Web-Series Ads as a New Marketing Media: Toward a Commercial-Independent Digital Integration Model

Antiheroes in a Comic Hyperrealistic World

Examining the main common feature of most of the characters in web-series ads (using thematic and narrative–structural analysis) reveals that they are antiheroes who try to survive in a hyperrealistic world. These antiheroes are primarily helpless, unsuccessful, unemployed, lacking charisma or special abilities, and often go to extremes or behave nonnormatively. There are 10 antiheroes, which make up 76.92% of the total series. Their indifference to what is happening around them and their lack of self-awareness allow them to deal with everyday in creative ways and create the comic element that characterizes most web-series ads.

For example, one of these characters is Gili, the (singing) delivery woman who is the face of the largest supermarket chain in Israel, Shufersal. She is presented as a supermarket courier who wishes to celebrate every shipment with customers by singing about the products she has provided. In this way, the product and its services become the main elements in the series around which the plot is built. Viewers are invited to her imaginary nonsense world: She usually imagines herself as a famous singer who performs in different places or stages associated with the famous customers to whom she delivers the advertised products. Her lack of heroism stems from the dissonance between Gili’s exaggerated performative authenticity and the indifferent and disappointed response of the famous character to whom she delivers and sings and who makes it clear that Gili’s singing is unprofessional, a lousy imitation, and not appropriate to the situation.

Other antiheroes are single and lonesome characters, unemployed, and directionless persons such as Guy from “My Brother Ghost,” who rents an apartment from Satan’s delegate and discovers he has to deal with a ghost that seeks to make Guy’s life even harder. In the same vein, there is Dori, the main character in the cartoon series “Nir and Gali for Israel Post,” who is also portrayed in a surreal and exaggerated world. Dori is a single adult male who has to deal with all the demanding anthropomorphized objects surrounding him at home. There are also unsuccessful characters owning failed businesses, such as Messiah (“Messiah”), who runs a wayside stop, and Ethan (“Porcelain printing”), who is trying, mostly without success, to operate an old-fashioned printing house.

Therefore, we can assume that the web-series ad seeks to differentiate itself from the basic common characteristics of advertising content, which echoes stereotypical messages (Aley & Hahn, 2020; Grau & Zotos, 2016). This is done to resemble other Israeli independent web-series, which are characterized by using unrealistic and nonsense humor, presenting unusual and exaggerated antiheroes (Aharoni, 2022a, 2022b).

Para-Minor Texts

By examining the formal characteristics of the web-series ads using narrative analysis, we found that they strive to present their characteristics as minor texts as defined by Deleuze et al. (1983) as minor literature—texts written in a minor language, created by minority groups using a major language not originally their own. No root place is ascribed to it. Instead, it presents a bridge between different places (de-territoriality), and everything personally said in it refers to something of greater value or pertaining to a greater subject.

The minor text is not an essential matter that arises from the fact that people from minority groups wrote it, but it is an active, purposeful, and even political action. By creating a minor text, one seeks to redefine majority–minority relations by becoming a stranger in one’s own world. It is an act that challenges existing identities and breaks from the major normative order. It forms accepted definitions and re-embroiders a fluid social existence of nondistinction between right and wrong and between ruler and ruled. It is a spillover into an uncontrolled, borderline area that challenges hierarchy and contrasts, which seeks to blur distinctions in a performative way. This is not an imitation of something existing but a new “molecular creation” made in speech acts (Zehavi, 2010).

To equate the minor literature originally referred to by Deleuze and Guattari with web-series ads, we argue that web-series ads use the accepted visual-cinematic language (of the majority group) to present content that should be characterized as independent (of the minorities), such as nonsense, vlogs, amateur, and low-budget content (fewer sets or locations, filming in nonstudio sets, unprofessional editing) that characterizes the web-series. In the sample tested in this research, six web-series ads (46.15%) centered around the use of nonsense, five series (38.46%) were filmed in the style of amateur vlogs (mockumentary), and five series (38.46%) with professional aesthetics and production and postproduction methods.

