Beige is the New Meh.

Making the case against safe, forgettable ads - and for bold, emotional work that sticks.

It’s official. Beige is having a moment.

Not in fashion. Not in interiors. In advertising.

Because nothing says “memorable brand” like blending in completely.

You know the ones.

The ads you scroll past without even noticing.

The ones that shout “limited time offer” in a font that’s been through seven rounds of client feedback.

The ones optimised to death.

Welcome to the Beige Era — where performance metrics rule, AI writes the headlines, and creativity has been politely shown the door. Where ads don’t make you laugh, cry, or feel anything at all — they just hum along like background noise.

And it’s killing creativity.

Death by Data

We get it. Everyone’s chasing clicks, conversions, KPIs. Short-term targets demand short-term thinking.

But in the rush to optimise, we’ve forgotten to connect.

Peter Field calls it “disposable creativity” — content so stripped of imagination it’s forgotten before it finishes loading. System1 found the most common emotional response to TV ads is nothing. Not joy, anger, interest. Just a shrug.

And if your audience feels nothing, guess what they’ll do?

That’s right.

Nothing.

Meanwhile, In the Real World…

Emotion sells. We’ve known this for years.

Les Binet and Peter Field’s research shows that emotional campaigns build brands faster, last longer, and deliver bigger profits than their rational counterparts.

Want people to notice? Surprise them.

Want them to buy? Make them feel something.

Want them to remember you? Make them laugh.

Humour is a Trojan horse.

Wit is a memory device.

Emotion is the shortcut to long-term effectiveness.

Beige happens when…

We optimise too much.
When everything’s A/B tested into oblivion, you end up with the lowest common denominator. Efficient? Maybe. Memorable? Not a chance.

We treat AI like a creative department.
AI is powerful — a fast, smart tool for shaping, testing, and refining. But it’s still a tool.
Left unsupervised, it tends to play it safe. It pulls from what’s been done before. It smooths the edges, which is fine if you’re making furniture. Less so if you’re trying to move people.

The Human Advantage

True creativity doesn’t come from templates.

It comes from tension. From empathy. From the leap that makes someone look up and go: that’s me.

From understanding why people laugh at one thing and scroll past another.

From people who understand other people.

And it comes from storytelling, humour, and all the beautifully unmeasurable things that make a message stick.

The nuance of a raised eyebrow. The pacing of a punchline. The gut instinct that something’s just… right.

That’s human.

And that’s what makes the difference between seen and scrolled.

The Real Cost of Dull

Here’s the kicker. Beige isn’t just boring. It’s expensive.

The less your ad resonates, the more you have to spend to make it work.

Emotionally engaging ads don’t just perform better — they need less media to make the same impact.

So why spend more to be ignored?

Make it Matter

The future of advertising isn’t more beige.
It’s brave, distinctive, emotional work that stands out because it doesn’t play by the algorithm’s rules.

Make ads people feel.

Make them care.

Make them talk about it over a drink.

Because while beige might look safe, it’s really just the slow fade into irrelevance.

Inspired in part by the work of Les Binet, Peter Field, System1, and Adam Morgan - whose thinking on effectiveness, emotion, and anti-dullness has helped sharpen ours.

If this resonated - and you’re tired of running beige campaigns for bold brands - talk to Pathfinder.

We help brands cut through the noise (and the nonsense) with strategic, creative work that people actually remember.