According to 1970s ad guru Donald Gunn, all television advertisements can be categorized into one of 12 "Master Formats." While there is some ambiguity and many ads often fall into two or more possible categories, these "Master Formats" have been taught and studied in "Marketing 101" classes worldwide.

Presented below is a master list of the Master Formats, complete with examples I've dug up on the InterWeb. Each example is illustrative, but I've also picked ads that are particularly funny, weird, unique or maybe nostalgic, so the article should be a fun read (and watch). And, as a special bonus, I've listed my own 13th type of ad to be added to Gunn's Master Format Canon. Someday.

1. Demonstrate the Product - About as straightforward as you can get, here's a Krazy Glue ad from the late 1970s.

Check out the Quiz on the last page of the article!

2. Present a need or problem, then offer a solution - Here's a fun ad for the Encyclopedia Britannica from the 1980s. Know-it-all kid needs to write papers for school and the solution is a book. Ironic that the smarmy kid is sitting at a computer (on an infinite white background, no less).

3. Exaggerated Need/Problem - This just seems to be a variation of #2. Same situation, it's just over the top in some hyperbolic way. Many examples of this on TV, often very humorous, but one of my favorites is the Trunk Monkey series. You need a car? You need security? Come to a Suburban Auto Group dealer!

4. Comparison - Another very straightforward classic advertising type from the depths of time. Coke vs. Pepsi. Bounty vs. Others. Endless variations.

5. Anecdote - Ah, the anecdote, where use of the product as intended directly saves the day! Again, I guess this can be parsed and separated from problem/solution narratives or testimonials, but, honestly, I think some of these categories are a bit murky. Here's a fun example from Mercedes-Benz.

6. Additional Benefits - Sometimes the actual function of the product (like Axe Body spray making you smell good) has an additional beneficial side effect. Most of the time, this added benefit is that hot women will want to have sex with you (if you drink X beer, wear Y cologne or drive Z car). In a humorous twist, sometimes the side effect is not entirely beneficial, as in this Hahn Beer ad (another of my favorites).

7. Testimonial - OK, you'd like to show the benefit with a story (#5), but sometimes you just can't. Or sometimes you want to show what happened to a real customer, but the actual customer can't act and you don't want to do a recreation. Time for a testimonial, jazzed up a tad by Geico and Don LaFontaine. (Geico seems to have an ad for every category.)
{mospagebreak title=p.4 Characters, Exaggeration and the Bandwagon}

8. Recurring Characters or Celebrities - Another straightforward ad genre, with about a bajillion examples, from Jared to Jordan and California Raisins to Kool-Aid. Here's a classic with Capt'n Crunch.

9. Exaggerated Benefit - The benefits of the product are exaggerated or represented symbolically or by analogy, perhaps because the benefit cannot be shown for one reason or another. For example, maybe the benefit is abstract (increased attractiveness from Axe Body spray) or maybe you can't graphically show the benefit, for example, with pharmaceutical products. This is certainly the case with this All-Bran construction site bit, which definitely dares to exaggerate the benefit symbolically through the use of very graphic analogy.

10. Associated Bandwagon - Want to be hip and cool, like the sexy people using this product? Well, what are you waiting for? Go buy it! This is a common strategy for many lifestyle products, like alcohol and clothing. Bailey's has had some pretty good ads recently and this is one of my favorites.

11. Uniqueness - So your product has a unique benefit. Seems to me, this category is not very unique, since many of these ad types show the benefit of the product in comparison to all others. Still, highlighting something special is a good idea, and it gives me an excuse to link to this Sony Bravia ad, which touts the uniquely special color technology in the televisions. I think. But it's a GREAT ad: I'd recommend going to the main site and downloading the best quality version.

12. Parody - Parody can be tricky to pull off, but very funny and effective when done right. The legendary Geico pulls it off here with a celebrity VH1 "Where are they now?" style parody with the Flintstones.

That's the Master List of Gunn's "Master Formats" from 30 some years ago. The list misses one of my absolute favorite categories of commercials, however, maybe because it's a relatively modern invention. So I'm going to add (appropriately) a Number 13 to the list:

13. Weird for weird sake - This is an especially dangerous format, but people are guaranteed to remember the ad, good or bad, even if they don't remember the product. Creepy talking babies and trippy Skittles sheepboys define the category, but my favorite is the Quizno's Spong Monkeys. (Incidentally, the Japanese have taken this genre to an entirely new level.)

References
* There Are 12 Kinds of Ads in the World - Slate, July 23, 2007.
Interestingly, even though I remember studying this in school when I was 12, I can't find a single freakin' reference to this on the InterWeb that ISN'T related to the 2007 Slate article. One of the weaknesses of search engines, I guess.