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Sydney Sweeney Broke The Internet (Again)
02 Oct 2026
00:40:31
A Hollywood actress, a betting app almost nobody had heard of, and an ad that broke the internet. Sydney Sweeney, reportedly with equity in the business, fronted a campaign so controversial that fifteen sportswomen publicly came out against it, and it worked. The app shot up the download charts and the whole internet argued about it for a week. We break down why the outrage was the strategy, with a CMO who has spent 30 years behind the brand.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUEST Jason Verstak, GM Marketing at Newfurn Floor Coverings, with more than 30 years in marketing.
In this episode we get into the Sydney Sweeney betting ad that everyone is talking about. Why a tiny challenger brand put its entire budget on one big, divisive bet to break a US duopoly. Why upsetting the people who were never your customer is what fuels the fame, 71 percent of the market is young men, and the outrage from everyone else is free press. Whether Sweeney evolves into a long term ambassador or it is a one off sugar hit. Then a flooring Brand Wars, Choices Flooring versus Frank Walker National Tiles, prediction break versus problem and solution. A telco war between Dodo and Superloop. And a GOAT that is one of the best ever made, the Bud Light swear jar ad that won an Emmy and never aired, a masterclass in prediction break and humour.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:31 Adtopsy: the Sydney Sweeney betting ad 17:17 Brand Wars: Choices vs Frank Walker National Tiles 31:00 Brand Wars: Dodo vs Superloop 36:00 GOAT: the Bud Light swear jar ad
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
Ten years ago, your brain needed 2.5 seconds to remember an ad. Out on the street today, a billboard gets about one second. So what can you possibly fit in one second, six words, a brand, a sale, or nothing at all? This is Ads in the Wild, powered by The Science of Advertising. We pull a dozen real billboards straight off the streets, count the words, hunt for the brand, and at least one of them is going to fail.
HOSTED BY: Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUEST: Josh Gurgiel, who runs creative for the biggest outdoor network in the country, and has spent years on what makes a billboard stop you or slip past you. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-gurgiel-54538347/
In this episode we get into the real rules of outdoor. The one second rule, and why six words or less is the difference between remembered and invisible. Why the best move is almost always to subtract, not add. How the greats use a single hero image instead of overselling, from Uber Eats to Specsavers. Why irreverence and contextual placement, Koala, IKEA, and the famous look up billboards, turn a static poster into something people photograph and share. And why the sharpest outdoor work is really just public art, sponsored by a brand.
CHAPTERS 00:00 The one second rule 00:54 From lawyer to outdoor 02:54 Why dwell time changes everything 06:35 Uber Eats: one idea, many executions 14:01 The urge to overcomplicate 18:49 Six words or less 21:18 What grabs attention in the wild 23:41 Use the hero, don't oversell 26:52 Specsavers: stopping you in your tracks 29:23 Koala: irreverence in public space 34:39 IKEA and contextual placement 45:48 The rules worth breaking 53:39 Public art
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
Your brain cannot feel a number, but it can never forget a wave. That one flaw in how we think runs through everything this episode. We autopsy the craft behind a political ad that turned a debt figure into a tsunami of red ink, look at a bold US political stunt, referee a war between two vitamin giants fighting over your feelings, and break down the celebrity playbook that built an empire. Not the politics, the craft.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUESTS Alex Newman, co founder of Super Solid. Peter Pynta, Neuro Insights, who reads real brain activity second by second while people watch ads.
In this episode we break down why feeling beats fact. An Adtopsy on the Fix Victoria campaign, a purely craft focused look at why a tsunami of red ink is unforgettable while a debt statistic is not, the claims are the campaign's own and the government disputes them, we are here only for the technique. A Brand Wars between Blackmores and Swisse, same shelf, same shoppers, opposite strategies, and why beautiful production does not always build a brand. And a GOAT on Swisse's own playbook, how leveraging an Australian cricket captain's trust, Ricky Ponting, through consistency and novelty and a clean promise and proof structure built an empire, plus why celebrity advertising is one of the highest risk games there is.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 01:18 Adtopsy: the Fix Victoria ad 15:20 A bold US political stunt 21:11 Brand Wars: Blackmores vs Swisse 38:44 GOAT: Swisse, Ricky Ponting and the celebrity playbook
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
Three Australian banks are running three completely different experiments on your brain. One built its entire brand out of AI-generated animals. One makes saving feel desirable. One goes on the attack against a rival's fine print. But every one of them has the same weakness: they make claims, and claims are cheap. So we finish on the one thing advertising can do that no claim can touch, proof.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUESTS Alex Newman, co founder of Super Solid, the agency behind ubank's AI animals campaign, built on a philosophy of return on ideas. Peter Pynta, Neuro Insights, who reads real brain activity second by second while people watch ads.
