Why Are So Many Ads Whispering at Us Now?
Have you noticed how ads have gone quiet lately? Not in quantity, mind you. They’re just... whispering. Commercials, especially for beauty, tech, and anything with a hint of premium, now arrive in a soft, breathy coo, as if the script was written in a candlelit yoga studio. Gone are the days of booming voice-overs and jingle-on-jingle crime. The new speak is gentle, tender, often voiced by someone who sounds like they might be about to cry.
I’ve been down the rabbit hole on this. It started with skincare. One ad, all white linen and natural light, with a voiceover that sounded legally required to tiptoe. Then I realised it was everywhere. Travel ads. Wine ads. Even one for electric vehicles that felt like a late-night FM lullaby.
This isn’t accidental. It's an engineered stoicism, a kind of sonic soft sell, designed to imply intimacy and trust. In loud times, quiet can sound luxurious. It also plays well on social media, where thumb-stopping is increasingly about mood rather than message. The whisper ad suggests that the product is confident enough not to shout. It knows it’s good. You’ll lean in.
Of course, sometimes a whisper is just good strategy. But marketers should remember it only works when the content has genuine weight. Whispering about how your shampoo now has “+keratin” isn't serenity, it’s white noise. And when every brand starts to speak softly, the brave ones will be the ones who dare to talk like real people again. Just maybe not like a morning radio host.
I’ve been down the rabbit hole on this. It started with skincare. One ad, all white linen and natural light, with a voiceover that sounded legally required to tiptoe. Then I realised it was everywhere. Travel ads. Wine ads. Even one for electric vehicles that felt like a late-night FM lullaby.
This isn’t accidental. It's an engineered stoicism, a kind of sonic soft sell, designed to imply intimacy and trust. In loud times, quiet can sound luxurious. It also plays well on social media, where thumb-stopping is increasingly about mood rather than message. The whisper ad suggests that the product is confident enough not to shout. It knows it’s good. You’ll lean in.
Of course, sometimes a whisper is just good strategy. But marketers should remember it only works when the content has genuine weight. Whispering about how your shampoo now has “+keratin” isn't serenity, it’s white noise. And when every brand starts to speak softly, the brave ones will be the ones who dare to talk like real people again. Just maybe not like a morning radio host.