[3 Ad Thursday] Smart Money, Smart Skin: 3 Winning Ads Doing It Differently

Welcome to, or welcome back to this week’s VidTao 3 Ad Thursday, where each week we’ll be diving into VidTao YouTube ad spy tool to uncover 3 high-performing YouTube ads driving results!

This week we’ve got three high-performing YouTube ads for you to check out & model, including:

• 💰 Acorns, A Micro-Investing App ($260k in AdSpend)...
• 🚗 Edmunds, An Online Platform for Buying & Selling Cars ($700k+ in AdSpend)...
  
• 🌿 Korean Collagen Wrinkle Moisture Balm Stick Ad ($440k+ in AdSpend)...
  

Ready to check the ads out?

Let's dive right in and take a closer look at this week's YouTube ad standouts and discover what makes them so successful.

💰 Acorns, A Micro-Investing App ($260k in AdSpend)

First up for today we have this micro-investing app ad by Acorns.

Take a watch:

This ad’s estimated ad spend is over $258k!

Let’s now dissect this ad and see what elements it combines:

👉 Timely Hook (Tax Refund Season Tie-In)
It opens with a stat: “66% of Americans get a tax refund every year.” This instantly taps into current behavior and seasonal relevance — people are already thinking about refunds, so it grabs attention.

👉 Specific, High-Value Incentive ($3,177 Match)
The ad’s main offer — Acorns will match 100 people's refunds up to $3,177 — is both specific and generous. Using the national average makes the value feel realistic and grounded.

👉 Clear Eligibility CTA (Sign Up + Start Investing)
The user journey is laid out in plain steps: go to the URL, sign up, start investing. No ambiguity = higher conversions.

👉 Social Proof via Statistic (66% Get Refunds)
Leads with a trust-building, relatable stat to normalize the behavior — investing your refund isn’t just smart, it’s something many people could and should be doing.

👉 Low Barrier Entry Point ($5/Day Framing)
The closing line — “You’d be surprised at what just $5 a day can do for your future” — reframes investing as accessible to everyone, removing the intimidation factor.

👉 Urgency & Exclusivity (Limited to 100 People + This Month Only)
Combines two urgency levers: time-bound (“this month only”) and quantity-limited (100 winners), increasing FOMO and prompting faster action.

👉 Strong Aspirational Framing (Invest in Your Future)
Closes with a subtle shift toward long-term thinking, linking this refund windfall to future security and smart financial behavior.

Don’t forget to check out their other big-spending ads inside VidTao!

Here’s a sneak peek:

🚗 Edmunds, An Online Platform for Buying & Selling Cars ($680k+ in AdSpend)

Next up, an ad for an online platform for buying & selling cars with $680k+ in ad spend:

Here are some of the elements this ad combines for its success:

👉 Timely, Relatable Hook (Inflation + Price Shock)
Opens with: “Have you looked at used car prices lately and thought to yourself… am I going crazy?”
It immediately speaks to the viewer’s emotional confusion and anchors the problem in a shared, current reality.

👉 Data-Backed Insight (Price Jump from $20k → $30k)
Uses a concrete stat: the average used car price jumped from $20k to $30k in just 3 years.
This makes the economic trend feel both real and urgent — a framing that’s perfect for driving action.

👉 Empathetic Authority Tone (You’re not crazy)
By stating “it’s the prices,” the narrator removes shame from the viewer’s confusion and positions the brand as an ally who gets it. This softens resistance and builds trust.

👉 3-Step Value-Packed Framework
The classic “3 tips” format works to structure the content clearly:

1. Know your car’s value (smart reframe: your current car’s higher value can offset inflated prices)

2. Be flexible (manage expectations — older cars, mileage tradeoffs)

3. Watch the loan (warns about high-interest rates with a bit of sticker shock)

👉 Strategic Soft CTA: Free Appraisal at Edmunds
Instead of a hard sell, the CTA is wrapped in helpfulness: “Go to Edmunds for a free appraisal.” It flows naturally from the tip about knowing your car’s worth, making it feel service-oriented, not salesy.

👉 Educational Content Masking a Tool Promotion
This is a classic educational-style DR ad: valuable advice + actionable steps → trust → soft product push.
It feels like free guidance, but it’s built around getting people to try Edmunds’ valuation and listings tool.

👉 Trust & Utility Positioning over Hype
No exaggerated claims, flashy visuals, or emotional manipulation — this ad leans into calm credibility. Perfect for a financially-minded, logical audience.

Additionally, here’s what this advertiser’s lander looks like:

🌿 Korean Collagen Wrinkle Moisture Balm Stick Ad ($430k+ in AdSpend)

Our last pick for today is this korean collagen wrinkle moisture balm stick ad:

This ad’s estimated total ad spend is over $430k!

Now let’s get into more details and see what are the elements this ad combines:

👉 Strong Product Credibility (No.1 Korean beauty product)
The ad claims this is the #1 Korean skincare product to come from Korean beauty startups in the past 10 years — this positions the product as an elite standout in a highly competitive category.

👉 Emotional Appeal to Convenience (on-the-go use, hands-free)
By focusing on the compact balm format and showing how easily it can be applied while out and about, the ad taps into modern lifestyle needs — no messy jars or finger dipping.

👉 Authority Social Proof (beauty expert endorsement)
The narrator’s tone and setup feel like a beauty influencer recommendation. That creates trust and mimics the style of authentic user content.

👉 Demonstrated Functional Benefits (smooth skin, wrinkle help, better foundation adherence)
The product isn’t just about hydration — it’s positioned as multifunctional: wrinkle reduction, makeup primer, and hydration in one.

👉 Reframes Common Pain Point (no dirty fingers touching skin)
This is a subtle but powerful reframing — many skincare users are now hyper-aware of hygiene. Calling attention to this reinforces modern standards of application without sounding fear-based.

👉 Implicit Scarcity & Trend Positioning (10-year breakout brand)
Mentioning that it’s the most successful Korean beauty startup product in a decade makes it feel like a cult-favorite, giving viewers a reason to want to be “in” on the trend.

Inside VidTao, you can check out ALL landers in use by this (or any other!) advertiser you want:

And with that, we’re all done this week! 🚀

We hope this week’s selection of high-performing ads has sparked new ideas to test yourself!

Want more insights like these?

Stay tuned for next week’s VidTao 3 Ad Thursday, where we’ll continue breaking down winning strategies from the best YouTube ads in the game!

Have a great week!