In this episode we break down claim versus proof. An Adtopsy on ubank's Money Done Better, the AI animals, the insight that not everyone is born with instincts for money, and the golden rule for AI in ads: do not notice it, just feel it. A Brand Wars between ING and Macquarie, saving made desirable versus an attack on the fine print, and why both win by playing different roles. And a GOAT that settles it, from Van Damme's Volvo Epic Split, where the stunt is the product, to a marlin glued to a Sydney billboard with Liquid Nails. The idea underneath both goes back to Claude Hopkins in 1923, in Scientific Advertising, the book this show is named after: a claim can be copied tomorrow, a demonstration can only be performed by the product that survives it.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: three banks, three experiments 01:33 Alex Newman: return on ideas 15:37 Adtopsy: ubank's AI animals 24:14 Neoteny: why we trust cute characters 26:04 Brand Wars: ING vs Macquarie 29:21 The creepy ad effect strikes again 36:18 GOAT: Van Damme and the Epic Split 46:12 Selleys: demonstration beats claim
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
Brilliant strategy. Millions in budget. And a tiny execution detail your brain hates that no survey could ever catch. This episode, Peter Pynta reads real brain activity second by second and shows why some of the most beautifully made ads secretly fail, and why one bank quietly wins by promising less.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUESTS Peter Pynta, Neuro Insights, who reads real brain activity second by second while people watch ads. Marcus Willis, co founder and CEO of Kill Boring, a social first shop out of Melbourne.
In this episode we get into why execution can undo millions in brilliant strategy. An Adtopsy on Cathay Pacific and why leading with world's best economy is a confusing place to sit. The creepy ad effect, the over the shoulder phone shot everyone loves that quietly destroys memory, revealed inside a beautiful Heineken Formula One ad using EEG. A Brand Wars between Bankwest and Great Southern Bank, one going less bank, one selling a fairy tale, and why just enough bank is the smarter position. Plus a GOAT breakdown of the Guinness Surfer ad the boardroom almost refused to run.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 02:11 Adtopsy: Cathay Pacific 09:33 The creepy ad effect: Heineken 21:23 Brand Wars: Bankwest vs Great Southern Bank 33:01 GOAT: Guinness Surfer
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
Three Chicken Brands Went to War. Watch Them Delete Each Other.
02 Oct 2026
00:53:47
Nothing is judged on its own, everything is judged against a comparison, and the smartest brands break the pattern their category is stuck in. This episode, one brand shatters a 50 year convention, and three others crash straight into each other. And for once, the agency behind one of the ads is in the room to defend its own work.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUESTS Marcus Willis, co founder and CEO of Kill Boring, a social first shop out of Melbourne whose recent wins include Cathay Pacific and Red Rooster. Peter Pynta, Neuro Insights, who measures brain activity second by second while people watch ads.
In this episode we break down two categories and one big idea. An Adtopsy on the IVF category, where every ad for 50 years has ended at the positive test, and why Genea starting the story after the baby is the best insight of the year. Then a chicken Brand Wars between KFC, El Jannah and Red Rooster, three relaunches in six months that all reached for culture and risk deleting each other. We get inside Red Rooster's viral money laundering TikTok with the team who made it, why KFC is winning by owning the whole chicken category, and why humour alone will not put you in the drive through.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: breaking the category pattern 01:37 Adtopsy: Genea and the IVF category 01:57 The insight: the suspended future 09:14 Declaring who you are vs building trust 15:21 Brand Wars: three chicken brands at war 20:18 Red Rooster's viral TikTok, from the agency 23:42 Who is winning: KFC, El Jannah, Red Rooster 28:52 El Jannah's schema problem 30:02 Sampling: getting new customers in 33:25 Social proof: why empty stores hurt
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
Audio is the first channel your brain opens, and the last one it ever closes. From newborns recognising a sound they only heard in the womb, to the brain still reacting in its final hours, sound reaches us when nothing else can. So why do most brands treat it as an afterthought? This episode we fix that.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUEST Mikey Burrows, founder of Brand Music, who has built some of the most iconic tracks and brand sounds in the Australian landscape, for brands including Ford, Qantas and Chemist Warehouse.
