When the world gets complicated, who do you call? The answer, according to Anthropic’s latest spot, is Claude. Claude’s “Problems” :30 sells the power of its AI collaborator as a partner in complex problem-solving.
In its first multi-millions dollar campaign, Anthropic attempts to signal a clear shift from general AI novelty to utility-driven value, showing how Claude replaces the frustration of hard work with seamless, reliable AI assistance.
Here’s what iSpot’s Creative Assessment platform revealed on actual viewer response to the campaign among among American viewers 16-49.
The Details:
- As with ChatGPT’s first major ad (the Super Bowl “The Intelligence Age” :60), Americans 16-49 found Anthropic’s ad to be primarily about the visual presentation, with the music in each Claude spot standing out at a disproportionately higher rate vs the average software ad over the past year as well:
- Emotional profiling of individual viewer verbatims on the ads indicate that while each sparked Curiosity to a degree, WTF confusion also existed, along with some boredom due largely to the ‘randomness’ of the vague approach for many.
- The :30 “Problems” primary strengths were rooted in its high production value, which captured viewer interest. The ad’s cinematography, quick cuts, visual effects, and music drove mentions of being “engaged,” finding the visuals “attention-grabbing” and “cinematic.”
- When viewers understood the message, many found it inspiring and motivational, appreciating the theme of problem-solving and human resilience.
- The ad’s creative strengths were undermined by fundamental weaknesses in branding and its ability to persuade viewers. The top emotional responses of WTF and But are indicators that the ad’s narrative or message was confusing or left this audience with unanswered questions – including on what was being advertised (until the very end). This lack of clarity left viewers unclear about Claude’s purpose while some also found the scenes changing too quickly to process the message effectively.
- A smaller subsection expressed negative feelings toward AI in general, with some viewers feeling concerned about ethics or worried about AI’s impact on society and jobs.
- Emotional profiling of individual viewer verbatims on the ads indicate that while each sparked Curiosity to a degree, WTF confusion also existed, along with some boredom due largely to the ‘randomness’ of the vague approach for many.
Sample Comments on “Problems” :30 among 16-49 year-olds
“The cinematography in the advertisement was very good and caught my attention instantly along with the music.”
Male 21-35
“To be honest I have no clue what you were really marketing. Was it coding?”
Male 21-35
“If you have a problem, keep thinking with Claude AI. To never give up.”
Female 36-49
“I liked the story of the ad; how there are a lot of problems in the world but it’s the worst time to be a problem because, as was implied by the ad, people are better at solving them than ever. It didn’t really make me interested in using the actual AI service the ad was for, but I enjoyed watching that story and I found the quick-cut scenes involving.”
Female 21-35
“Very confusing. Didn’t make sense at all. Didn’t even realize it was an ad for AI until the company name at the end. Doesn’t make sense overall.”
Female 16-20
“The ad itself was very entertaining. Though I only don’t like it much because of my personal opinions about AI. But the colors and dramatic scenes were a great touch as well as showing the consumers real life problems and why we need to keep being good people and do what we are doing.”
Female 16-20
“Um, yeah, the advertisement, I guess, I mean, they have some cool pictures like other space and stuff like that, but I feel like that I was a little dull and I really don’t even know what it is that they’re trying to sell or promote, so not really that interested.”
Male 36-49
“It was a great ad with the visuals and message tying together and all fits well together with the benefits of AI described and shown.”
Male 21-35
“It was so busy that I couldn’t get the message cause the scene changed every two seconds.”
Female 16-20
“I didn’t like this ad. I liked, at first, the message about how we all have our problems to solve in the modern age and I liked where that was going, but I really lost any interest when it implied that AI was the answer.”
Male 21-35
“I liked the ad. It was a little alarming in the beginning. The cut scenes went so fast, but the overall action and message of the ad was pretty good-a lot of different problems that can be solved.”
Female 16-20
“I didn’t like it. Down and depressing, and the product makes that worse.”
Female 21-35
“Because of recent things happening, I have mixed feelings towards AI models. I’d like to be assured that the AI model is ethically sourced, has human monitoring, and has something in place to prevent it from being abused for the wrong purposes (ex: generating AI imagery before selling it off to unknowing clients).”
Female 16-20
- The :30 “Problems” performed at an at-norm level with women 16-49 but struggled a bit more among males:
- 46% of all viewers reported an increased likelihood of considering the brand (at software norms for this audience), with 14% (above-benchmark) reporting being turned off by the ad.
- However, brand recognition represents the most significant opportunity. Total brand recall was only 46%, far below the 62% norm. Viewers explicitly pointed to branding issues, with above-norm scores for finding the brand “Went By Too Fast” (15% vs. 10% norm) and for “Didn’t Recognize Name/Logo” (14% vs. 7% norm). Without effective branding, even a visually appealing ad fails to build equity for Claude AI.
- 46% of all viewers reported an increased likelihood of considering the brand (at software norms for this audience), with 14% (above-benchmark) reporting being turned off by the ad.
- Perhaps not surprisingly, the :30 was generally effective among viewers 16-49 who described themselves as earlier to average tech adopters while the short form was simply too confusing for the least tech-oriented:
- However, the longer form :90 spot brought forth more positive response from the tech stragglers.
- This suggests the opportunity for the brand to employ the :30 while targeting generally aware-to-early tech adopters, which will allow for broader exposure within this audience within budget.
- Our iSpot media measurement reports 141.5M national linear Impressions delivered against the :30 “Problems” since launch through 9/28/25. This translated into a 9.76% SOV in the software category for this period, with WhatsApp dominating.
- On streaming, Claude pulled a 7.24% share of Impressions.
- However, the longer form :90 spot brought forth more positive response from the tech stragglers.
- Relative to the ChatGPT Super Bowl ad, Anthropic’s :90 was perceived as a bit more Informative but otherwise received a very similar first-view response from the broader audience.
- Benchmarked against software advertising norms in general (past year) among 16-49’s, the strongest aspects of the first Claude campaign include the Attention-grabbing abilities of the ads (led by the visuals), and the relatability/Relevance of the positioning around problem-solving.
- Both of the brand’s spots outpaced a Perplexity :20 spot from August of this year.
- Benchmarked against software advertising norms in general (past year) among 16-49’s, the strongest aspects of the first Claude campaign include the Attention-grabbing abilities of the ads (led by the visuals), and the relatability/Relevance of the positioning around problem-solving.
- Second-by-second trace results reflect the relative success of the :30 “Problems” in engaging viewers 16-49 overall, and particularly as tech adoption increased:
Ultimately, the Claude “Problems” :30 has a genuinely strong core message but an execution that needs adjustment. While the creative successfully resonated with the target audience of early-to-mid tech adopters, the lack of clear, early branding contributed to a low unaided recall. This outcome highlights the essential lesson for all advertisers: creative must be clearly communicated and branded to translate interest into product recognition.
Schedule a demo to find out how your brand can partner with iSpot to quickly solve both challenges simultaneously, delivering high-performing creative while boosting the effectiveness of planning and in-market execution to achieve—and outperform—campaign objectives.
Creative Agency: Mother