🎙️ THE AD THAT SOLD NOTHING — Featuring Fred Godfrey, CEO of Origin - the Adtech Gods.

Marketing, Media & Adtech

What do a cold wash detergent commercial from the 1980s, a Shih Tzu named Birdie, and Dynamic Creative Optimization have in common?

Apparently, everything—when Fred Godfrey is on the mic.

In this week’s wildly entertaining and unexpectedly emotional episode of The ADOTAT Show, we’re joined (again) by the inimitable Fred Godfrey, CEO of Origin and the most honest man in adtech, whether the industry likes it or not. And no, we’re not trying to get rid of him. We wouldn’t dare.

This isn’t your typical “best practices” snoozefest. This is a deep, hilarious, and slightly philosophical conversation that blows open the safe, soulless walls of performance marketing and asks a far better question:

👉 What if the best ad doesn’t try to sell you anything at all?

💡 In this episode, we cover:

Fred’s childhood obsession with a detergent ad that just said “brrrr”—and how that minimalist storytelling still crushes 99% of today’s over-engineered brand content.

Macy’s holiday ads and the British-inspired art of emotional storytelling that makes people cry and shop.

Why DCO isn’t the villain—but how we’ve used it like a blunt object instead of a scalpel.

How modern ads lost their soul chasing CTRs, and how to bring back curiosity, memory, and actual resonance.

The myth of personalization and the horror of creepy geo-inserted “Hey, [CITY]!” ads.

The ROI of saying less. Whispering instead of screaming. Leaving space for the viewer to feel something.

And yes: Birdie the Shih Tzu, who has stronger opinions on storytelling than most strategy decks you’ve seen this year.

🔥 This episode is for you if:

You’re tired of being told “optimize more” when your gut knows the problem is creative bankruptcy.

You believe branding can be emotional and effective—but the industry’s forgotten how to get there.

You want to make ads that people remember 30 years later—not ones they skip after 3 seconds.

You miss the days when advertising was closer to art than algorithm.

💬 Drop us a comment if you’ve ever made an ad that made someone cry, laugh, or actually remember your brand a week later.

👍 Like this episode?

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🐾 Share with your favorite creative director, brand strategist, or dog lover with ad fatigue.

Huge thanks to our sponsors Incremental and Troutman Amin—for making sure this show stays on air and isn’t replaced by a generative AI that uses buzzwords like “omnichannel synergistic personalization.”