Why absurdity sells in the digital age

Spend even a little time on social media, and you'll notice that some brand accounts are a little unhinged. From Wendy’s roasts to Chipotle’s memes, many brands have stopped playing by traditional buttoned-up rules. 

Weird is working—but why?

Unhinged is an art

Brands such as Slim Jim, Pop-Tarts and Taco Bell have fully embraced a “brain rot” style—internet humor where the absurdity itself is the joke—that taps directly into internet culture. At first glance, this strategy might seem just about posting memes and hopping on social media trends, but the results reveal something about the audience that we can’t ignore.

The truth is that people go on social media for entertainment, for laughter and to feel part of something bigger—not to see ads. Rather than disrupting the culture of each platform through ads, brands need to go to market in ways that feel true to them.

This shift has made it crucial for brands to engage with users in ways that feel natural within the platform's culture. Let’s be honest: No one scrolls through their feed hoping to see an ad about deodorant or burritos. But a roast from Wendy’s or a relatable meme from Taco Bell? That might be worth sharing. 

We’re past the pre-2020s era when polished messaging moved the needle on social. In a Gen Z-dominated world where TikTok reigns supreme, brands should adopt their audiences' language, humor and chaos to create a real connection. It’s a strategy that meets people where they are.

Brands such as Oatly and Liquid Death have gone beyond just a few funny tweets or viral TikToks, building entire brand identities around the unhinged.

Oatly is known for taking anti-advertising to heart, even running a Super Bowl ad featuring its CEO playing a (pretty catchy) song on a keyboard in a field. Liquid Death—the water brand with a punk rock attitude—makes no apologies for its in-your-face marketing. Its tagline, "Murder Your Thirst," paired with wild merch such as skull tees and canned water that looks like it belongs at a metal concert, has pushed it far outside the conventional wellness mold. But it works; it cuts through the noise and grabs attention, the ultimate goal for challenger brands.

The evolution of weird in advertising

Unhinged marketing isn’t exactly new. Before the Duolingo owl dominated TikTok, Old Spice introduced its over-the-top TV commercials. Who can forget the iconic “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign, where a shirtless Isaiah Mustafa transitioned from a shower to a boat to a horse, all while narrating directly to the audience. It was bizarre, fast-paced and perfectly timed for a generation that loves to be entertained rather than sold to. 

The brilliance behind that campaign was that it didn’t feel like an ad, delivering the humor and absurdity people wanted to unwind. That blueprint holds up today in a new medium: social media.

Take Liquid Death’s spot with Chace Crawford’s character, The Deep (or, as millennials may know him, Nate Archibald). The Deep explains to children in a classroom why soda is so bad for you, having a child drink a glass of sugar, bemoaning the side effects of erectile dysfunction and equating sugar to cigarettes. 

Unhinged as a long-term strategy 

When an unhinged approach to marketing is baked into a brand’s DNA, the consistency builds a connection with its audiences. Consumers know what they’re getting and it’s usually something unexpected.

But there’s also a balancing act here. Unhinged marketing works because it taps into something that feels authentic. It has to be real, not forced, and align with the brand’s core values. Otherwise, it can come off as a cringe-worthy attempt to be “cool” that no one buys. Unhinged marketing works because it stands in bold contrast to the rigid, polished ads of the past. In a world where most feeds feel like noise, the absurdity catches our attention and holds it.

But the reality is this approach isn’t for everyone. It’s about knowing your audience. Some brands can thrive in the weirdness because it aligns with who they are at their core, and their audiences are here for it. They speak the same language as their consumers, living and breathing in the cultural quirks of their platforms. Others, though, should probably steer clear; jumping into unhinged marketing without the right voice or authenticity can backfire, coming off as cringeworthy or tone-deaf.

To connect, sometimes you need to let go of control and dive into the chaos. Embrace the humor, the absurdity, and the wild unpredictability of your audience. In the end, it’s not just about selling; it’s about making people feel something real.