Unhinged Marketing: When Did Brands Get So Chaotic?

In the 1970s, an average person would see 500 to 1,600 ads per day. Fast forward to 2024 and that same person now sees 6,000 to 10,000 ads each day. With marketing noise now louder than ever, how can brands stand out? Popular brands have been leveraging social media for the newest trend: unhinged marketing.

In unhinged marketing, brands use their social media to push messages that differ from traditional marketing. Tactics include roasting customers on social media and using Gen Z slang and in-jokes. In some cases, these brands are successfully leveraging unhinged campaigns to develop a huge following. Marketers who have been around the block will recognise it as the offshoot of disruptive marketing. Insightly defines disruptive marketing as the use of “experimental tactics that challenge the status quo.” The status quo being formal, polished brands pushing equally formal and polished marketing.

The problem with formal marketing efforts is the casual nature of social media. Originally intended to connect with friends, it is an inherently more relaxed platform than TV ads and billboards. Now that businesses are the main players in the social media space, they need to keep things interesting to keep users logged in and engaged.

By throwing out the playbook of traditional marketing and taking the road less travelled, unhinged marketing has had huge success. It’s not just about saying whacky things to capture attention, it’s about telling a good story. Results don’t happen overnight—the brand must remain consistent in the unhinged approach. Furthermore, unhinged marketing strategy must align with a brand’s core values and appeal to the target audience. If your target audience is the retired workforce, it won’t work. If you are aiming to attract the Millennials and Gen Z demographic, it may be a strategic move.

The OG of Unhinged Marketing

Wendy’s, a popular American fast food chain got people talking with their roasts. Not the meat, potato and Yorkshire pudding kind, but the snarky, “clap back” kind. No one was safe—customers and competing brands alike were targeted by Wendy’s on X (formerly Twitter) in 2016. Their social media manager at the time, Amy Brown, led this bold tactic.

In a campaign to raise awareness that the fast food chain never uses frozen meat, they tweeted “Our beef is way too cool to ever be frozen.” X user @NHride took issue with that, questioning the possibility of unfrozen beef saying “so you deliver it raw on a hot truck?” The discourse continued when @NHride said “y’all should give up. @McDonalds got you guys beat with the dope[…] breakfast”. Wendy’s responded with the roast that was heard around the world. “You don’t have to bring them into this just because you forgot refrigerators existed for a second there.”

By taking a bold approach to customer service and rejecting the old adage that “the customer is always right,” this snarky interaction earned Wendy’s 55,000 mentions on the platform in a single day. They saw the highest volume of interaction up to that point, earning 46.8k new followers in four days. Everywhere from BuzzFeed to CNN were reporting on this unhinged marketing move.

Want to learn how to deal with negative comments like this on your business page? Check out our article on dealing with trolls.

Unhinged Marketing Gains Traction

When Brown left the company in 2017, Wendy’s moved to safer roasts. Although they don’t push the boat out as much as they once did, they remain in the public zeitgeist for this tactic. More than just a fading memory, Wendy’s enjoys a healthy 3.6 million followers on X. For context, McDonald’s’ X account (at the time we’re writing) has 4.7 million followers while Burger King and Taco Bell garner 1.9 million followers each.

Noticeably, these other brands have started implementing a similar strategy, with Taco Bell using all lower case and omitting punctuation for a more casual feel. Posts include “reply with your birth month and we’ll guess your favorite menu item” and “*unblocks them* sooo did you hear the double decker is back”. Even industry leaders, McDonald’s, has slid into casual mode, omitting capitalisation and grammar rules. Recent posts include “i don’t care if i get fired for this but the breakfast menu is better” and “i bet being an ice cube in a mcdonald’s sprite feels so good”.

Why do these tactics work? No one will follow an account that is endlessly pushing products. By doing it in a fun, sometimes on-topic way, follower numbers keep climbing and keep your brand in front of mind. Though anyone can enjoy McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King, the demographic that these brands are reaching on X are largely Millennials and Gen Z who appreciate the unhinged humour. They’ve considered their audience, the channels that will best reach them, and adjusted their strategy accordingly.

