There was a time when ads didn’t apologise for taking time. They told stories. Proper ones. The kind you’d wait for, not skip. Full narratives. Full attention. Zero skip buttons.
These weren’t long ads. They were stories wearing ads as costumes.
But back then, there were limited options for people. Bathrooms seemed to be the only escape from these ads. So you had to watch and rewatch.
Cut to 2026, options abound. Platforms aplenty. But so are the ads. We don’t run to the bathroom to escape ads anymore. We take them along on our devices, just to skip them there.
This is the era of bumper ads. Six seconds. No skip. No mercy. You blink, and it’s over. Sometimes you miss it even without a blink.
Naturally, we adapted. Hooks got sharper. Branding moved to frame one. We started writing ads that don’t unfold, they pounce.
But here’s the twist.
In chasing shorter formats, we’ve started mistaking speed for impact. As if shaving seconds automatically adds value. As if the audience is only impatient, never uninterested.
Because let’s be honest, people didn’t stop watching long ads. They stopped watching boring ones.
Give them a great storyline, arresting performance or just jaw dropping execution and they’ll sit through minutes without touching that skip button. Give them a dull six-second bumper, and even that feels like a commitment. Ironically, we will find ads on most of these dull ads on the marketing pages.
So yes, the landscape has changed. Platforms demand pace. Attention is rented, not owned. Fair.
But the job hasn’t changed.
Make it interesting.
Make it feel something.
Make it worth the watch.
Because whether it’s 60 seconds or 6, nobody is timing you if you’re not good.
The skip button isn’t the enemy. Indifference is.
Long or short, ad or film, call it what you want.
If the idea lands, the format follows.
And that is the long and short of it!