UGC ad
A phone-shot, casual-looking video ad made to feel like a regular post from a real person instead of a brand commercial.
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What it is
A UGC ad is a vertical, phone-shot video built to look like something a person posted rather than something a brand produced: handheld framing, room lighting, direct-to-camera talking, burned-in captions, no logo sting. It works because it survives the scroll. A polished commercial reads as 'ad' in half a second and gets flicked away.
The reliable formats are few: talking head problem-then-solution, unboxing, POV skit, before and after, screen recording walkthrough, and 'three things I wish I knew'. The first two seconds carry everything, so write the hook first and shoot 4 to 6 hooks against the same body footage. Shoot 9:16, keep it 15 to 30 seconds, caption every word, and let the audio be a little imperfect.
Gotcha: the name is slippery, so keep two things apart. Genuine UGC is a customer who filmed something unprompted and posted it. Most 'UGC ads' running as paid media are commissioned creator content shot in that style: a paid creator working from your script, with usage rights licensed for paid placement, which is a contract you should actually sign. Both exist, and treating the second as the first is how brands end up claiming spontaneity they bought. And if it is paid or sponsored, disclosure rules apply (an on-screen '#ad' or the platform's paid partnership toggle), so faking a spontaneous customer review is both a legal problem and, once viewers smell it, a performance problem.
Ask AI for it
Write a 30-second vertical (9:16) UGC-style ad script for [product], aimed at [audience]. Structure: a 2-second spoken hook that names the problem out loud, a 5-second 'here is what I tried' setup, a 15-second demo of the product solving it with the single most specific benefit, and a 5-second casual CTA. Voice: one person talking to their phone camera, contractions, no marketing adjectives, no slogan. Output a two-column script (spoken line, on-screen shot and text overlay) plus 5 alternate opening hooks I can shoot against the same body footage. Assume handheld iPhone footage, natural light, and burned-in captions.