Manifesto examples.
A brand manifesto is the voiceover of a brand film: short lines that say what the brand believes, read out loud over the pictures, with the name landing once at the end. It picks a fight or raises a toast. It never lists benefits.
Use it when a brand film needs a voice, not a list of benefits.
Written for Straight Face
Good question.
Straight Face is a sample 0.0% lager. One plain request in Nutcracker, “Write a manifesto voiceover for a Straight Face brand film,” and the script as it came back on 14 November 2026.
Hear it read · 0:39
Voiced in the same chat after “Now record the voiceover so we can hear it,” then once more in a voice that fits the brand. Unedited.
I’m on antibiotics. I’m on a cleanse. I’m doing Dry January. In August. I’m training for a marathon I haven’t signed up for. I’m driving a guy who lives forty minutes the wrong way. I have a 7 a.m. with people who say “let’s circle back.” I lost a bet. I saw the light.
All that, just to hold a cold beer without a press conference.
I didn’t quit anything. I just wanted a lager. Brewed full-strength. Rested six weeks. Alcohol removed cold so it keeps the bite.
So when they look at the can and ask, “Why a zero?”
Good question.
Straight Face.
Six that ran.
Six kinds of manifesto, each with a film that aired. Pick one kind and stay in it: a script that mixes two goes soft.
The toast
Name a tribe and raise a glass to it. The brand stands beside them and takes no credit.
“Here’s to the crazy ones.”
Apple, “Think Different” · TBWA\Chiat\Day, 1997
It never shows a computer. It lists the people the buyer wants to be counted with, and the logo arrives last. The law of nature
Put the hero inside things that always happen: the sun rises, bakers bake, and the hero does his thing as surely.
“This is the way it was. This is the way it is. This is the way it will be.”
Nike, “Count on Kobe” · Wieden+Kennedy, 2013
Every line pairs a fact of nature with Kobe Bryant, so by the end his work sounds as fixed as the weather, and funny with it. The reply
Say the doubt out loud, at full strength, then answer it.
“What does this city know about luxury?”
Chrysler, “Imported from Detroit” · Wieden+Kennedy, 2011
It opens with the sneer people already had about Detroit and its cars, and spends two minutes earning the answer: more than most. The confession
First person, owning the trait the world condemns. The brand backs the trait.
“Am I a bad person?”
Nike, “Winning isn’t for everyone” · Wieden+Kennedy, 2024
The voice lists every ugly thing a champion is and asks you to judge. Nobody who wants to win answers yes. The order
Commands in the second person, each one bigger than the last.
“Don’t save your best for the weekend.”
Axe, “Monday” · BBH London, 2014
It coaches a man through the worst day of the week like a halftime speech, each order more absurd than the last, until a body spray sounds like a weapon. The anti-manifesto
Mock the genre to get out of it. It only works when the product can carry the film alone.
“There’s your manifesto.”
Jeep, “Anti-Manifesto” · Arnold Worldwide, 2018
One long shot of a Wrangler crossing a river, under a voice that laughs at car ads with grand speeches. The car makes the speech.
Take the name off.
Cover the brand at the end. If what is left isn’t an argument worth making, the name was doing all the work.
Three more before you show anyone
Read it aloud
Each line lands on its last word. A line you run out of breath on gets cut.
Shoot the nouns
A director could film every noun. “Freedom” can’t be filmed; a guy who lives forty minutes the wrong way can.
Say the belief
After one watch, could someone say what the brand believes in one sentence?
Cross these out.
The morning after
“No hangover. Own your morning.”Most non-alcoholic ads sell the morning after by making alcohol look like a mistake. That breaks the rule against shaming people who drink and turns the beer into a recovery tool instead of something you actually want in your hand.
The wellness sermon
“Choose better / Live clear / A healthier way to celebrate.”Wellness-sermon copy frames the buyer as someone who quit or is on a self-improvement kick. Straight Face is for people who just wanted a lager, not people announcing a lifestyle change.
Almost beer
“All the taste, zero compromise.”Standard “almost beer” language. The word “compromise” reminds people they are giving something up, which reinforces the exact apology the brand is trying to kill.
The trial
“You don’t need alcohol to have a good time.”Defensive and preachy. It puts the drinker on trial and invites an argument, whereas “Good question.” drops the defense completely.
The warm-up
“In a world where…” or “At Straight Face, we believe…”Soft manifesto throat-clearing. Opening with a sweeping setup or a brand claim gives away the punchline before the deadpan tone has a chance to work.
Run it on your brand.
Give Nutcracker the brand and the film. It picks one kind of manifesto, finds the phrase that drives it, and writes the script to be read aloud. Ask another AI for its own take on the same brief. 7 days free.
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