Brett LindenbergA video ad is a short paid or promoted video that sells a product, brand, or idea. It plays before or during other videos, in social feeds, or on streaming TV. The main formats are 6-second bumper ads, skippable and non-skippable in-stream ads, in-feed ads on platforms such as TikTok and LinkedIn, and interactive ads that let the viewer choose. Some of the most studied video ad examples are Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" (2010), Dollar Shave Club's launch video (2012), Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches" (2013), and Cadbury's personalized "Not Just a Cadbury Ad" (2021), and each one shows a technique you can copy. Teams also borrow these techniques for internal messages, as in the demo below: a 33-second ad-style spot that asks staff what they would do with an urgent payment request.
Video ad formats at a glance
Format decides length, whether people can skip, and where the ad appears. Write the ad for its format first, because a 6-second bumper and a 2-minute in-feed explainer need different scripts.
| Format | Length | Can viewers skip? | Where it runs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bumper ad | Up to 6 seconds | No | YouTube and Google video partners |
| Skippable in-stream ad | No maximum; Google recommends under 3 minutes | Yes, after 5 seconds | YouTube and Google video partners |
| Non-skippable in-stream ad | 7 to 15 seconds; 16 to 30 seconds on connected TV | No | YouTube |
| YouTube in-feed ad | No maximum | The viewer chooses to play it | YouTube search results, home feed, and watch-next lists |
| YouTube Shorts ad | Under 60 seconds recommended | Yes | Shorts feed |
| TikTok in-feed ad | Up to 10 minutes; vertical 9:16 recommended | Viewers swipe past | TikTok feed |
| LinkedIn video ad | 3 seconds to 30 minutes | Viewers scroll past | LinkedIn feed |
| Interactive video ad | Any length | Viewers choose what to see | Your website, email, and some streaming TV formats |
YouTube specs come from Google Ads Help on video ad formats and non-skippable in-stream ads. TikTok specs come from TikTok's in-feed ads help page (updated June 2026), and LinkedIn specs from its video ad specifications.
7 video ad examples and what each one teaches
Each example below links to the brand's own upload or page where one exists. View counts are from the brand's YouTube channel on October 1, 2026.
1. Bumper ad: Deadpool 2 (2018)
Fox Star India, now 20th Century Studios India, posted a 6-second Deadpool 2 bumper on May 12, 2018, six days before the May 18 release date in its description. Film releases suit bumpers, because audiences already know the character and the ad only has to keep the release in mind.
Google defines bumper ads as non-skippable video ads of up to 6 seconds, sold by impressions. Six seconds holds about one idea. A workable bumper script looks like this:
- Seconds 0 to 2: show the product or character, with the brand visible.
- Seconds 2 to 5: one benefit or one piece of news, in a few words on screen.
- Seconds 5 to 6: logo and the single action you want, such as a date or a search term.
Bumpers work best as reminders next to a longer ad that tells the full story. Read your script aloud with our video script timer before you shoot; most first drafts run long.
2. Character comedy: Old Spice, "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" (2010)
Old Spice posted the 32-second spot on YouTube on February 4, 2010, and the upload had 63.4 million views on the brand's channel in October 2026. Actor Isaiah Mustafa speaks straight to women watching, and the scene changes from a bathroom to a boat to a horse in what plays as one continuous shot.
The ad sells men's body wash by talking to women, who often buy it for the men they live with. It also shows why a strong character and one unbroken idea matter online: people chose to rewatch and share it, which counts for more on platforms where viewers can skip.
3. Founder explainer: Dollar Shave Club (2012)
Dollar Shave Club launched with "Our Blades Are F***ing Great", a 93-second video posted on March 6, 2012. The YouTube description credits CEO Michael Dubin as the writer, and Dubin delivers the pitch in person while walking through the company's warehouse. The upload had 29 million views on the company's channel in October 2026.
