GoodRx is taking savings to the Wild West in its latest spot, “The Savings Wrangler”, a :30 Western-themed romp where a sharp-tongued prairie dog joins forces with a larger-than-life hero, the Savings Wrangler (played by Kristin Carey), who literally rides a horse into a pharmacy to round up deals on prescriptions.
Directed by Ben Becker, co-founder of the newly launched creative studio Ad-Like Objects, the campaign leans into surreal humor with an unexpectedly grounded touch. Every detail brings the absurd premise to vivid, memorable life and it has quickly emerged as the campaign’s top performer.
Here’s what iSpot’s Creative Assessment platform revealed on actual viewer response to the :30 spot.
The Details:
- Of the three new GoodRX spots, the :30 “The Savings Wrangler” was the most persuasive, convincing an above-norm 52% of all viewers to consider the brand (vs a past-year health & fitness norm of 42%):
- The :15 spots each posted a Top 2 Box intent rate of 45%.
- “The Savings Wrangler” :30 was a clear winner, significantly outperforming category norms across all key creative performance metrics. The spot was particularly strong in grabbing Attention and being easy to watch (95th percentile), being Likeable (92nd percentile), and creating Desire (88th percentile):
- The creative elements were the most memorable aspects for viewers. The visual scenes (20%) and characters (17%) were most frequently named the “Single Best Thing” about the ad. The characters, in particular, resonated at more than double the category norm (7%), indicating the “Savings Wrangler” and her posse could be a powerful creative asset.
- The primary emotional response to the ad lay in the humor with the Funny tone helping drive the ad’s high Likeability and Watchability scores (making the ad highly engaging and enjoyable for many viewers).
- Unaided recall of 78% outpaced health & fitness benchmarks by +7 pts, and the ad successfully translated high engagement into motivation. Top 2 Box purchase intent was significantly above benchmark (52% vs. 42%), signaling that the creative was both entertaining and persuasive.
- The ad resonated very well across almost all demographics but met norms among males 21-35; the humor or creative approach may not have connected as strongly with this specific audience.
- The creative elements were the most memorable aspects for viewers. The visual scenes (20%) and characters (17%) were most frequently named the “Single Best Thing” about the ad. The characters, in particular, resonated at more than double the category norm (7%), indicating the “Savings Wrangler” and her posse could be a powerful creative asset.
- Second-by-second trace results confirm lower engagement among younger males (although the prairie dog earned a boost):
- With more than half of all viewers either unfamiliar or considerers of the brand, cementing the benefit could be key to driving even higher intent:
- Viewer sentiment on the :30 creative reveals that the cute talking prairie dog/groundhog and horse were popular elements that helped Attention and Likeability, but the Western theme sparked some viewer disagreement (as likely expected). Many enjoyed the western vibe and found it entertaining but others felt it was “tired,” “irrelevant,” or didn’t connect to prescription savings.
- Still, the humorous approach was generally found memorable and engaging and helped make the brand more approachable, with the message of cost savings delivered for most viewers.
- For some, the concept overshadowed the product or message and some were frustrated with the long wait for a clear brand ID.
- Viewer sentiment on the :30 creative reveals that the cute talking prairie dog/groundhog and horse were popular elements that helped Attention and Likeability, but the Western theme sparked some viewer disagreement (as likely expected). Many enjoyed the western vibe and found it entertaining but others felt it was “tired,” “irrelevant,” or didn’t connect to prescription savings.
Sample comments on “The Savings Wrangler” :30
“Appreciated them getting the point across of the prices of medications being pretty much outrageous, but in a way that was relatable or drew in your attention better with the Western feel and play on words.”
Female 21-35
“I don’t think this ad was very relatable as someone who buys prescriptions. It had the wrong themes. It only showed the brand name for a few seconds at the end.”
Male 21-35
“The characters got my attention as well as the horse. But I was too focused and chuckling over the animals/characters. I think it was about prescription savings. Lol.”
Female 36-49
“The ad was pretty clear about what it was for and caught my attention by immediately starting with a known problem.”
Male 21-35
“Love the way that they use Western storytelling to get their point across. This really drove home for me.”
Male 36-49
“The ad provides information about its service of lowering medication cost and telling you where the best place to get your medication is. Everyone can relate to the need for this program.”
Female 36-49
“It was a good ad and very appealing to someone like me, but I am a fan of Westerns and I don’t think everybody is a fan of Westerns.”
Male 50+
“I hate cowboys and Western themes, and it didn’t relate to the actual brand. However, the animal was cute. He stole the show. This didn’t make me anymore interested in GoodRX.”
Female 36-49
“The ad is gimmicky and that makes it less believable. That’s not the word I’m looking for. It takes away the implied value of GoodRX.”
Female 36-49
“It was a funny ad that shows how you can lower your prices at the pharmacy.”
Male 21-35
“I thought the idea of the product was persuasively interesting and wanted to learn more from the product.”
Male 36-49
- Encouragingly, the :30 “The Savings Wrangler” enjoyed a broad audience across income and ethnicity as well, supporting an increase in budget behind this spot, if possible:
- Our iSpot media measurement reports an appropriate favoring of the :30 “The Savings Wrangler” on national linear TV since 9/1/25 (through 10/1/25), with the spot also favored on streaming.
- An above-norm Attention Index signals that media placements are delivering above-average audiences.
- Our iSpot media measurement reports an appropriate favoring of the :30 “The Savings Wrangler” on national linear TV since 9/1/25 (through 10/1/25), with the spot also favored on streaming.
- Second-by-second trace results show quickly declining engagement at the brand benefit screen especially among viewers of the :15 cuts, underscoring the opportunity to improve legibility/delivery of this key creative aspect:
- Editing this screen via larger text and/or audio narration, to make this a more central takeaway and drive higher intent, could be considered.
With “The Savings Wrangler” :30, GoodRx proves that bold storytelling and a wink of humor can turn savings into a spectacle. The Western-inspired spot lassoed strong recall, high intent, and big laughs, showing that when creativity feels a little bit absurd in the right way, audiences stay hooked.
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Creative Agency: Pereira O’Dell