TV still reaches millions. But let’s face it, we’re not living in the Mad Men era anymore.
Today’s consumers are savvier, faster to skip, and harder to impress. Attention is fragmented across platforms, and loyalty doesn’t come from being loud — it comes from being memorable.
That’s why more and more brands are turning to one of the most unexpected, high-impact ad formats out there: the fortune cookie.
It might look small. But don’t be fooled. When it comes to engagement, memorability, and ROI, the cookie is cleaning up.
Let’s break down why.
TV advertising's own numbers, as tracked by Nielsen, tell a bigger story. Linear TV viewership (a.k.a your grandpa's cable box with the local news) dipped below 50% of total TV usage for its first time in July 2023, with no signs of resurrection. Broadcast itself slumped to just 20%. Cable? Barely doing better (29.6%).
Meanwhile, streaming swooped in at 38.7% of total TV viewership, but even that space is fragmenting faster than Nielsen-measured attention spans. So much so, streaming brands themselves are turning to fortune cookie ads for some life. (Waving at you, Hulu.)
Not to mention the ad avoidance. Consumers today have more ways to skip, block, switch off, or avoid ads altogether just by paying a slight premium. Many of us even take our habitual snack or bathroom breaks just so we don't have to take in your ad break. 79% of viewers turn to their phones during commercials — and 61-66% simply tuning them out entirely.
The point? People forget TV ads in minutes, if they caught them at all.
Enter the Fortune Cookie: A Tastier Alternative
When viewers see TV commercials, they've already mastered the art of mentally checking out. But crack open a fortune cookie, and something entirely different happens. Fortunes are strategically written for a perfectly integrated bite-sized moment. Immediately, you're stitching that message to your life, that brand to your memory. No fighting for attention. No forced engagement. It just lands.
With TV and radio ads, people are being entertained by something they're actively watching or listening to, and you're interrupting it. It's hard to delight people and surprise people anymore. With OpenFortune, there's no interruption. Consumers are going into the cookie, and it's a surprise and delight, and so they're specifically engaging with your ad.
Tom Hutchison, VP of Marketing at Jockey
Think about it: How many ads actually add to your day? How many commercials feel like a natural part of good time instead of an annoying interruption?
A creative fortune cookie ad arrives at the perfect time. People are full, content, relaxed, and in the moment. Boom, now you intro your brand, but in seamless and unforced format.
That native integration is why fortune cookie campaigns boast such exceptional brand recall and activation — numbers that would make any station exec weep into their Nielsen rating quarterly.
Fortune cookie slips don't yank away consumer attention. They earn it. They show up right when people are most receptive. And because it feels like a treat, not a tactic, people remember fortunes in a positive light. They talk about it. Then they act.
It's why 20.1% of people keep their fortune slip after their meal. Even better, 36% put that slip somewhere they'll see it daily — a mirror, fridge, tucked inside their wallet. Try getting that kind of long-term brand exposure and recall from a twenty-second toothpaste ad sandwiched between yet another Office rerun.
This is real connection, real presence. A real, mouthwatering attention-economy play. Few other ad mediums come close to inspiring such instant and deep emotional connection so effortlessly.
Search-Engine Snackables & QR Code Kung Fu
It all starts with the slip. Especially when that cookie's slip includes a smartly placed, scannable QR code. Sure, TV ads can also include QRs. That's assuming your viewer pays enough attention to spot it, process it, and moves to act before it disappears.
Meanwhile, fortune cookies create a snack-sized, social-worthy experience:
Cookie slip QRs are scanned 1-2% compared to TV's mere 0.3-0.8%
Slips receive 8x more searches per QR scan
Slips get 3x more pictures snapped and shared on social
And maybe the least discussed benefit of all: Organic Search lift. Fortune cookie ads are designed to spark curiosity and discovery. Consumers are constantly pulling out their phones to search the brand on the ads & now that TikTok is Google's second biggest competitor, younger generations are turning to these bite-sized marketing moments for discovery.
When we got our first results, it was clear—they delivered. I saw pictures, comments, clicks to the website, and social shares. Everything that was supposed to happen did happen, and you don’t have to just hope people will see it.
TIm Mccoy, SVP of Ecommerce and Marketing at InTouch Credit Union
Earned Media You Can Track & Taste
Look, TV's still great at blasting your message to the masses. No argument there. But while TV's shouting from the rooftops, fortune cookie ads are whispering sweet nothings directly into consumers' ears. And let me tell you, those whispers are working magic.
Ads today need to pull double duty. They can’t just talk at people. They’ve got to talk with them, creating a two-way experience that breaks through the mundane and adds human value.
This is where fortune cookies truly shine. They create that perfect "holy crap, look at this" moment – when someone cracks open a cookie expecting generic wisdom and finds your brand message instead. It's unexpected. It's delightful. And it triggers something TV rarely can.
The result? Fortune cookie ads continually spark organic shares, viral TikTok posts, brand mentions, increased search, and both digital + IRL word-of-mouth. These tiny slips drive free earned media all from paper fitting into your palm.
Bottom line? Fortune cookies aren't some cutesy marketing gimmick. They're engagement-generating, memory-embedding, conversation-starting little miracles that complement your existing media mix with actual human connection. Maybe it's time to slip some of that fortune cookie magic between the folds of your marketing plan.