The script answers the buyer's main questions: what the service is, what it costs, and whether the blades are any good. Jokes keep people watching between those answers. If you sell a simple product with a clear price, a founder speaking plainly to camera is one of the cheapest ad formats to produce.
4. Product demonstration: Blendtec, "Will It Blend? iPhone" (2007)
Blendtec's founder, Tom Dickson, put an iPhone in a blender in a 97-second episode posted on July 10, 2007, 11 days after the first iPhone went on sale in the US. The video had 13.1 million views on Blendtec's channel in October 2026.
A product demo proves a claim instead of stating it. Blending an expensive new phone turned "a powerful blender" into something you can see. Timing helped, because the phone had just launched and people were already talking about it. Look for a demo that proves your main claim and ties it to something your audience is already discussing.
5. Emotional documentary: Dove, "Real Beauty Sketches" (2013)
For Real Beauty Sketches, Dove asked women to describe themselves to FBI-trained forensic artist Gil Zamora, who drew them from behind a curtain without seeing them. A stranger then described the same woman, and Zamora drew a second portrait. Dove says the portraits from strangers' descriptions came out more beautiful and more accurate, and the film shows the women comparing the two drawings.
The brand appears only at the end. Until then, the ad holds attention with a real experiment and a result viewers can feel. This approach suits brands with a clear point of view, and it needs a true, repeatable setup more than a big production budget.
6. Personalized video ad: Cadbury, "Not Just a Cadbury Ad" (2021)
For Diwali 2021, Cadbury Celebrations in India made an ad with actor Shah Rukh Khan that names small local stores. The YouTube description explains that the posted video is a sample: the live ad was served by the ad server based on the viewer's pin code and featured stores in that area. The description also links to a site where people could make their own version. Cadbury's campaign video describes the idea as making India's biggest brand ambassador an ambassador for small, local stores. The sample ad had 31.5 million views in October 2026.
Personalized video ads change a name, place, or offer for each viewer from data you already have. You can do a lighter version on your own channels: Mindstamp's personalization shows a viewer's name or company in the video from the link or the CRM record, without recording a new version for each person. Our guide to video personalization covers the setup.
7. Interactive video ad: Honda, "Heist" (2014)
Honda's film for the Civic Type R played two stories in sync, and pressing the R key switched between them, according to Honda's announcement. Interactive ads give the viewer a choice and change in response. For more formats, including Amazon's shoppable TV ads and AR try-on lenses, see our examples of interactive advertising.
Video ad examples by platform
YouTube video ads
On YouTube, the format sets the creative job. A skippable in-stream ad has 5 seconds before the skip button appears, so show the brand and the reason to keep watching in that window. Google charges for a skippable view when someone watches 30 seconds, the whole ad if it is shorter, or interacts with it. Non-skippable ads must make their full point in 15 seconds, or 30 on connected TV. In-feed ads look like a video thumbnail, so the thumbnail and title do the selling. For more YouTube-specific templates, see this list of YouTube ad examples by format.
In-feed and short video ads on TikTok, Reels, and Shorts
Short vertical feeds reward ads that look like the posts around them. TikTok recommends a 9:16 vertical frame for in-feed ads and accepts videos up to 10 minutes. TikTok's Spark Ads run an existing organic post as the ad, either from your own account or from a creator who authorizes it, and the likes and follows count toward the original post. Three patterns work well in these feeds:
- A creator or employee shows the product in use within the first two seconds.
- A before-and-after reveal that ends on the product.
- A quick answer to one common question, filmed on a phone, with captions for sound-off viewing.
LinkedIn video ads
LinkedIn video ads run in the feed at 3 seconds to 30 minutes long, in vertical, square, or horizontal frames. Captions are optional in the spec; add them anyway for people who watch with the sound off. For B2B offers, two structures fit the feed well: a 30-second customer result built around one number the customer can confirm, and a 60-second product walkthrough that shows the screen doing the job. If you want viewers to qualify themselves, link the ad to an interactive video that asks which problem they have and shows the matching section.