The New Kid on the Block

Duo Lingo is the newest and largest unhinged marketing icon on the scene. Duo Lingo, for the uninitiated, is a language learning app. The app appeals to younger generations keen to add another language to their skillset with colourful graphics and interactive storytelling. Frequent push notifications from the green owl mascot, Duo, reminds users when they miss their daily lessons. Over time, these reminders spiraled into an ongoing joke. Users would hop on to socials complaining about the owl’s pushy reminders.

Duo Lingo took this opportunity to lean into the joke. To engage their target audience—Gen Z and Millennials—they tapped into popular platforms like TikTok and Instagram. They then used humour to create viral jokes about the owl threatening users if they skipped their lessons. This struck a chord with audiences, and their social media presence has only ramped up since then. Videos of the Duo owl holding a seance, twerking on office desks, and even faking its death via Tesla Cybertruck aren’t out of place on their socials.

The brains behind the strategy, Zaria Parvez, said in an interview that “people are looking for a small moment of laughter and entertainment – even more so these days.” She believes that the “rogue” messaging attracts attention due to the dissonance between corporate organisations and casual communication.

Will Unhinged Marketing Go the Distance?

Unhinged marketing is high risk, potentially high reward. It’s disruptive and attention-grabbing for a business to take off the metaphorical tie and prioritise relationships with clients through humour. But is unhinged marketing here to stay or is it a passing trend?

When only a handful of brands were doing unhinged marketing, it was extremely high risk. Now, many more are rushing to benefit from the pioneers’ audacity. Less risk averse companies like banks, luxury hotels, and other unexpected organisations are embracing the trend. For some, this may only be showing up in bolder brands’ comment sections. Even so, this proves that unhinged marketing hasn’t gone unnoticed by top Fortune 500 companies.

As the unhinged becomes the new norm, brands who’ve perfected the chaotic by making it their own will continue to perform well. For those brands just jumping on the band wagon, the market is already becoming highly saturated with chaotic content. It’s like in The Incredibles where the villain, Syndrome, says “And when everyone’s super, no one will be.” In that film, what made the superheroes unique and stand out were their magnificent and exclusive powers. Like with chaotic marketing, when everyone’s unhinged, no one will be.

As with every fad, unhinged marketing—at least the type that’s half-baked and inauthentic to the brand—will pass with time. Brands can stop unhinged marketing from becoming stale by constantly working towards surprising their audience. Flipping norms on their head, providing a fresh take, and making people laugh will never go out of style.

Should We Adopt Unhinged Marketing?

The short answer: maybe. There are a few factors to consider before you take the plunge. Ask yourself the following questions: is it authentic to the brand voice and values? Will this resonate with  our core audience? Are we willing to attempt risky communications?

Your communications should always be authentic. Customers don’t want your brand to say off-the-wall things just for the sake of it. They want it to come from an authentic place. If your brand is in a more formal, serious industry like banking or after life care, unhinged content won’t work. If your office culture is youthful, innovative, and lighthearted, it’s worth considering. Here, the authenticity of a chaotic brand voice might align well with your business.

Next ask: who is the target audience? Unhinged marketing works well for Gen Z and Millennials because it appeals to their sense of humour. If your core market is 65+, unhinged marketing doesn’t make sense. Regardless of age, determine if your target market even uses platforms like TikTok, Instagram and X. If not, chaotic messaging may not move the needle.

Futhermore, unhinged marketing works better for B2C businesses, rather than B2B. Businesses want to use companies that are predictable, so unhinged marketing may put clients off. If your business is primarily B2C and they fit the target audience criteria, chaotic marketing is worth further investigation. A question for future consideration: would you adopt unhinged marketing as your brand voice across all channels? Or would you only use it on social media?

If you’re looking to integrate Instagram reels into your marketing strategy, check out our tips for businesses here.

Livin’ in a Marketer’s Paradise

Unhinged marketing, an off-shoot of disruptive marketing, is all about shocking audiences in a humorous, topical way. It isn’t just a young brand’s game, but it does require insight into the younger demographic market. Appealing mostly to Millennials and Gen Z on popular apps like TikTok, Instagram, and X, it taps into the younger generations’ slang and in-jokes. Brands like Duo Lingo and Wendy’s are leading the unhinged marketing game by prioritising social relationship building over glossy ads.

Though it’s not right for all businesses, those that cater to younger generations could benefit from incorporating it into their marketing. So what do you think? Will you dabble in unhinged marketing or be leaving it out of your marketing strategy? Let us know on our socials! You can reach us on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and BlueSky.