Wishful thinking isn’t strategy: A lesson in bad PR messaging

A new run of TV ads for TikTok has caught my attention. It wasn’t just the heartwarming storyline or the high production values that piqued my interest. 

It was the messaging and a sense that these ads were trying to reframe something.

We’re shown people who passed their A-levels thanks to TikTok and people reconnecting with elderly relatives. They are, essentially, Dairy Milk-style ads: designed to make you feel something warm and wholesome. 

In fairness, you might even ask why I was caught off guard by the messaging at all. The message the ads are trying to land couldn’t be any less subtle: TikTok makes the world better.

Now, you may detect a slight note of scepticism in my tone — and you would be absolutely right. 

Because, I 100% understand why this campaign exists — TikTok is under pressure.

TikTok is accused of being harmfully addictive. It is accused of being a tool for Chinese spying. It has been accused of facilitating suicides. And, of course, hovering over all of this is the potential for more countries to follow Australia’s lead and enact under-16s social media bans.

So when people (not just me) think of TikTok, they think of all of that stuff — not “ah yes, the platform that changed someone’s life”.

That is not to say that TikTok can only ever be allowed to create ads that amount to expensive mea culpas. But here’s the problem: the ads feel fundamentally disconnected from how most people actually experience the platform.

Because the really stupid thing is that what most people experience isn’t negative. Nearly two billion people use TikTok every month. They’re laughing. They’re learning the choreography to a dance they’ll never perform in public. They’re discovering new music. They’re arguing about Premier League VAR decisions. They’re watching strangers renovate kitchens at 2 am.

And that’s genuinely great! I may be a grumpy old cynic, but that sounds like a whole lot of people having a whole lot of fun. 

Of course, that doesn’t make the negative stuff vanish, but that’s not something to be ashamed of. Yes, it is still vital that the brand improves its public perception. But the actual ads they’ve made are poor messaging because there is nothing in them that feels truthful. 

TikTok isn’t a public service broadcaster. It isn’t a mental health charity. It isn’t a revision guide. Nor should it be. And nor does it need to be. So why reach so hard for “heart-warming” and “worthy”?

Why not make a virtue of what your platform is rather than try to pretend you’re something you’re not? Why not celebrate the creativity, the chaos, the absurdity, the culture-shaping energy? Why not own the joy?

Surely that would be more authentic and more memorable? It would almost certainly be more persuasive to sceptics like me.

It goes to show why messaging is so hard to get right. 

PR messaging isn’t about wish fulfilment. Too often, companies start with the message they want to communicate, rather than interrogating how they are already perceived — and what they actually need to shift in the minds of their audience.

In other words, ‘good messaging’ isn’t just saying more loudly what you’d like the market to believe. Strategy matters. Get that wrong, and even the slickest campaign will feel slightly off.

Not necessarily offensive. Not outrageous. Just off. And that’s enough to undermine your credibility and render your campaign useless. 

Whether you’re a global social media giant or a fast-growing B2B tech company trying to define your place in a crowded market, that's the crucial lesson.