What makes a video ad effective
Google's ABCD guidelines for YouTube creative are a useful checklist, and they come with research behind them. Google's 2022 summary lists four principles:
- Attention: hook the viewer from the first frame with bold images, action, or sound.
- Branding: show the brand early, often, and in more than one way.
- Connection: help people think or feel something through a story or useful information.
- Direction: ask for one clear action.
In a 2021 validation study, Kantar scored 11,000 ads with its Link AI model and found that ads following the ABCDs averaged a 30% lift in short-term sales likelihood and a 17% lift in long-term brand contribution. Most of the examples above show the brand or product early. Dove's film is the counterexample: it holds the logo until the end and relies on the experiment to keep people watching.
How to analyze a video ad: a checklist for students
If you are studying advertising, use these questions to break down any video ad, including the examples above:
- Who is the ad talking to, and how can you tell? Old Spice talks to women about a men's product.
- What happens in the first 5 seconds, and would you skip?
- When does the brand first appear, and how often after that?
- What is the single message? Try to say it in one sentence.
- What proof does the ad offer: a demonstration, a real person, a number, or nothing?
- What does the ad ask you to do at the end?
- Why does the format fit the platform? Consider length, skipping, sound, and vertical or horizontal framing.
For practice, pick two ads for the same kind of product, answer the questions for each, and explain which one you think sells better and why.
Using ad techniques in training and internal videos
The same habits make internal videos clearer: hook in the first seconds, one message, and one action. The demo at the top of this page turns a payment-fraud warning into a short ad-style spot with a decision. Each choice plays its consequence, so staff practice the safe response instead of only hearing it.
In Mindstamp, you build this with buttons that start a branch for each answer, or with questions, which pause the video until the viewer answers. The report shows each person's choice, so you can see who picked the unsafe option and send them more guidance. For security awareness programs, see interactive cybersecurity training.
Common questions about video ads
What is a video advertisement?
A video advertisement is a video made to promote a product, service, brand, or cause, and placed where people will see it: before or during other videos, in social feeds, on streaming TV, or on a brand's own pages. Paid placement is what separates most video ads from other marketing videos, although brands often promote organic posts as ads.
What is a bumper ad?
A bumper ad is a non-skippable video ad of up to 6 seconds that plays before, during, or after another video on YouTube and Google video partners. Advertisers pay per thousand impressions. Bumpers suit one short message repeated to a wide audience.
How long should a video ad be?
Match the length to the format first: 6 seconds for a bumper, 15 seconds for a standard non-skippable ad, and as long as the story holds attention for a skippable or in-feed ad. Google recommends keeping skippable in-stream ads under 3 minutes. For video on your own pages, shorter videos keep a larger share of their viewers. Across 8.07 million views of 18,315 Mindstamp videos (2018 to October 2026), videos of 1 minute or less averaged 59.4% of each video watched, compared with 39.2% for videos of 2 to 5 minutes. These are mostly training, marketing, and sales videos made by Mindstamp customers, not paid ads, so treat the figures as a pattern.
What are good video ad ideas for a small business?
- A founder explaining the offer and price in under 90 seconds, as Dollar Shave Club did.
- A product demonstration that proves your main claim on camera.
- A customer describing the problem you solved, in their own words.
- A 6-second bumper that reminds people of a date or an offer after they saw a longer ad.
- A short interactive video that asks what the viewer needs and shows the matching product.
What are personalized video ads?
Personalized video ads change part of the content for each viewer, such as a name, a local store, or an offer, using data like location or CRM fields. Cadbury's 2021 ad is a large-scale example. On a smaller scale, a sales team can send one recorded video that shows each prospect's name and company.
To put this to work, choose one example above that matches your product and budget, write a script for the format you will run, and test it with a small audience before you spend more. If you want viewers to choose what they see, start with our guide to interactive video advertising, and for marketing videos beyond paid ads, see these marketing video examples.
