# Best Facebook Ads Examples: 19 Ads Brands Kept Running (2026)
> 19 real Facebook ads from Liquid Death, Duolingo, boAt, Dot & Key, Airbnb and more, grouped by what they do in the first second, with what to steal from each.
- **Author**: Laveena
- **Published**: 2026-09-19
- **Category**: Creative strategy
- **URL**: https://marxx.ai/posts/best-facebook-ads-examples
---
Search "best Facebook ads" and you'll get a gallery of screenshots with an opinion under each one. Nobody tells you whether the ad worked.
This list uses a different test. Every example comes from the Marxx ad library, and every one was picked because **the brand kept paying to run it.** An ad that stays live for 200, 400 or 600+ days is one the advertiser believes in. We don't have anyone's CTR or ROAS, and we won't invent them. How long an ad ran, and how many copies of it ran at once, is the proof we can show.
The 19 ads are grouped by **what they do in the first second**, because on a Facebook feed that's the only second you're guaranteed.
## TL;DR
- The ads brands keep running win the first second in one of six ways: name a problem, lead with an offer, show proof, look like content, break the pattern, or catch a moment.
- 13 of the 19 are vertical (9:16). Only 5 are square, and 1 is landscape. The feed has moved to full-screen.
- Video and image split almost evenly (10 video, 9 image). Format didn't decide which ads lasted. The first-second idea did.
- The longest runners rarely lead with a discount. Where there's an offer, it's usually a small, specific one (INR 69 engraving, a free birthday ticket) rather than a big percentage off.
- The strongest signal of a winner is scale: the same creative run as many near-identical copies (Licious 30, Timezone 16).
## The 19 ads at a glance
| # | Brand | Market | Format | First-second device | Proof it was backed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sleepy Owl | India | Image | Names the problem | Still live after 425 days |
| 2 | Calm | Global | Image | Names the moment, adds a number | Ran 240 days |
| 3 | Grammarly | Global | Video | Names a social fear | Ran 357 days |
| 4 | Duolingo | Global | Image | "Free" | Ran 181 days |
| 5 | boAt | India | Video (3s) | INR 69 add-on | Still live after 521 days, 2 copies |
| 6 | Wonderla | India | Image | Free birthday ticket | Ran 163 days |
| 7 | Canva | Global | Image | A customer's logo | Ran 337 days |
| 8 | Licious | India | Image | One number | Still live after 157 days, 30 copies |
| 9 | Airbnb | Global | Video | Guest reviews | Still live after 345 days, 4 copies |
| 10 | AG1 | Global | Video | A famous face | Still live after 219 days |
| 11 | HelloFresh | Global | Video | "Do NOT order" | Ran 141 days |
| 12 | Dot & Key | India | Video | Result first, from a creator | Ran 647 days |
| 13 | Dave & Buster's | US | Video | A local creator's tip | Ran 51 days |
| 14 | Bombay Shaving Company | India | Video | A creator skit | Ran 134 days |
| 15 | Snow Kingdom | India | Video | A visitor on the mic | Ran 91 days, the whole summer |
| 16 | Liquid Death | Global | Image | Doom-joke scarcity | Ran 461 days |
| 17 | The Souled Store | India | Image | A fake AirDrop popup | Ran 236 days |
| 18 | Gymshark | Global | Video | Motion in frame one | Ran 406 days |
| 19 | Timezone | India | Image | The birthday itself | Still live after 289 days, 16 copies |
"Still live" means running on 19 September 2026, when this list was pulled. Videos below play in the page; tap to unmute.
---
## Ads that start with the problem
The fastest way to be relevant is to say the exact thing the viewer is already thinking. These ads name the problem before they name the product.
### 1. Sleepy Owl: the one reason you'd skip a coffee
**India - Image - Still live after 425 days - CTA: Shop now**
The card says "Coffee without the crash" over the decaf pack. The copy repeats the same worry in the viewer's words: *"Love coffee but not the late-night buzz? Our decaf's got you!"*
**Why it stops the thumb:** It names the one reason a coffee lover says no to an evening cup. The product isn't pitched as better coffee. It's pitched as the fix for that one objection.
