“What you see is all there is.”

– Psychological bias coined by Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman.

Brains are lazy. We tend to only evaluate the information that’s currently presented rather than tapping into all our knowledge about the world.

Smart marketers use X vs. Y content to leverage this psychological bias.

For example, this ad for Loop earplugs:

Now, you’re only comparing Loop earplugs to the old foam ones—not the much better custom-molded earplugs.

This comparison causes you to tunnel vision on how they present the options, allowing them to control how you perceive them.

Take note of all the clever things the ad does to make the alternative look unappealing in comparison.

This is called the X vs. Y content type, where you compare two things, situations, or states of being, usually one “good” and one “bad,” with an interesting takeaway.

Usually, the “good” represents the thing you sell, either directly or indirectly.

This is easiest to understand with more examples:

X vs. Y examples

You can use X vs. Y in ads or in organic posts.

And you can either directly compare your product to competitors or indirectly compare two things related to your product.

Let’s dive into what this looks like:

Direct product comparisons:

This healthycell product is a bit odd. People expect to take a pill to help sleep, not use a tube of gel. This ad quickly demonstrates what it’s for and shows the entire pharmacy you’d have to swallow to replace it.

And this Huel ad positions the product and controls the narrative effectively by comparing a Huel meal to just instant noodles (not a home-cooked meal) on metrics it can easily crush it on:

Here I launched our ads agency for startups by comparing how most ads agencies work versus how ours works:

Indirect comparisons:

These examples don’t compare two products. Instead, they compare more complex things, but the goal is still to build intention for their product.

The most famous of course, is Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign, where instead of comparing a Mac directly with a PC, it compares the type of people who use them:

This optometry company shows how the world view you with and without glasses:

Nikolas Konstantin is a CEO Coach with a focus on mindfulness. He uses this graphic to illustrate people’s errors in how they approach health. His mindfulness coaching services are more attractive when you share that world view:

Rob’s carousel doesn’t directly compare his SEO agency to others. Instead, it sneakily highlights his values and expertise in SEO:

Ways to frame X vs Y ads/posts

• Using your product vs Not using it
• Competitor vs You
• When you do X vs Y (or don’t do X)
• Before vs. After
• Past vs. Present or Present vs. Future
• What people want vs. What they get
• What people think vs. Reality
• Group A vs. Group B
• Perspective X vs Y

There are endless ways to do this. Use the above examples to get started.

Dive into my carousel for 17 examples and their timeless marketing lessons.