In this episode we break down the power of sound in advertising. Why a jingle keeps playing in your head long after the media stops. The rule of three and how it locks a brand into memory. Why the song everyone loves is usually the reason nobody remembers the brand. How KFC is quietly running one of the smartest audio plays in the market by hijacking Christmas, and why the best move did not change a single note, it changed the month. Plus the science of retrieval, why the music you loved at 13 to 17 owns you for life, and how tempo alone can change how a room full of shoppers feels.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: audio opens first and closes last 02:04 Why sound is always the afterthought 03:20 The rule of three 06:45 How sound locks a name into memory 08:43 Choosing the right emotion 14:56 Why the jingle is back 19:23 What KFC is getting right 22:28 Hijacking Christmas songs 25:38 Owning a moment: KFC 21 Days of Christmas 27:54 The music you loved at 13 to 17 41:03 How tempo changes how you feel 52:35 The most valuable sound a brand can own
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
A Bank, a Furniture War, and the Gym That Beat America
02 Oct 2026
00:45:21
Ads don't work on people. They work on people's brains. And one rule runs through all of it: nothing is ever judged on its own, everything is judged against a comparison, and the brand that chooses the comparison first wins. This episode, three brands make three very different bets on it.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUEST Kristian Curcio, founder of Corsa Group, who has driven more than 10,000 ad campaigns across an 18 year career and built Australia's largest green screen studio.
In this episode we break down comparison, the force behind every buying decision. An Adtopsy on the Westpac Double You campaign, a fortune spent on a pun that picks no comparison at all. A Brand Wars between King Living and Adriatic, where one brand sells aspiration and the other accidentally sells cheap. And a GOAT breakdown of Planet Fitness, the ten dollar a month gym that conquered America by setting fire to the comparison it was born into.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: the power of comparison 00:15 Adtopsy: the Westpac W campaign 12:24 Brand Wars: King Living vs Adriatic 32:27 GOAT: Planet Fitness
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
Every category runs the same way. The brand that plants a shortcut in your head, a comparison, a character, a phrase or a sound, wins before you even decide. Once that shortcut takes root, the buying decision is basically over. This episode, three brands take three different bets on it, and one Australian campaign that ran 20 years and rewrote its entire category.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUESTS Andy Gaunt, co founder of Two Tractors, a creative and production studio built for challenger brands. Mikey Burrows, founder of Brand Music, a sonic branding studio behind sound identities for brands including Ford, Qantas and Chemist Warehouse.
In this episode we break down the mental shortcuts that decide what you buy. An Adtopsy on carsales, a behind the scenes look with the Two Tractors team at how in house and agency built the work, and how carsales is using AI voice search to own how people actually shop for a car. A Brand Wars in superannuation between Hesta and Aware Super, and why the next generation of retirees will not be spoken to as old. And a GOAT breakdown of Industry SuperFunds Compare the Pair, the comparison shortcut so powerful it rewrote the category and is now taught at Harvard.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: the shortcut that ends the buying decision 01:07 Adtopsy: carsales, behind the scenes with Two Tractors 11:14 Brand Wars: Hesta vs Aware Super 29:24 GOAT: Industry SuperFunds Compare the Pair
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
Most brands spend 90% of their budget on what people say, then wonder why nobody remembers them. Here is the uncomfortable truth. Ipsos tested every distinctive asset you can put in an ad, characters, logos, colours, celebrities, and the single biggest driver of recall was none of them. It was sound. This episode, three ads prove it.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUESTS Andy Gaunt from Two Tractors, on the creative craft behind the work. https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-gaunt/
Mikey Burrows from Brand Music, who builds the sounds brands get remembered by. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandmusic/
In this episode we break down why sound is the most powerful memory tool in advertising, across three ads. An Adtopsy on Lyka's Poo Glorious Poo, the dog food musical that breaks every category rule. A Brand Wars between AHM and Bupa, one building its own melancholy mnemonic over 20 years, the other renting a nostalgic anthem, and the vampire effect that threatens it. And a GOAT breakdown of the Aflac Duck, the character that turned an unmemorable name into one of the most valuable vocal stamps in advertising history.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: why sound beats every other asset 01:31 Adtopsy: Lyka's Poo Glorious Poo 19:16 Brand Wars: AHM vs Bupa 32:00 GOAT: The Aflac Duck
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
Google has a problem, and it might be your biggest opportunity.
When AI answers the question before anyone clicks, how does your brand survive? In this special feature, Jonathan Rolley sits down with Josh from Studio Hawk, Australia's largest pure play SEO agency, to break down the zero click world: AI search, GEO, and what every CMO should be losing sleep over right now.
They get into why traffic is dropping while conversions are climbing, why you now have to rank number one or two to exist, the three layers that actually win AI search, and whether you can just hand the whole thing to AI and bring it in house. Then they close with an Adtopsy on Bendigo Bank's new home loan ad.
GUEST Josh from Studio Hawk, Australia's largest pure play SEO and AI search agency, working across retail, ecommerce, B2B and SaaS.
