🧠 Brain Driven Brands Podcast Summary

Episode: 🎃 Scary Good Advertising: The Tango Slap, Diamond Shreddies, and the Pepsi Riot
Host: Sarah Levinger (B), Co-host: Nate Lagos (A)
Release Date: October 14, 2025

Episode Overview

In this Halloween-themed episode of Brain Driven Brands, Sarah Levinger and Nate Lagos dive into some of the most surprising, “scary good” advertising campaigns from history. They dissect ads that broke the rules, took bold risks, and in some cases, produced wild results—showing e-commerce listeners how offbeat psychology tactics can spark massive brand impact. The hosts break down what worked, what backfired, and what eCommerce founders and marketers can learn from decades of neuromarketing experiments.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Unconventional Ads: The "Tango Orange Man" (00:22–05:38)

• Ad Breakdown:
  • An infamous UK soft drink ad from 1992 where an orange-painted man slaps a drinker, meant to convey the intense taste of Tango.
  • Wild, almost reckless concept that surprisingly doubled Tango’s market share by 1994.
• Insights:
  • Beverage advertising relies on evoking how a drink feels, not tastes—creating memorable, visceral ad moments.
  • Simple, low-budget concepts can be explosively effective when rooted in a strong emotional or sensory hook.
  • D2C and non-beverage brands often fail by focusing only on “what you’ll get,” not “how you’ll feel.”
• Quote (Sarah, 03:55):

  "I think this is something we can take over into D2C too, because, like, we don't ever communicate what you're going to feel with our products. We only communicate what end goal you're going to get to."

2. Storytelling > Slick Scripting (04:39–05:54)

• Commentary:
  • The ad’s pacing and storytelling are discussed—the mundane setting makes the slap more impactful.
  • Memorable ads “breathe” and lead viewers into a moment of surprise.
• Quote (Nate, 04:54):

  "During a boring, mundane moment, this drink adds energy and spice and Flavor... It looks like these guys just met up. They're trying to figure out where to go to lunch or something."

3. Simple Perspective Shifts: The "Diamond Shreddies" Campaign (06:17–12:51)

• Story:
  • Kraft’s Shreddies cereal in Canada was rebranded after an intern proposed turning the square cereal 45°, calling it “Diamond Shreddies.”
  • Resulted in an 18% jump in sales, with “Team Square” vs. “Team Diamond” fandom and even eBay bidding wars.
• Behavior Science Takeaway:
  • A mere shift in presentation tapped into new meaning: “diamond” is affluent and exciting, “square” is boring.
• Quotes:
  • (Sarah, 08:01):

    “They literally just changed the photo to a 45 degree angle and called it Diamond Shreddies. 18% increase in sales.”

  • (Nate, 10:13):

    “No one wants to be a square. A square is a euphemism for boring, bland, bad. But diamonds are, like, a really cool, valuable thing. Okay. That matters so much.”

4. The Dangers of Overpromising: Pepsi's "Number Fever" Riot (13:05–15:15)

• Case Study:
  • In 1992, Pepsi’s Philippines sweepstakes put the winning number on 800,000 bottle caps by mistake, causing mass outrage and riots as Pepsi refused the payouts.
  • Despite a sales spike (from $10M to $14M), the brand suffered major reputational damage.
• Lesson:
  • Big, bold promos can backfire spectacularly if logistics and customer trust aren’t prioritized.
• Quotes:
  • (Sarah, 13:59):

    “Due to a printing or a system error, though, 800,000 ordinary bottle caps ended up with the winning number.”

  • (Nate, 15:05):

    “They rolled out this sweepstakes in the Philippines... almost brought the country crumbling down.”

5. Authentic Community Integration & Brand Empathy (16:16–19:34)

• Advice:
  • Success comes from truly understanding and immersing yourself in your customers' communities—not just reading reviews but participating and listening deeply.
  • Founders, particularly those who “were their customer,” need to check bias and study current customers’ lived reality, not their own past experience.
• Quotes:
  • (Sarah, 16:32):

    “A lot of this comes down to how well integrated are you into the communities that you're trying to sell.”

  • (Nate, 18:26):

    “Get to know the community, because I think it's so important. What people say online is different than what they do in real life.”

Notable & Memorable Moments

• Opening Laughter (00:12):
  Sarah finds the Tango ad so unexpectedly funny she can barely contain herself on air.
• Diamond Shreddies’ Origin (11:46):
  The intern’s career-making idea and jokes about “coasting” on one viral insight.
• Reflecting on Industry Obsession with Tactics over Big Ideas (11:03):
  Hosts roast over-focus on “ABO vs. CBO” and remind listeners the right idea can swamp any tactical optimization.
• Historical Perspective (11:30):
  “This was 2008—not that long ago, by the way. Economy wasn’t doing so hot,” reminding listeners effective ideas aren’t magic from a distant past.
• Marketing Challenges of the Week (20:22):
  Nate proposes listeners recreate the Tango ad’s emotional punch for their own products; Sarah challenges listeners to simply “rotate your product in your ad by 45 degrees.”

Actionable Listener Challenges

1. Emotional Impact Exercise (20:22–20:48)
   • Watch the Tango Orange Man ad and outline your brand’s version—what would a radical feel-focused ad look like for you?
2. “Diamond Shreddies” Flip Challenge (21:09–21:22)
   • Rotate your product 45° in your next ad (literally or conceptually) and observe the perception shift.

Key Takeaways for Marketers

• Unexpected, simple ideas—when rooted in emotion—can create sales leaps rivaling any tech or media hack.
• Change the customer’s feeling about the product, not just what it does.
• Perspective (linguistic, visual, emotional) is everything; tiny changes can have outsized impact.
• Big promos require airtight integrity—brand trust is fragile and crucial.
• Being truly “inside” your customer’s world, beyond surface data, is where breakthrough ideas live.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• On Feeling vs. Features:

  "We don't ever communicate what you're going to feel with our products. We only communicate what end goal you're going to get to." — Sarah (03:55)

• On Simplicity:

  "They literally just changed the photo to a 45 degree angle and called it Diamond Shreddies. 18% increase in sales." — Sarah (08:01)

• On the Importance of Community:

  "How well integrated are you into the communities that you're trying to sell?" — Sarah (16:32)

• On Dangerous Oversights:

  "800,000 ordinary bottle caps ended up with the winning number." — Sarah (13:59)

• On Brand Strategy:

  "Think way bigger about your brand purpose and your brand message. That's where you're gonna get a big jump." — Nate (10:41)

For more, follow Sarah Levinger and Nate Lagos, and share your own “scary good” marketing experiments online.