What Would Don Draper Do About TikTok? Featuring Adidas, Ryanair, and Duolingo

 

If Don Draper were dropped into 2025’s marketing ecosystem, he'd light a Lucky Strike, glance at a six-second TikTok, and ask one thing: “Where’s the story?”

Storytelling in the age of TikTok isn’t dead—it’s been reborn. Fractured. Fragmented. Remixed. Viral campaigns now thrive on velocity, relatability, and algorithmic spontaneity. What Draper prized—emotional arcs and myth-making—is competing with swipe loops and emojis.

But persuasion isn’t extinct. It’s just... airborne. And three brands prove it:

Adidas

Its #adidasRememberMyName campaign used TikTok’s storytelling to frame identity through fashion, nostalgia, and subculture. Instead of product placement, it leaned into personal connection—where legacy meets individuality.

Ryanair

A viral powerhouse. With surreal filters and meme-ready captions, Ryanair turned its brand image into self-deprecating satire. The infamous face-filtered plane saying “Me pretending to care about legroom” helped it rack up 2M+ followers and redefine how airlines engage.

Duolingo

The green owl became a chaotic mascot. Through dance challenges, sassy reminders, and flirtatious banter, Duolingo turned language learning into performative gamification—and nudged accountability by playfully shaming inactive users.

Draper’s Take?

He’d ditch pitch decks for creator collabs. He’d see that virality isn’t just accidental—it’s earned through presence, personality, and playfulness. On TikTok, ads don’t interrupt the story—they are the story.

Draper might not duet, but he’d appreciate the remix.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Policy #5: Development not Over-Development

As MP I will halt the development boom of Concrete Kent in Thanet. We are overbuilding far beyond South East targets as mere property speculation for the construction industry. I will insist construction is refocused on renovating both public housing and empty properties: over 3,000 empty properties in Thanet - for years - before one brick is laid on new build. The idea of a 4th Town at Westwood Cross should also be ripped up as property and Planning overkill given vacant properties, an ageing population and a failed economy. And on prime farmland when Climate Change is a major issue and Food Security in preserving our farmland to reduce food imports. And of course major derelict brownfield sites such as Manston airport, Richboro: derelict longer than in operation, and many more. Councils are notorious for being focused on property and construction where the main parties get their kickbacks for handing out Planning permissions. Far greater scrutiny of the Planning system is required. A...
Read more

David Cockburn KCC: Parkway and council corruption

(email to David Cockburn KCC CEO 3/3/21 cc Parliament etc as below) Hi David I and others were surprised at an access road for Kent Parkway rail station planned for 15th March without notice/consultation. As you know from KCC's own research the Parkway was overwhelmingly rejected by the public and councillors. And any rail improvements were less than 90 seconds or so(!). Yes, seconds. It seems a massive KCC civil servant white elephant tarmac scheme again: £20M in Whitehall funds were spent on documents? And is it a leftover of the secret KCC attempts to develop Manston as London International airport with KCC quango funds for the Virginia flights that bellyflopped and resulted in the sacking of your predecessor? Can you halt any works at the site for a call-in review and please provide FOI/EIR documents/emails etc of costs/plans etc of this utterly ludicrous project. For clarity the East Kent aquifer for drinking water for 150k people is under the Manston/Parkway r...
Read more

Tobias MP and Yellow Peril 2.0 for China and 77th Brigade?

The Tobias Ellwood MP article in last week’s Mail on Sunday (and a full page no less) was chilling for several reasons. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-7592503/TOBIAS-ELLWOOD-China-winning-war-West-cyber-space-dark-moon.html The blaring headline of: "From cyber space to the dark side of the moon, China is waging war on the West - and it’s winning" is concerning not just for Pink Floyd fans worried that China’s counterfeit music industry extended from their back catalogue to the Moon itself. But also that a former Defence Minister was peddling such Yellow Peril 2.0 nonsense in the 21st century. And all the more concerning with Tobias not just as a Colonel Blimp eccentric MP hyping up the military and its tax budgets, but somehow extending a minor captaincy in the Army into a Lieutenant-Colonel role in the 77th Brigade, the military psyops function. No doubt Bill Cash MP or the fightin’ bank manager reservist Mark Francois MP, or Nigel Farage already...
Read more