Standoff Audio Ads | Thumbtack

For these ads I needed to convey the suspense of a classes Western movie standoff scene through audio, which meant I had to build tension through every moment.

From the first sentence, “I was surrounded,”

to the staccato rhythm of the sentences, “There were too many choices, what if I never got my living room painted, what if I couldn’t figure out what type of paint to use, what if…”

…to the music I selected, I built tension into every piece of the :30 ad, dropping the audience directly into a dusty one horse town (or the paint aisle, in this case).

Plus, it sucks having your music or podcast interrupted by a lazy ad you’d rather skip. So I wanted to give listeners some entertainment and drama, just like if they opened up a new book.