Why disturbing mobile ads work and how to succeed without them

Alexandra Pulinets is a creative strategist at AppAgent

Mobile game ads have a bit of a reputation problem. Just look at the 165,000-member Reddit community, r/shittymobilegameads, or the growing number of YouTube influencers gaining followers by roasting and critiquing “shitty” mobile game ads.

But when does a mobile ad cross the line from grabbing attention to being offensive, low-quality, or outright inappropriate for younger viewers?

I thought about this during a recent car ride with a friend and their 4-year-old daughter. Like most kids, she gets restless on long trips, so her parents give her their phone to play games. 

I couldn’t resist peeking at her screen. Her routine was simple: a few minutes of hyper-casual gameplay, followed by a 30-second ad, then back to the game. Whenever an ad popped up, she’d hand the phone to her mom to skip it – as she wasn’t old enough to read the prompts herself.

Sometimes, though, she didn’t even realise she was watching an ad. 

I’ve seen these types of mobile game ads countless times in analytics libraries: families freezing in broken houses, babies left in dumpsters, and much, much worse. It’s nothing surprising for someone in the mobile gaming industry, but watching a child absorb this content felt completely different.

Let me give you an example – one you definitely wouldn’t want popping up on your child’s phone. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to see this ad on anyone’s phone, especially without consent or at least a content warning. 

Here’s that warning now: the clip below includes disturbing content, including animal violence. If that’s something you’d rather avoid, stop reading here – it only gets worse.

There’s a lot to unpack in just this one ad. But let’s start with a simple question: why are mobile ads like this being made in the first place?

Why are disturbing mobile ads created?

Click-through-rate (CTR) is the driving metric behind these ads, which shamelessly lean on the WTF effect. To boost CTR and increase visibility, they tap into our darker instincts – curiosity about cruelty, drama, shock, and other intense, often negative emotions. These triggers spike our adrenaline and dopamine, giving viewers a fleeting sense of heightened awareness.

Shock is especially effective at snapping people out of their “scrolling coma.” After hours of scrolling through algorithmically-tailored content, something bright, disturbing, or unexpected catches your eye. 

You click to make sense of it and confirm it’s real – though often, it’s not. But by then, the ad networks have logged your click, and marketers have earned a better ranking. 

High engagement is the key to a winning ad, so the mobile industry continues to iterate on this formula.

Disturbing themes in mobile ad creatives

Mobile game ads often rely on a few dramatic and controversial themes to grab attention and boost CTR. Here are some of the most common tropes you’ll encounter:

1. Pregnancy & childbirth

These ads aren’t focused on showcasing the miracle of childbirth–they often depict extreme and unsettling scenarios involving pregnancy.

Examples include pregnant characters or animals being cast away, death during childbirth, and abusive relationships (both physical and mental) during pregnancy. 

Some ads even explore the concept of “baby trapping,” in which one character is forced to stay in a harmful situation due to their pregnancy. 

2. Cheating

Infidelity is another common trope you’ll find in mobile game ads. These include scenarios where a man leaves a woman for being unattractive or unhygienic, or where cheating is caught in the act – sometimes even involving animals. 

Some of these ads even focus on the emotional struggle of contemplating or succumbing to the temptation to cheat, while others showcase revenge plots for the betrayal.

3. Disgust

Many ads are intended to provoke a visceral reaction, which causes viewers to engage in curiosity, discomfort, or disgust.

One of the most common ways to elicit these intense emotions is by using content that features vomiting, farting, and, let’s just say, toilet scenarios- every (and I mean every) bodily fluid imaginable has been exploited.

4. Sex

Spend any time looking through a mobile ad analytics library, and you’re sure to encounter some grotesque sexual scenarios.

Sexuality is often exaggerated or objectified in mobile game ads, with themes like fetishes (e.g., foot fetishes, macrophilia, and bondage), hyper-sexualised portrayals of women as prizes, and predatory dynamics involving non-consensual acts or extreme age gaps. Yikes.

5. Violence, suffering, and death

Much like the games themselves, violence in ads isn’t just a backdrop, it’s a central element of the story. 

Many mobile game ads include extreme scenes of blood, weaponry, bone-breaking, dismemberment, and even beatings leading to death. Like with the tropes we touched on before, the intention is to shock or provoke a reaction. 

These ads tend to glorify suffering and death, with choices like “Who dies the mother or the child?” or dire situations where characters must choose whether to heat a house or let the family freeze to death.

This isn’t an exhaustive characterisation, but you get the point. So why is this dark dopamine – this cocktail of disgust, fear, and shock – so tempting and clickable for so many people?

The psychology behind shocking and disgusting ads

Psychologists argue that disturbing imagery grabs our attention far more effectively than neutral content.

Bridget Rubenking of the University of Central Florida and Annie Lang of Indiana University theorise that this response may be rooted in evolution: we pay extra attention to disgusting things so we can remember and avoid them later. 