They also express their de-territoriality within the field of independent and amateur web-series by not hiding their nature as commercials. By doing so, they seemingly present a bridge between two different fields by creating a new text that breaks away from the major normative order of commercials. Thus, their messages are not personal but rather express fluidity within the central basic idea of selling a product.

The efforts of the web-series ads to appear to be a minor language and a minor text still suggest that they are not as authentic as the independent web-series and are nevertheless foreign to this cultural field. Thus, we identify these web-series ads as para-minor text. That is, the use of aesthetics, structure, and narrative is that of a subsidiary genre similar to the minor texts of independent web-series but still part of the mainstream industry. This para-minor aspect is also expressed in the comments of the viewers, who are not convinced that these web-series ads are part of the independent minor texts/field but are mainstream advertisements. Thus, only a semblance of minor texts is created, but they are not so in practice.

The para-minor text can be demonstrated in “Hishgad: It is you with some more money.” The series is a nonsense web-series ad presenting the surrealistic thoughts and experiences of its protagonist, Ido, a male bachelor approximately 30 years old. In contrast to the Israeli independent nonsense web-series, Ido reiterates that the episodes are actually an advertisement, and he is not ashamed of it. Thus, he seeks to bridge the platforms and even emphasizes that his thoughts are related to the product he is advertising—lottery tickets.

For example, the episode “Ido has principles and excuses” is an interplay between the fictional and filmed versus the real and authentic and between the independent private text and the popular commercial text. The episode ostensibly presents the protagonist’s contrasting values, expressed in a low-budget video blog style with an accompanying voice-over of his thoughts.

The ratio of the para-minority is changeable and flexible due to the different degrees of the two components—the minority and the para. The web-series ad “Hishgad” seems more amateurish and independent (the part of the “minority” characteristics) than a professional ad (the “para” component). Therefore, the balance needed is expressed by overemphasizing the fact that it is an advertisement. In contrast, in the web-series ad “Milky,” the professionalism and richness of the production are well expressed (the “para” component). Therefore, the web-series ad emphasizes the nonsense even more, the excessive and nonnormative (the “minority” component) elements that feature the content. To counterbalance, the product being marketed is not mentioned in a clear and focused manner until the end of each episode.

For example, in the episode “Milky Chili—A Scary Taste,” the main character, Milky’s C.E.O., this time visits a psychologist. He wants to solve his problem in one short session—he fears chili. In a short and surreal conversation between him and his therapist, it becomes clear, and seen visually, that an enormous chili fell from the sky during a family picnic and crushed his entire family during Milky’s C.E.O.’s childhood, including his dog, before his very eyes. The episode ends with Milky’s C.E.O. dealing with his trauma with four tears that he is ready to shed (when the fifth tear fell, he immediately rolled it back), and then the product is showcased—a new chili-flavored Milky delicacy. This combination of varying degrees of professionalism and amateurism attracts viewers by adapting the language of the independent system with a sense of innovation, illustrating the success of blending into the mainstream.

Integrating the Mainstream

Web-series ads seek to attract audiences that consume mainstream television content. They attempt to do so by combining the mainstream in the web-series ads in two ways: with the participation of mainstream celebrities, popular singers, and leading actors that took a main part in the web-series plot (58%, n = 7) and by creating content that mimics popular mainstream content (30.77%, n = 4). This finding joins the earlier finding of another five series (38.46%) with professional aesthetics and production and postproduction methods (e.g., multiple locations, filming in established studio sets, professional editing) that also demonstrate the mainstream dimension.

