When Marketing Shocks, People Stop Scrolling

In a digital world where people are bombarded with thousands of posts every day, the biggest challenge for brands isn’t just creating content, it’s earning attention. The campaigns that cut through both the noise and saturation online typically share one thing in common: they understand how people actually behave online. Whether it’s humor, shock value, or a perfectly timed joke, the brands that win are the ones that make people pause, laugh, and immediately send the post to a group chat.

Here are two campaigns that did exactly that.

The City of LA Had Everyone Paying Attention

Sometimes the smartest marketing move is simply acknowledging the joke everyone is already thinking. When Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority promoted the upcoming extension of the Los Angeles Metro D Line, they leaned directly into the internet’s sense of humor.

The campaign featured a simple but cheeky T-shirt that read: “Ride the D.”

What could have been a routine transit announcement quickly turned into a viral social media moment. Screenshots of the post spread across platforms, the shirts sold out almost instantly, and people who rarely think about public transit suddenly had the campaign in their feeds.

The brilliance of the moment wasn’t just the joke, it was the brand’s willingness to embrace it. Instead of avoiding the obvious double meaning, the team leaned into the humor with confidence, resulting in a campaign that felt human, self-aware, and perfectly tailored to the way the internet communicates.

The Pickle Post That Sparked the Internet’s Group Chat

Not every viral marketing moment comes from a polished campaign. Sometimes, it’s content so unconventional and seemingly out of context with the product itself that it captures the internet's attention.

One of the most viral pieces of content from the snack brand Good Girl Snacks, was a photo of a cake with their Hot Girl Pickles as candles. The humorous, unusual visual execution of the product photo instantly stopped people mid-scroll and quickly sparked conversation as one of the co-founders of Good Girl Snacks noted during our last Creative Session:

In a crowded feed where brands compete for seconds of attention, Hot Girl Pickles ran one of the best internet marketing campaigns: it sparked a reaction and conversation, showing that sometimes all it takes is a post that makes people think, “Wait… what am I looking at?”