PayPal’s New Musical Ad with Will Ferrell Delivers More Joy Than Category Norm

PayPal’s latest ad, which dropped Friday, was quickly put to the test on System1’s Test Your Ad platform to assess creative effectiveness and the results are in.

Featuring Will Ferrell and his unmistakable musical flair, alongside a woman clearly over his singing obsession, the return of these characters, their comedic dynamic, and a Fleetwood Mac twist are striking a chord with viewers. The ad scored 3.5 Stars, surpassing category norms, and recorded 51% Happiness, well above the 29% category average proving that Ferrell’s lyrical love for PayPal is resonating with consumers.

View the full report here.

Vanessa Chin, SVP of marketing at System1, says, "PayPal is doubling down on consistency bringing back Will Ferrell with the same playful routine, reinforcing the message that PayPal lets you pay your own way. At System1, we've seen that consistent advertising drives greater brand effects, including profit gains and increased salience. It’s exciting to see PayPal lean into this approach, and we hope Will (and his Fleetwood Mac renditions) stick around to strengthen familiarity even further.”

PayPal’s September ad set a high bar, earning 4.2 Stars, a ranking achieved by fewer than 1% of ads. To put that into perspective, System1’s average for business services, accounting, and consulting sits at 1.6 Stars, while business software, services, and payments average 1.8 Stars.