**Steal this:** There's no discount, and it has been live for over 14 months. When the problem framing is sharp enough, you don't need a price hook. The image and the copy say the same thing twice, so the ad works even if only one gets read.
### 2. Calm: the 2 a.m. moment, with a number behind it
**Global - Image - Ran 240 days (a twin ran the same 240) - CTA: Learn more, to a quiz**
"Every night, a new fight for rest," five illustrated sleep monsters, and a button: "Take the sleep type check". The headline adds the proof: *"Join 180M+ Users Sleeping Better."* The copy opens: *"Too wired to sleep? We get it."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** Bright pink cartoon monsters don't look like a meditation-app ad. "Too wired to sleep?" is the exact thought someone scrolling at night is having.
**Steal this:** The click goes to a quiz, not the app store. A quiz asks for a small commitment first and qualifies the user before the install. If your product has "types" of customers, let them find out which one they are.
### 3. Grammarly: the social fear, not the feature
**Global - Video - Ran 357 days - CTA: Install now**
A man typing on his phone at his desk. The copy leads with the fear, not the feature: *"Don't let incorrect word usage and grammar mistakes send mixed messages."* Then the fix: suggestions "in every app as you type", free.
**Why it stops the thumb:** Nobody wants a grammar tool. Everyone is scared of sending the wrong message to their boss. The ad sells the second thing.
**Steal this:** Find the social cost of your problem (looking careless, looking cheap, looking late) and lead with that. This was Grammarly's longest-running video, which makes it the control every new version has to beat.
---
## Ads that lead with the offer
An offer can be the hook, but the ones that last are small, specific and easy to understand in one glance.
### 4. Duolingo: one word answers the first objection
**Global - Image - Ran 181 days - CTA: Install now**
The card is almost empty: "practice your english skills", the owl, the logo. The headline does the selling: *"Free language learning."* The copy adds one claim: *"the world's #1 language learning app."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** The owl is instantly recognised, and "free" removes the first reason not to tap.
**Steal this:** A famous brand can run a near-empty card, because recognition does the work. A lesser-known brand can't. The copy is what you can copy: kill the main objection in the headline, back it up with one claim in the body. This is Duolingo's longest-running English image. Its longest-running ads overall are in Korean and Japanese.
### 5. boAt: an offer that doesn't cut the price
**India - Video (3 seconds) - Still live after 521 days - 2 copies - CTA: Shop now**
Earbuds with a name engraved on the case, and the line: "Own your Ion: get personalised engraving at INR 69 only". The copy: *"Ordinary gifts are so last year! Make it personal with customized boAt earbuds for just INR 69."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** A name on the product makes people picture their own name there. The whole ad is 3 seconds long, so the offer is delivered before anyone can scroll away.
**Steal this:** The offer is a cheap add-on, not a discount. It gives people a reason to pick boAt over a rival at the same price without teaching them to wait for a sale. boAt has three more "Own your Ion" versions running, each live for over 300 days.
### 6. Wonderla: a free ticket that sells a group
**India - Image - Ran 163 days - CTA: Book now**
"Ride free this birthday month!" over a roller coaster, in bold brand colours. The copy: *"Celebrate your birthday month with a free ticket, exciting rides and a full day of fun."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** "Ride free" is the first thing you read. If it's your birthday month, the ad is suddenly about you.
**Steal this:** Only the birthday person rides free. Nobody goes to a theme park alone, so every free ticket brings paying friends and family with it. The birthday month also gives the offer a deadline without a countdown timer. Wonderla ran the same idea in several versions over the same months (buy-one-get-one, free ticket), each for around 144 to 163 days.
---
## Ads that let proof do the talking
These ads borrow trust from someone else: a customer, a crowd, a number or a famous face.
### 7. Canva: a customer's logo is the headline
**Global - Image - Ran 337 days - CTA: Learn more, to the case study**
A quote card from a FedEx design lead: *"Canva enables us to elevate the quality and effectiveness of our visual communications."* The copy lists three outcomes: consistency, faster localisation, quicker approvals.
**Why it stops the thumb:** FedEx is a name every marketing lead recognises. The logo does the trust work before anyone reads the quote.