IN THIS EPISODE How AI search is quietly eating top and mid funnel traffic Why ranking position five is now almost invisible The cake analogy: great SEO as your foundation, AI as the extra layer Topical authority, off site content and brand as the three winning layers When a random Reddit stranger ends up inside your branded result Why in housing is cyclical, and who actually cracks it ChatGPT ads: too expensive, too early, or worth testing Share of voice as the one metric that matters, and why the tools still lag Whether challenger brands can beat the giants in AI search ADTOPSY: Bendigo Bank's treadmill home loan ad, all promise and no proof
Most Ads Are a Total Waste of Money. A CMO Explains Why. | The Science of Advertising Ep 4
01 Oct 2026
00:47:33
Most ads today are a waste of money, and not because the work is bad. Some of it is brilliant. The problem is that good was never the job. Being remembered was. In this episode, we get inside how that actually happens, with the rare treat of a CMO breaking down his own campaign.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley
GUESTS Matt Farnham, Head of Marketing at Heartland Bank Australia, the marketer behind the campaign we break down. Peter Pynta, Neuro Insights, on the memory science of what makes an ad stick.
In this episode, we break down three ads across our segments. First, an Adtopsy on Heartland Bank's reverse mortgage campaign, with the CMO who built it revealing the brief, the customer insight, and why they led with data over creative. Then a Brand Wars in auto, Toyota RAV4 vs Honda, and why one brand makes you wait too long to even know it is a car ad. And finally, a GOAT from the vault, the 2010 Jeep ad, a masterclass in using a soundtrack to build brand memory without letting the song swamp the brand.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:54 Adtopsy: Heartland Bank reverse mortgage campaign 14:40 Brand Wars: Toyota RAV4 vs Honda 32:20 GOAT: Jeep, 2010
Subscribe for a new breakdown every week: @TheScienceOfAdvertisingShow
The Worst Ad We've Seen Since COVID | The Science of Advertising Show Ep 3
28 Jul 2026
00:44:08
The guest called it possibly the worst ad he has seen since before COVID. We also break down an ad that sold out in 45 minutes on zero paid spend. This week is all about brand partnerships, the ones that make you love both brands, and the ones that make you question both.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided and host of The Science of Advertising. The show is produced with Undivided, an independent media agency. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanrolley/
GUEST Kristian Curcio, Corsa Group,
In this episode, we break down brand partnerships across our three segments. First, an Adtopsy on the e.l.f. Cosmetics and Liquid Death collab, a beauty brand and a canned water company that had no business working together, and somehow nailed it with pure organic reach. Then a Brand Wars nobody expected: Westfund vs mycar, two ads built on skin cancer and sun damage, and only one of them actually sells the brand. And finally, a GOAT from the vault, the 1992 Yellow Pages Goggomobile ad that Australians still quote more than 30 years later.
CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:48 Adtopsy: e.l.f. Cosmetics x Liquid Death 18:00 Brand Wars: Westfund vs mycar 37:28 GOAT: Yellow Pages Goggomobile
AI Made These Ads. One Went Too Far | The Science of Advertising Show Ep 2
28 Jul 2026
01:02:19
AI is now writing, casting and even acting in the ads you watch. The real question is whether any of it actually works.
HOSTED BY Jonathan Rolley, CEO of Undivided & host of The Science of Advertising Show.
THIS EPISODE’S GUESTS:
Peter Pynta, Neuro Insights, one of the sharpest voices on how advertising actually works in the brain.
Kristian Curcio, founder of Corsa Group, who launched a national TV production company at 25 and defined the methodology behind more than 10,000 advertising campaigns.
In this episode we break down AI in advertising across our three segments. First, an Adtopsy on the Four Seasons campaign that used AI generated characters to represent STIs, an ad that split the room, one of us thought it was bold, the other thought it missed badly. Then a Brand Wars between Allianz and Budget Direct, two insurance ads leaning on AI, and why Budget Direct lands while Allianz leaves its branding too late to matter. And finally a GOAT breakdown of AAMI’s Rhonda and Ketut, and why those characters made such a lasting impact.
Why Australia's Most Awarded Super Ad Might Be Failing
23 Jul 2026
01:13:42
The Australian Retirement Trust Blue Monster won the awards, won the attention, and got a whole category talking. So we asked the question nobody in the room wanted to: did any of it actually move members?
In this episode we break down the attention trap, why winning attention is not the same as winning the customer.
This Episodes Guest: Peter Pynta, a 28 year veteran of the media, advertising and research world. Peter has built consumer research and media insight units inside News Corporation, Nielsen, the Ten Network and the Nine Network, and is a recipient of the Advertising Research Foundation's Great Mind Award. His work focuses on the question at the heart of this episode: how advertising actually works, and how to make it more effective.
01:29: Intro
01:30: Adtopsy: Does the Australian Retirement Trust Blue Monster campaign prove that attention leads to member growth?
34:26 Brand Wars: Does VB or Heineken do a better job of converting attention into brand memory?
52:02 Breaking down the Heineken Ad, Cheers to all fans and reviewing the audience retention graph