An example of a combination of the two aspects is the “ChatList” series, which publishes an app for seeking apartments for rent and sale using the Tinder matchmaking app style. The web-series ad is built as a matchmaking program, a popular reality show genre in Israel. Web-series ads also refer to the format of personal interview programs with celebrities, which are also gaining some popularity on Israeli television. At its center is the matchmaker/interviewer “Dudu Farouk,” a controversial made-up figure found only on the web. He is known as an alternative chauvinistic and violent rap singer who represents the Mizrahi ethnic group in Israel. In each episode, Farouk hosts a mainstream celebrity in a prestigious smoky and campy mansion. The main idea of the narrative is an apparent lack of understanding between the characters: Farouk asks to find a rental apartment for the celebrity using the product he is advertising, and the celebrity mistakenly thinks Farouk’s questions are intended to find him or her a date or match.

We can carefully infer that the advertisers’ strategy is to achieve a certain balance between combining mainstream properties with participants from the independent web-series. Their entry into a new field is gradual, incorporating only a few of the motifs of advertising that have proven effective, such as the use of celebrities (Fleck et al., 2012).

“Yes, I Do”—as Long as Independent Characteristics Are Kept

Viewers’ reactions to web-series ads show that they are well aware that the web-series are in fact advertisements and accept persuasive messaging positively. In the content analysis conducted in relation to the comments, 57 positive words were found, such as “funny,” “genius,” “perfect,” “I loved it,” “great,” “pleasure,” “amazing,” and more, which were written in 984 comments (51.38% of all comments). The popularity of these series is expressed in relation to 25 negative words the viewers used (such as “not funny,” “disgusting,” “disturbing,” “boring,” and “shameful”), which were mentioned in a total of only 46 comments (2.40% of all comments).

From the positive comments we can learn that viewers accept the web-series ads. There are also a relatively large number of positive and gratifying direct responses to the main characters that are recognized by the viewers of independent web-series (352 comments, 35.77% of the positive comments). This implies that the existence of elements of independent web-series is part of the viewers’ positive reactions to web-series ads. For example, a typical response is, “I do not like advertisements, but the Shufersal advertisements are the most fun to see . . . lol . . . Ilan Peled [the main endorser], you are a genius!” Another viewer refers to the unrealistic narrative: “Each commercial is better than the last. Ilan is the most special, beloved, and funny person in the world. You make it perfect . . . it is hilarious.” Viewers seem to be well aware of the web-series as an advertisement and accept it as long as it meets their expectations of this kind of entertainment, as Raphael comments about one of the episodes of “Messiah”: “This is an advertisement that can be seen over and over again. Messiah, you tear me to pieces.”

The interviewees add insightful analysis to these positive reactions. They emphasize the legitimacy of creating web-series by marketers, which is accompanied by an important caveat—as long as these series maintain the basic web-series characteristics: sophistication, humoristic, creativity, quality, and originality in an avant-garde structure. That is, they should not look like a regular advertisement, as Yuval (age 31, personal interview) puts it when he mentions a series made for the health insurance company:

The series was not good because it used clichéd images and stereotypes about Israeli women. Instead of presenting an interesting point of view, they presented clichés and did not tell an interesting or innovative story. There was no value added, and the marketing was too direct.

Shai (age 28, personal interview) explains Yuval’s argument when she claims that advertisements should “understand the language and the audience. If you do it well, then it will simply be good, and it doesn’t matter if and what you advertise.” Adi (age 20, personal interview) adds that more characteristics are needed: “Aggressive advertising creates antagonism, but if it is done in style and funny, I have no problem.” Tamar (age 28, personal interview) also links this to the characteristics of the web-series, claiming: “It should be made sophisticated.” Shiral (age 23, personal interview) links the characteristics of the series to the possibility of incorporating an advertisement: “As long as it is creative and well made, I don’t mind if there is marketing in the series.” Avishag (age 28, personal interview) adds another characteristic that she attributes to web-series and should also be in series that are commercials: “When it repeats itself without any investment in the script, it doesn’t work. But I feel that the advertisers are trying to be original and integrate.”

