TV commercial examples: 30-second spots that work

A TV commercial is usually 30 seconds long, and the common lengths are 15, 30 and 60 seconds. The spots that work share a few habits: one message, a clear opening picture, the product shown doing its job, and one thing to do at the end. This post gives you the lengths, the main types of commercial with a made-up example of each described shot by shot, what strong spots have in common, how local and national spots differ, and how one idea gets cut down to 15 and 6 seconds.

Every example below is fictional. We describe the shots and do not reproduce any real ad. The point is to show you how each type is built, so you can recognize it and write your own. Our guide to writing a 30-second commercial script covers the beats in more detail.

How long is a commercial?

The word counts come from a voice-over agency's guide and assume a speaking pace of 100 to 150 words a minute. Real scripts need pauses for the pictures, so treat the counts as a ceiling and time yours aloud.

The standard has moved over time. According to Wikipedia's overview of TV ads, the average US TV ad was about a minute long in the 1950s and 1960s, shrank to 30 seconds from the early 1970s, and the 15-second spot began appearing in the late 1980s. Voice-over agency Voicecrafters gives a reason: stations found they could sell more slots by cutting them to 30 seconds. Streaming ads tend to run 15 to 60 seconds.

The 30-second slot is still serious money at the top end. Wikipedia reports that a single 30-second spot during the Super Bowl reached about US$7 million as of February 2022, for an audience of 112 million viewers. Local budgets are far smaller: see commercial cost and commercial prices option by option.

The main types of commercial

Advertising textbooks do not agree on one list. Some sources fold slice of life and problem and solution together, and others treat lifestyle and slice of life as the same thing. What follows is a working list of the types you will meet most often. Each one has a short fictional example, written as shots.

Problem and solution

The spot opens on a pain, then shows the product removing it. It is the most common type because the structure is simple and easy to follow with the sound off.

A fictional example: a mobile car-wash company called Sudsy Lane.

1. Close-up of bird droppings on a windshield, in direct sun.
2. A person in work clothes checks a watch, late for a meeting, looking at a car they cannot drive.
3. A van pulls up outside their office. The company name is on the side.
4. A technician wipes one panel and the shine appears in one pass.
5. The car, clean, pulls out of the lot.
6. End card: the name, a web address, "Book a wash at your door."

Testimonial

A person talks about their own experience with the product. The idea is trust: the viewer believes a customer more than a brand. One caution matters a lot here. A testimonial must be a real person who agreed to be quoted, or clearly an actor reading a scripted line. You may not invent a customer and present them as real.

A fictional example: a bakery called Rise and Crumb, with an actor who is labeled as an actor.

1. Medium shot of a person at a counter, holding a loaf, speaking to camera.
2. Cutaway to hands tearing the bread open, steam rising.
3. Back to the speaker, smiling mid-sentence.
4. The shop front at opening time, a short line outside.
5. End card with the address and hours. A small line reads "Scripted performance."

Demonstration

The product is the star, and the spot shows it working. Textbooks describe sub-types: in-use, before and after, side by side, and the exaggerated torture test. The picture does the persuading, so the shots must be clear.

A fictional example: a pan called the Tuff Skillet.

1. Extreme close-up of a fried egg sliding off a pan without a streak.
2. Wide shot of the pan on a burner while a metal spatula scrapes across it.
3. Close-up of the surface afterward, unmarked.
4. The pan hung on a hook, label facing camera.
5. End card with the product name and where to buy it.

Lifestyle

A lifestyle spot attaches the product to a way of living the viewer wants. There is often little or no product explanation. The mood does the selling: light, music, people enjoying themselves.

A fictional example: a trail-running shoe brand called Ridgeway.

1. Wide shot of a ridge line at dawn, a figure small in the frame.
2. Close-up of laces being pulled tight.
3. A runner crests a hill, breath visible in the cold air.
4. Slow-motion shot of a shoe landing on wet rock.
5. The runner at the top, looking out. No words.
6. Logo and tagline fade in.

Comparison

A comparison spot sets the product against a rival or against the old way of doing something. Claims must be true and provable, and rules on naming a competitor differ by country and platform. The safer version compares against the old way, not a named brand.

A fictional example: a scheduling app called Slotly, compared with paper diaries.

1. Split screen. Left side: a paper diary with crossed-out names. Right side: a clean phone screen.
2. Left: a person flips pages, frowning. Right: a person taps once, smiling.
3. Left: a missed appointment. Right: a reminder buzzing on a table.
4. Full screen: the app, with the name large.
5. End card with a web address.

Slice of life

A short everyday scene where the product plays a key part, usually a small story with a beginning, a snag and a fix. A textbook summary describes it as encounter, problem, interaction and solution.

A fictional example: a family dental clinic called Brightside.

1. A kitchen, morning. A child pushes cereal away, hand on cheek.
2. Waiting room: the child clutches a toy, wary.
3. The child, later, bites an apple with a grin.
4. End card with the clinic name and phone number.

Pick the type by the problem. Trust is the barrier: testimonial. The product is hard to picture: demonstration. Nobody knows why they need you: problem and solution. Many good spots mix two types.

What the strong 30-second spots have in common

No formula promises a result, but platform guidance and agency practice keep pointing to the same habits.

