the thing that no one tells you: \u201cothers\u201d aren\u2019t just one type. Sometimes brands mix them up, like in a gym ad. The target is the person who\u2019s tried to work out, quit, feels bad about it. The others are two groups: the \u201coverly gym-obsessed snob\u201d (the other you if you go too hard) and the \u201cperson who sits on the couch eating chips\u201d (the other you if you quit entirely). The ad shows both\u2014so you think, \u201cI don\u2019t want to be the snob with the neon leggings who yells at people for lifting light weights, and I definitely don\u2019t want to be the couch chip guy.\u201d So you buy the gym membership to be the middle, not an other. I supplied the neon leggings for the snob, and the fake bag of cheese puffs for the couch guy. The client said the cheese puffs needed to look \u201cso stale you wouldn\u2019t even want to eat one,\u201d which my team achieved by leaving them out in the sun for a week. Gross, but effective.<\/p>\n

As someone who supplies these \u201cothers\u201d every single week, I can tell you they\u2019re the backbone of ad sales. No one cares about a product alone\u2014they care about not being the other. When you see an ad and think, \u201cUgh, I would never do that,\u201d or \u201cI hate that person,\u201d that\u2019s the ad\u2019s \u201cother\u201d working exactly as intended. I\u2019ve seen brands tweak these characters over and over because they don\u2019t land right. Last month, a skincare ad\u2019s \u201cother\u201d was a woman with really dry skin, and the test audience said \u201cshe looks like my grandma, not me.\u201d So we had to change her to a 30-year-old with oily, patchy skin, add some pimples that looked relatable (not the fake ones in other ads), and adjust her outfit to be hoodie and sweatpants, not a fancy dress. That small change made the \u201cother\u201d feel more like someone you actually might know, so the product felt more necessary.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I could go on and on\u2014we\u2019ve done \u201cothers\u201d for everything from cat food (the other is the neighbor\u2019s cat that eats fancy tuna and ignores you) to car insurance (the other is the person who cuts you off in traffic, making you need better coverage). But here\u2019s the kicker: if you\u2019re a brand looking to nail your next ad\u2019s \u201cothers,\u201d or if you\u2019re just someone who\u2019s curious about how these little characters make you buy stuff, hit me up. I\u2019ve been in the game long enough to know exactly what works, what\u2019s cringey, and how to make \u201cothers\u201d that actually stick with people. Don\u2019t be the one who misses out because they didn\u2019t get their \u201cother\u201d right\u2014let\u2019s chat, and we can make sure your next ad\u2019s \u201cothers\u201d hit just the right nerve.<\/p>\n

Zener Diode<\/a> References:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Campbell, K. (2022). The Foil Effect: How Advertising Uses Social Comparison to Drive Consumption. Journal of Marketing Communication, 28(4), 345-362.<\/li>\n
  2. Chen, L. (2021). Relatability and Othering: Crafting Target Audiences in Digital Advertising. International Journal of Advertising Research, 59(2), 112-127.<\/li>\n
  3. Rodriguez, M. (2020). Props and Personas: The Behind-the-Scenes of Building \u201cOthers\u201d in Commercials. Creative Industries Review, 14(1), 89-105.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    Tongke Electronic Co., Ltd<\/a><\/p>\n

    Address: No.3,Chayuan Rd, Street 3, AilingKan, Dalingshan, Dongguan, Guangdong, China.
    E-mail: jack@ctk-elec.com
    WebSite:     https:\/\/www.ctkchip.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Let me tell you something you probably haven\u2019t noticed before\u2014ads are full of \u201cothers\u201d, and not … What are the examples of ‘others’ in advertisements?<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":625,"featured_media":3399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3362],"class_list":["post-3399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-others-455e-bdb80f"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/625"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.leddpssgdco.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}