**Steal this:** Canva ran matching case-study cards for Salesforce and Expedia over the same 337 days. That makes it a series, not a one-off: one template, a different customer each time. The click goes to the case study, not a pricing page, which suits a buyer who isn't ready to talk to sales yet. For B2B, see [Marxx for agencies](/for/agencies).
### 8. Licious: one number, 30 copies
**India - Image - Still live after 157 days - 30 near-identical copies - CTA: Learn more**
"95+ varieties of Fish & Seafood, all in one place!" over a spread of fresh fish. The headline: *"We're now Open! Come visit us!"* The copy answers the main worry about buying meat: *"fresh, not frozen."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** One specific number proves range faster than any list of products.
**Steal this:** 30 copies of one creative is the heaviest scale in this list. It looks like one master image with the store location swapped for each area. If you have many locations, build one ad that works and change only the local detail.
### 9. Airbnb: let the reviews talk
**Global - Video - Still live after 345 days - 4 copies - CTA: Book now**
The words "Top notch." grown in grass. The copy: *"Guest Favourites. The most loved homes on Airbnb, according to guests."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** Words made of grass are a visual pun that makes you look twice.
**Steal this:** "According to guests" means Airbnb isn't making the claim, its reviewers are. The click lands on search results already filtered to Guest Favourites, so the page matches the promise exactly. Airbnb runs the same line under different titles ("Top Notch", "Wave Reviews", "Gems", two French versions), all live for 345 days. **Keep the message, rotate the headline** to fight ad fatigue.
### 10. AG1: a famous face in a content format
**Global - Video - Still live after 219 days - CTA: Shop now**
Hugh Jackman by a window, titled *"Morning Thoughts With Hugh Jackman."* The on-screen text and copy go straight to the doubt people have about supplements: *"AG1 is rigorously tested for quality and third-party verified."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** A famous face in a quiet morning-routine format looks like content, not an ad.
**Steal this:** The celebrity earns the attention, but the copy doesn't waste it on hype. It answers the main objection instead. The click goes to a dedicated /hugh-jackman page, so the story continues after the tap.
---
## Ads that look like content, not ads
People scroll past ads and stop for people. These ads are shot like something a friend would post.
### 11. HelloFresh: "Do NOT order from HelloFresh"
**Global - Video (30s) - Ran 141 days - CTA: Sign up**
A woman picks up a HelloFresh box at her front door under the caption "Do NOT order from HelloFresh". The full opening line is "Do NOT order from HelloFresh until you know THIS." The "this" turns out to be the offer: *"10 free meals + free breakfast for life."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** A brand telling you not to buy it is a pattern interrupt. It opens a question people want answered.
**Steal this:** The payoff of the hook is the offer, so staying to the end delivers the reason to act. A home doorstep, real people and star ratings then handle "is it any good?" before the sign-up.
### 12. Dot & Key: show the result before the product
**India - Video (25s, Hinglish) - Ran 647 days - CTA: Learn more**
A creator opens on her own skin and asks you to look at the result, then shows the jar: "Literally gives non-stop, intense hydration for 72HR." A twin version opens with the line "This is what well hydrated skin looks like."
**Why it stops the thumb:** The first frame is the proof. You see the result before you know what's being sold.
**Steal this:** She applies it on camera, which answers the main worry for oily skin (greasiness) by showing it rather than claiming it. At 647 days, with a twin that ran 620, this is the longest-running ad in the list.
### 13. Dave & Buster's: a local creator's tip
**US - Video (60s) - Ran 51 days - CTA: Learn more**
A creator outside the venue: "VERY underrated thing to do in Cleveland 😏". The copy: *"Gonna start making all my friends come here with me hehe."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** "Underrated thing to do in [your city]" is exactly how people share recommendations. Naming a real city makes it local.
**Steal this:** It's posted from the creator's own page, so it reads as her recommendation. Dave & Buster's ran several city versions at once for its relaunch. At 51 days, its run is short compared with the rest of this list, but it's typical for this brand, whose ads mostly run 36 to 56 days. For venues, the lesson is **one creator per city**, not one national ad. More on this at [Marxx for experience venues](/for/experience-venues).