• One message. The viewer should be able to say what the ad was about in a sentence. Spots that try to say three things tend to land none.
• A strong first beat. Whatever the type, the opening shot has to earn attention. Our post on video ad hooks goes through seven hook types.
• The brand shows up early and again at the end. Google's guidance for YouTube ads is built on four letters, ABCD: attract, brand, connect, direct. Google reports that ads following the ABCDs showed a 30 percent lift in short-term sales likelihood and a 17 percent lift in long-term brand contribution, from its own analysis. That is Google's figure about YouTube ads, not a rule for TV.
• The product does something on screen. A shot of the product in use beats a shot of the product sitting there.
• Pictures carry the story. Many people watch with the sound low, and the spot should still make sense.
• One action at the end. A web address, a phone number, a store. Not a menu. "Book a wash at your door" asks for something. "Learn more" does not.
• Real proof, or none. If you have a rating or a number you can show, use it. If you do not, skip the beat.

Length matters too. An older WARC article by Charles Young, from 2008, argued that 15-second spots draw less attention than 30-second spots and fall short on building memory. That is one argument from one author, and platforms have changed since, but it explains why the 30 stayed the default for stories that need setup.

Local versus national spots

A national spot is usually about the brand: a mood, a name, a feeling over a long time. It may air widely and be built with large crews. A local spot is usually about an action: come in, call, book. It runs in one town or region, where the viewer can drive to the place the same day.

Because of that, a local spot leans on specifics: the town or neighborhood, the street, hours, a phone number said aloud and shown on screen, and the owner or a staff member if they are willing. A local-TV sales page we read notes that stations target by market (the 210 US designated market areas) and says an effective spot includes a clear call to action, such as visiting a website, calling a number or coming into a location.

Our TV commercials page covers what a station needs from the file, and our post on CTV advertising for small business covers streaming TV.

One idea, three lengths: cutting a 30 to a 15 and a 6

You cannot shrink a 30 into a good 15 by speeding it up. You rebuild it. Here is the Sudsy Lane problem and solution spot from above, cut three ways.

The 15 keeps the problem, the product and the action, and drops the second pain beat and the proof. The 6 is a bumper: the product up close, one benefit in a handful of words, and the logo. At that length the opening picture and the name have to arrive together. Google's YouTube guidance cites a 6-second bumper series as one way brands use the format.

Write each cut fresh as its own list of shots. For social versions, see our video ads page, and the AI commercials page for the formats we make.

Using examples to plan your own

Examples help you decide what you want before you spend money. At customcommercials.ai you write a brief and get a free storyboard, shot by shot, with a preview still for most shots (up to 12 per commercial). You see the exact price for the finished length before you approve, and you pay once with no subscription. Formats include TV and web commercials at 15, 30 and 60 seconds, social ads at 6, 15 and 30 seconds, shorts up to 60 seconds, product spots, UGC-style ads and launch videos. One approval gives wide 16:9, vertical 9:16 and square 1:1, never watermarked.

AI video still gets some things wrong, such as hands, small text and exact product details, so check the storyboard line by line. We do not claim an AI ad matches a filmed one. See pricing for current numbers, and the agencies page if you make ads for clients.

FAQ

How long is a commercial?

Most TV commercials are 15, 30 or 60 seconds, and 30 seconds has been the long-standing standard since the early 1970s. Online, shorter lengths such as 6 seconds are common, and streaming ad breaks often run 15 to 60 seconds per ad.

How many words fit in a 30-second commercial?

About 60 to 80 words if someone talks the whole time, based on a speaking pace of 100 to 150 words a minute. Most good spots use fewer and leave gaps for the pictures and music. Read yours aloud with a timer.

What are the main types of commercials?

Common types are problem and solution, testimonial, demonstration, lifestyle, comparison and slice of life. Sources group them differently, and many spots mix two of them.

What do 30-second commercial examples have in common?

One clear message, a strong opening picture, the brand shown early and again at the end, the product doing something on screen, and one action to take. Strong spots also make sense with the sound low.

What is the difference between a local and a national commercial?

A national spot usually builds the brand for a wide audience. A local spot usually asks for an action in one market, so it carries the town, the hours, a phone number or an address, and it is often cheaper to make.

How do you turn a 30-second commercial into a 15 or a 6?

Rebuild it rather than speed it up. A 15 keeps the hook, the product and the action in about five or six shots. A 6 keeps the product up close, one benefit and the logo in three shots.

Sources

• Voicecrafters, how long a TV commercial should be (standard lengths, word counts, why 30 seconds won): https://www.voicecrafters.com/blog/how-long-should-a-tv-commercial-be/
• Wikipedia, TV advertisements by country (average length in the 1950s to 1970s, 15-second spots, Super Bowl 30-second price as of February 2022): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_advertisements_by_country
• Wikibooks, Advertising/Television (execution styles: slice, talking person, demo and its sub-types): https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Advertising/Television
• The Spark House, most effective types of TV commercials (demonstration, testimonial, problem and solution): https://thesparkhouse.com/most-effective-types-of-tv-commercials/
• Open University, marketing communications in the digital age (slice of life, demonstration, comparative styles): https://www.open.edu/openlearn/money-business/marketing/marketing-communications-the-digital-age/content-section-4.1
• Google, creative best practices for YouTube ads (ABCD and the reported lifts; 6-second bumper series): https://business.google.com/us/think/future-of-marketing/creative-best-practices-youtube-ads/
• Charles Young, WARC/Admap, why TV spot length matters (2008): https://www.warc.com/content/article/why_tv_spot_length_matters/88665
• National Media Spots, benefits of local television advertising: https://nationalmediaspots.com/what-are-the-benefits-of-local-television-advertising/