Say the awkward part out loud: Who Gives A Crap, Uncommon James and Athletic Brewing

Every shopper arrives with a thought they will not say out loud. Will this sell out before I get to it? Should I hold off until Black Friday? Is non-alcoholic beer just sad beer? Who Gives A Crap, Uncommon James and Athletic Brewing each say that thought first, on their own homepage, and all three moves are easy to borrow.

Who Gives A Crap: it jokes about selling out

The bar across the top of the Who Gives A Crap US homepage reads "Here till it disappears. Shop Halloween rolls". The hero under it says "Don’t get ghosted", with one line of copy: "Not to scare you, but The Spooky Edition is selling fast".¹ The product page labels the 24-roll pack "Limited edition" and offers it as the first box of a subscription: "One-time limited edition order, followed by future deliveries of 100% Bamboo Toilet Paper".²

Why it works: "Selling fast" is the line shoppers have learned to ignore, because every store uses it. Who Gives A Crap admits the scare tactic in the same sentence, and writes it in the holiday's own words, so the urgency reads as a joke you are in on. Nobody needs to buy toilet paper today. A limited Halloween edition gives them a reason to, and the subscription option turns that one novelty order into the first delivery of a habit.

Steal this: If you sell something people restock, make a seasonal edition of it and say plainly in your top bar that it will go away. Write the urgency line in the season's language, with a wink, then let the limited edition be the first box of a subscription so the holiday buyer becomes a regular.

See how they stack up on Brand Tested: Who Gives A Crap.

Uncommon James: Black Friday, earned in October

The bar across the top of the Uncommon James homepage reads "UJ Rewards Members: Spend $300+ by 11/1", and the rest of the line promises "an Exclusive Black Friday Offer."³ The terms, one tap away, spell it out: rewards members who spend $300 or more on qualifying purchases between Oct 8 and Oct 31 get a unique code for 15% off eligible Uncommon Beauty and Hard Feelings products, good from Nov 24 to Nov 30. The $300 can add up across several orders, online and in its stores.⁴

Why it works: The weeks before Black Friday are when shoppers stop buying and start waiting for the deal. Uncommon James gives its best customers a reason to keep buying now, and pays them back with a code only they will get. The October shopper gets a target and a deadline, and the reward points them at the brand's beauty and fragrance lines.

Steal this: Turn Black Friday into a reward instead of a wait. Set a spend your repeat buyers can reach in a few weeks, put the deadline in your top bar, and send the code only to the members who hit it. Keep the full terms one tap from the bar, the way Uncommon James does.

See how they stack up on Brand Tested: Uncommon James.

Athletic Brewing: it says the insult before you can

Under the heading "GREAT-TASTING, NON-ALCOHOLIC BEER" on the Athletic Brewing homepage, the first point is "FULL FLAVOR", and the line under it reads "This is not a watered-down consolation prize." The next point: "Nothing goes out the door if it doesn't meet our standards." Further down the same page: "ALL THE TASTE. NONE OF THE TRADEOFFS." and "Zero hangovers. Zero concessions."⁵

Why it works: Anyone who has skipped a drink has heard non-alcoholic beer called second best. Athletic puts that doubt into the exact words people use, "watered-down" and "consolation prize," and turns it down in the first block a shopper reads. A vague "great taste" claim would have left the doubt sitting there. Naming it takes it off the table.

Steal this: Write down the meanest thing people say about your category, in their words. Put it in your first block, say it is not true, and back it up with one plain promise right under it.

See how they stack up on Brand Tested: Athletic Brewing.

The Brand Tested Score measures how distinct a brand is (Brand DNA, 40%) and how well its own online store sells (Site Experience, 60%). Scores are Brand Tested’s opinion, built from public storefront pages and the apps we detected on the scan date and our published v2.0 methodology. They aren’t statements of fact about any company. See something wrong? Request a correction.