### 14. Bombay Shaving Company: a joke that makes a product sayable
**India - Video (16s, Hinglish) - Ran 134 days - CTA: Get offer**
A creator holds the trimmer up to the camera under the caption "mansik santulan update" (roughly "mental balance update"). He opens by saying he's been getting hate comments. The copy is blunt: *"Body to balls trimmers at Rs 589."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** "I've been getting hate comments" sounds like creator drama, not a brand.
**Steal this:** Some products are awkward to advertise. Humour lets the ad say the thing out loud, then run a real demo inside the joke.
### 15. Snow Kingdom: a visitor on the mic
**India - Video (58s, Hinglish) - Ran 91 days (March to June) - CTA: Book now**
A visitor in a pink jacket, holding a microphone inside the snow park, tells the camera what it's like. The copy: *"What If Summer Came With Snow? Step out of the scorching heat and into a magical world of snow!"*
**Why it stops the thumb:** A mic in someone's hand says "interview", and the snow says "not here, not in May".
**Steal this:** The heat outside is the reason to go, and the ad ran exactly as long as Indian summer does. A real visitor talking makes the escape believable in a way polished footage can't.
---
## Ads that break the pattern
These ads stop the thumb because they don't look like anything else in the feed.
### 16. Liquid Death: doom as a sales tool
**Global - Image - Ran 461 days - CTA: Shop now**
A black-on-black watch with "Liquid Death x Nixon" and "Time is running out: Death Clock III". The headline: *"Get it now or regret everything forever."* The copy: *"Attach it to your wrist for eternity before they're gone forever."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** Nothing else in the feed talks like that. The over-the-top tone is the pattern interrupt.
**Steal this:** The joke carries a real message: this is a limited collaboration and it will run out. A strong brand voice can make scarcity feel fun instead of pushy. It ran over 15 months without a discount.
### 17. The Souled Store: an AirDrop popup
**India - Image - Ran 236 days - CTA: Shop now**
An AirDrop notification reading "We put this on a t-shirt", with the tee's graphic as the file being shared and an "Add to cart" button.
**Why it stops the thumb:** A phone popup is one of the few things people are trained to stop and read.
**Steal this:** The product is the thing being "sent", so the hook and the product are the same. The Souled Store launched a Notes-app version the same day, and both ran 236 days. Borrowing the look of phone apps is a system for them, not a one-off.
### 18. Gymshark: motion in the first frame
**Global - Video (28s) - Ran 406 days - CTA: Shop now**
An athlete mid bench press in a matching red set. No text needed. The copy speaks gym language: *"The gym is our happy place. The gym glow hits different."*
**Why it stops the thumb:** Movement in the very first frame catches the eye before any words are read, and the red set is the brightest thing on screen.
**Steal this:** The product is being worn and worked in, so the demo is the ad. Gymshark ran a men's version for the same 406 days, and the click goes to a gender-specific "must-have" collection.
---
## Ads that catch a moment
The best timing isn't a time of day. It's a moment in someone's life when they're about to decide.
### 19. Timezone: the birthday party, not the arcade
**India - Image - Still live after 289 days - 16 near-identical copies - CTA: Book now, to a lead form**
A polaroid of a kids' birthday party at the venue: "Turn your special day into something unforgettable. Host your birthday party at Timezone."
**Why it stops the thumb:** A parent planning a party sees their own problem solved in one photo.
**Steal this:** The ad doesn't sell games. It sells the one occasion parents have to plan, and the click goes to a party enquiry form, not a ticket page. 16 copies running for 289 days is one of the strongest signals in this list that an ad keeps producing leads. If you run a venue, see [Marxx for experience venues](/for/experience-venues).
