TurboTax ad review: When creative trumps strategy

Working in advertising is fun, especially as a creative. We copywriters and graphic designers get paid to think up clever ways to communicate a brand’s messages. The problem comes when we get too caught up in our own creativity and lose sight of the goal we were trying to achieve.

I think that’s what happened with the “All People Are Tax People” ad created by Wieden & Kennedy Portland for TurboTax.

This past January, TurboTax spent $5.6 million to air this ad during Super Bowl LIV. Here’s a 45-second “extended remix” in case you missed it:

And here are the lyrics, for the morbidly curious and others who, like me, can’t understand them through the ear-gouging music:

All people. All people. All people are tax people.

(I always hear the squawking vocals say, “Awl! People. Awl! People. Are tax, people.”)

If you filing by yourself, let me see you clap it up.
Clap it up, clap it up.

If you need a little help go ahead and hit us up.
Hit us up. Hit us up.

You got a question to ask? A CPA can help you there,
help you there, help you there.

Got a W-2? Go on and wave it in the air.
Wave it in the air, wave it in the air.

Now take a picture, take a picture.
Easy uploads is a mobile feature.

English, Spanglish, Español.
We all speak refund, go and get yours.

Now get deductions, get deductions.
Make sure you’re not missing nothing.

You can file it, you can do it.
You can file it, you can do it.

We can help you getting through it.
Get it filed, nothing to it.

Do ya taxes, do ya taxes. Everybody, everybody, do ya taxes.

Got everything you need to reenact this. Do ya taxes, do ya taxes.

All people. All people. All people are tax people.
All people. All people. All people are tax people.

Uh-huh.

Five point six MILLION dollars, folks.

And to do what?

According to Mary-Ann Somers, senior vice president of Intuit’s Consumer Group, “With the Super Bowl, we are creating a moment, at the height of tax season, to inspire and empower fans, and celebrate what unites us. We believe that people are capable of amazing things and, with the right tools and encouragement, they can do anything—including their taxes. This spot is a celebration that everyone can confidently do their taxes with TurboTax, no matter how much or little help they need.”

Riiiight.

Let me ask: How many people do you think watched this ad and thought any of those things?

Sorry, Mary-Ann, but you got duped.

I’d wager that whole spiel is word for word the over-rehearsed agency babble that Wieden & Kennedy used during its creative presentation to sell Intuit on the ad concept.

No doubt it sounded creative and inspired and cool in the boardroom.

But in the real world, it smells like bullshit.

The company says the song in the commercial “pays tribute to Bounce music, with its repetitive, high energy and southern-style roots, and is brought to life on film featuring a diverse array and reflection of the American people.”

Intuit, a little advice: For 5.6 million dollars, you should have focused on paying tribute to the product you were trying to sell.

“Creative without strategy is called art. Creative with strategy is called advertising.”
—David Ogilvy

H&R Block takes advantage

While Intuit was busy being “creative” and paying tribute to things that have nothing to do with tax software, the company’s competitor, H&R Block, swept in and took advantage of Intuit’s unforced error with a TV commercial of its own.

As the spot opens, a cute actress leans toward us from between two laptops, one labeled “TurboTax” and the other “H&R Block.”

“One of these tax-prep services lets more people file for free,” she says.

“Is it TurboTax?” she chirps.

“Or H&R Block online?” The actress smiles and nods toward the H&R Block laptop as a giant red arrow drops into frame, comically pointing to the H&R laptop.

“We may never know,” she teases as a bell goes off repeatedly, as if celebrating the winning answer on a game show.

Then, a voiceover accompanied by text on screen: “More people can file free on H&R Block than TurboTax.”

“It’s better with Block.”

Ladies and gentlemen, that is how it’s done.

The H&R Block ad, though not nearly as original, elaborate, or expensive to produce, is far more clear, concise, and engaging as it speaks directly to viewers and gives people real reasons to buy.

The strategy and creative are 100% focused on doing what advertising is supposed to do: sell.

That this ad does its job without being loud, obnoxious, or stupid is another lesson I wish more TV advertisers would learn.

And you know what? I think Intuit did.

Did H&R Block force a change in TurboTax advertising?

A few nights ago, my wife and I saw a new TV commercial for a product called TurboTax Live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyhErGp-H2Q

As the ad ended, my wife, looking surprised, asked me, “Why was this one so ‘normal’?”

The short answer, I think, is that Intuit learned something from its competitor and the (I assume) lousy return it got on its investment with the “All People Are Tax People” ad.

(The slightly longer answer is a delightful little fantasy I have in which the enraged CEO of Intuit rips his chief marketing officer a new one in front of the entire executive staff and threatens to put the account up for review unless the creative agency gets its shit together and makes a TV commercial that actually sells some damn products.)

In any case, this ad is good. Its creative is built on clear thinking and a strategic insight—that in the current coronavirus crisis, people are having to stay at home. To work. To play. To do their taxes.

The concept, the “Big Idea,” starts with the prospect. The creative brings this idea to life through charming animation as it shows and tells how TurboTax Live software can help.

The ad is “creative” yet it clearly communicates features and benefits—the reasons for people to buy.

And that, my friends, is today’s takeaway and one of the most important lessons in advertising:

Good creative follows a strategic insight and works primarily to sell the product.

Creativity by itself is not the key to bottom-line success. Clear thinking is.

Congratulations to Intuit for seeing its mistake and correcting course quickly.

Cranky Ad Ratings:

TurboTax “All People Are Tax People”: No stars out of five.
H&R Block “More People Can File Free”: Five stars out of five.
TurboTax “From Home”: Five stars out of five.

See all Cranky ad reviews | Back to blog home page.

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