Along with the need for core web-series traits, the interviewees also emphasized the demand for uniqueness and variation compared with “regular” advertisements. For example, in the words of Yuval (age 31, personal interview), “If it feels fake or the marketing content is conveyed to the viewer too directly, it directly creates alienation.” Dror (age 35, personal interview) emphasizes the issue of bluntness: “I don’t like web-series where the advertising and marketing really call out. If the marketing is aggressive, people will not hook up to it. You need a quality way with added value to convey a message.” Tamar (28 years old) and Haim (26 years old) sum it up in personal interviews that it should not resemble a typical advertisement. Tamar claims: “You have to bring something else that doesn’t feel like a regular advertisement because otherwise there’s no point,” and Chaim adds: “You have to do it wisely. In a way that doesn’t look like a normal advertisement. Let the viewer feel like they’re watching a normal web-series.” To all this, Roi (age 34, personal interview) adds the matter of directness: “If they bring me enjoyable content in an open way and don’t try to hide marketing messages behind product placement, it feels like they are investing money on Israeli content, which is positive.”

These insights into the limits set by viewers for accepting web-series as advertisements are aligned with negative viewer comments. This was observed, for example, in the series: “Almog is looking for a job with a meaning,” which did not comply with viewer demands, provoking harsh criticism. The series was accused of lack of sophistication, not being careful about performing excessive exaggeration and remaining too realistic and too direct in its marketing. Although the actor is known from a previous popular independent web-series (“The female Israelis”), viewers do not accept these new web-series ads. A viewer named “Me” writes:

It became a series of commercials, and it’s a shame. In the past, “The Female Israelis” also combined advertisements, but there were many funny videos, so it was fine. If you would go back to the old content, I would agree to watch these commercials.

That is, the viewer sets a very clear condition to integrating advertisements—that is maintaining the familiar humor and accepting the tradition of independent series from which the actress originated.

“This Is So Good”—Web-Series Quality Is Getting Better

The increase in the financial investment of marketers in web-series production leads to the advancement of the perceived quality of web-series among viewers.

The connection that interviewees create between financial investment and the content of the series is noted by Tamar (age 28, personal interview) as an upgrade: “What I’ve seen so far that a brand is behind a series was really well done, and I even liked it. The entry of advertising companies not only doesn’t harm the quality of the series but even upgrades it.”

Other interviewees portray it as a reflection of reality since money is essential when producing web-series. It is only understandable that marketing organizations become involved, as Liron (age 30, personal interview) puts it: “Today, it is difficult to produce a web-series without funding. So, if they promote products and services, it doesn’t disturb me in any way.” Yuval (age 31, personal interview), like Tamar, adds that financial investments also promote and improve the genre: “Web-series of brands are great. The integration of commercial entities is excellent because they invest money and, in the end, this leads to the promotion of the formation and development of the field.”

The acceptance of the marketer involvement is also expressed in the viewer comments. Viewer responses to the web-series ads in relation to quality are expressed by referring mainly to the creativity and innovativeness of the series content and their actors. It is expressed in the viewer comments mainly in words such as “genius,” which is repeated frequently (116 comments), “rare” (10 comments), “masterpiece” (11 comments), and “brilliant” (9 comments). That is, these comments express viewers’ impression of unique content, such as Mor’s comment on Milky’s web-series ad: “Amazing! Roi, any of your series is genius. I will give you the credit that even the mainstream [commercial industry] didn’t spoil the [web-series] quality.”

The integration between the professional and the amateur, which we defined as para-minor, is also highly appreciated, as expressed in the viewer comments; for example, in Tom’s comment on “Hishgad: It is you with some more money”: “It is hilarious. The idea, the music. What a great way to present a product. It also doesn’t necessarily make sense in the end. Is it an advertisement for Hishgad? For Ido as a copywriter? For the armchair company?” In his confusion, Tom demonstrates his perception of the novelty of web-series ads, illustrating the unique redefinition of what an advertisement is.