---
## What the ads that last have in common
| Pattern | Seen in | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| The first second says one thing | All 19 | If you can't say what the first frame does in five words, it does nothing. |
| Problem before product | Sleepy Owl, Calm, Grammarly | Say the objection or the fear in the viewer's words. |
| Small, specific offers | boAt, Wonderla, Duolingo | INR 69 engraving or a free birthday ticket, not "up to 50% off". |
| Proof from someone else | Canva, Airbnb, Licious, AG1 | Let a customer, a review, a number or a famous face make the claim. |
| Shot like a post, not an ad | HelloFresh, Dot & Key, D&B, BSC, Snow Kingdom | Real people, real places, phone framing. |
| Scale the winner | Licious (30), Timezone (16), Airbnb (4) | When an ad works, copy it across locations and audiences. |
| Rotate the headline, keep the idea | Airbnb, Canva, Wonderla | Refresh the wrapper to fight fatigue, not the message. |
## Image, video or carousel?
| Format | Use it when | Examples here |
|---|---|---|
| Image | One idea can be read in one glance: an offer, a number, a quote, a popup | Sleepy Owl, Licious, Canva, Souled Store, Timezone |
| Short video (under 30s) | The proof is movement or a result you have to see | boAt (3s), Gymshark, Dot & Key, BSC |
| Longer video (30 to 60s) | A person has to tell the story | HelloFresh, Snow Kingdom, Dave & Buster's |
| Carousel | The message has parts: a range, a sequence, an offer to explain | See our [16 best carousel ads](/blog/best-carousel-ads-facebook-instagram-examples) |
Across these 19 ads, 13 were vertical (9:16). If you're still making square ads first, you're designing for a feed that's shrinking.
## Common Facebook ad mistakes
- **A first frame that needs the copy to make sense.** Most people never read the copy. The visual has to work on its own.
- **Leading with a big discount.** It gets clicks and trains people to wait for a sale. None of the longest runners here leads with a big percentage off.
- **A landing page that tells a different story.** Airbnb's filtered search, AG1's celebrity page and Calm's quiz all continue the ad's promise.
- **Testing words instead of ideas.** The brands above tested angles (problem, proof, creator, moment), not synonyms.
- **Killing a winner too early.** Several ads here ran for over a year. If it's still working, scale it before you replace it.
## A checklist before you launch
1. What does the first second do: problem, offer, proof, content, pattern break or moment?
2. Would the first frame work with the sound off and the copy unread?
3. Is it vertical?
4. If there's an offer, what's its job: the hook, the reward, or the push over the line?
5. Does the landing page continue the same story?
6. What's the next test: a different angle, audience or occasion?
## How to find the ads your competitors keep running
Every ad in this post came from Marxx. We pulled each brand's image and video ads, sorted them by how long they'd been live, and checked how many near-identical copies were running. That's the quickest way to separate a brand's real winners from its one-week experiments.
You can do the same for your own category:
- [Competitor tracking](/features/competitor-tracking): follow any brand's live ads and see which ones they keep running.
- [Creative intelligence](/features/creative-intelligence): break any ad down into its hook, offer, emotion and audience.
- [AI Ad Analyzer](/ai-ad-analyzer): check your own first frame before you spend on it.
Running ads for clients? See [Marxx for agencies](/for/agencies), or [book a demo](/book-a-demo).
## FAQs
### What makes a Facebook ad good?
A first second that stops the scroll, one clear idea, and a landing page that continues the same story. The strongest proof that an ad is good is that the brand keeps paying to run it for months.
### Should Facebook ads be images or videos?
Both work. In this list of 19 long-running ads, 10 were videos and 9 were images. Pick the format that shows your idea fastest: an image for an offer, number or quote, and a video when the proof is movement or a person talking.
### What size should Facebook ads be?
Vertical 9:16 (1080 x 1920) covers Stories and Reels and was the most common size in this list. Use 4:5 (1080 x 1350) or 1:1 (1080 x 1080) for feed-only images.
### How long should a Facebook video ad be?
As short as the idea allows. The boAt ad here is 3 seconds long and has been live for over 17 months. Longer videos (30 to 60 seconds) worked when a real person was telling the story.
### How long should you run a Facebook ad?
As long as it keeps performing. Several ads here ran for over a year, and Dot & Key's ran 647 days. Refresh the headline or first frame when results drop, before you throw out the idea.
### How can I see which Facebook ads my competitors are running?
Use an ad intelligence tool that shows how long each ad has been live and how many copies are running. In [Marxx](/features/competitor-tracking), you can sort any brand's ads by longest running.
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