The science is clear: when your brand gets hit with an unfair insult, using it can make you look more confident … and boost your results.

A June 2025 study from researchers at UW-Milwaukee, Hong Kong, and Duke found that brands who reuse irrelevant or unfair insults in their ads can lift click-through rates by as much as 27%.

Wild, right? But why?

Because confidence is magnetic.
Denying an insult looks defensive (and guilty).
Ignoring it looks passive (and also guilty).

OWNING it looks bold.

When the Carolina Hurricanes were called “a bunch of jerks,” they put it on T-shirts and made nearly $900K.

A small restaurant accused of “satanic activity” sold $15K in merch.

Even MTV saw interest jump 25% when it leaned into being “overly dramatic.”

The important catch: the insult has to come from someone who isn’t vulnerable.

Punch up, never down.

For product makers, there’s opportunity here:

If people tease your design, your packaging, your “weird” feature or your team uniforms … milk it!

Spotlight it with humor.

Turn the jab into your hook.

It signals warmth, capability, and absolute confidence in what you’ve built.

And confidence is contagious.

Want to make your product irresistible? That’s what we do as product marketing consultants at Graphos Product, helping innovators turn need-driven ideas into market-ready successes.