For example, spotting a cockroach might be unpleasant, but it’s crucial to take note of where it’s been so you can clean those areas and protect yourself from potential disease.

This built-in mechanism explains why disgusting mobile ads grab attention so easily. Their high hook rates – the percentage of viewers who stay past the first few seconds – come from tapping into our primal instincts.

But there’s more at play here. People don’t just react to disturbing content – they are often inexplicably drawn to it. Though we might not want to admit it, many of us are strangely fascinated by these ads and even crave more.

Why we can’t look away: The role of benign masochism

Nina Strohminger’s The Hedonics of Disgust provides a clue as to why we’re drawn to troubling themes: benign masochism. 

Benign masochism refers to finding pleasure in experiencing risk or discomfort while knowing you’re ultimately safe. It’s why we ride roller coasters, eat spicy food, or binge on true crime podcasts. 

My guess? It’s also why we can’t look away from horror movies – or these grotesque mobile ads.

There’s also a theory tied to learning through play. Watching disturbing content might allow us to simulate danger and rehearse survival strategies, all while staying safely behind our screens. 

Just because it works, should we use it?

Ultimately, this all boils down to one simple truth: the more something taps into our primal, evolutionary instincts, the more intense our reaction will be. 

Creatives leveraging these mechanisms are practically guaranteed to drive high CTRs, hook rates, and hold rates because they exploit what’s already hardwired within us.

But as marketers, we must ask ourselves: should we use these tactics just because they work?

Potential hazards

Let’s return to the topic we began with: kids. 

While the harmful effect of these ads isn’t limited to children, young viewers are especially vulnerable. 

As an adult, I appreciate Instagram Stories’ warnings for “potentially disturbing” content – it gives me the chance to opt-out. 

Mobile game ads, however, don’t offer that same courtesy. While I can close and reopen a game or turn my screen away, children often lack this know-how.

This is what concerns me most: the online world has always been full of risks. I grew up during the era of Happy Tree Friends and Elfen Lied, – shows that looked like cartoons but were actually meant for adults. They aired during the day, so many of us watched them thinking they were for kids. At the same time, early social networks became a space where predatory adults exploited children who were just starting to navigate the internet.

Mobile games, too, have done little to protect young users. The main safeguard? Buying an ad-free version–a solution that feels uncomfortably like blackmail.

Some publishers might argue, “But our ads are only shown to users 18+!” 

I find that hard to believe, and here’s why:

1. Kids often use their parents’ devices, meaning ads targeted to an adult profile can end up in front of younger eyes.

2. Age verification is a joke. Anyone can input a fake birthdate without verification. Let’s be honest, who hasn’t clicked “Yes, I’m 18+” without a second thought?

Sure, you could argue that “It’s the parents’ responsibility,” and you’d be partially right. But parents can’t monitor every single interaction their child has online. That’s where society – and marketers – need to step in and help ensure a safer digital environment.

A case for context, not censorship

Are we talking about self-censorship here? Yes and no.

This kind of content has its audience. Even I can find some of these ads amusing when I’m in the right mood. They can be weirdly funny, delivering a chaotic mix of emotions – sometimes positive if you don’t take them too seriously.

But here’s the crux of the issue: it’s not just about the content – it’s about the medium. 

Some ads might feel right at home on adult platforms like Pornhub or 4chan, where their exaggerated physics or edgy themes fit the context. But I don’t think anyone would argue that those same ads belong on primetime TV.

Social networks and mobile ad networks are closer to TV in terms of audience reach and diversity, meaning they should be held to similar standards. 

Let’s not pretend that just because something drives clicks, it belongs everywhere. Some creative expressions are better suited for niche platforms, not the broad, all-ages space of social or mobile gaming.

The alternative to dark dopamine

So, what’s the alternative to these shocking, attention-grabbing mobile ads? 

Letting go of “dark dopamine” metrics can feel like leaving money on the table, an understandable challenge for any company driven by profitability. 

But what if we pivoted to “good dopamine” – content that can be universally enjoyed and tap into positive emotions?

Below are some strategies you can use to create mobile game ads that hook viewers without crossing the line.

1. Create a good story with a strong hook

What many “dark dopamine” ads lack is an engaging storyline. Instead, they rely purely on shock value. 

A strong, compelling narrative can keep viewers hooked just as effectively as violence or potty humour. Sure, 30 seconds can be a tight constraint, but there are plenty of great examples that prove it’s possible:

The ads above are high-budget examples with near-Pixar-level animation, something not every publisher can afford.

The good news is a story doesn’t have to be overly complex. Even a simple, logical progression with clear motivations can significantly improve performance:

2. Use mesmerising visuals

Some visuals are impossible to look away from – think oddly satisfying. Tetris combos, kaleidoscope patterns, dominoes falling, or even Rube Goldberg machines making sunny-side-up eggs. 

This type of content satisfies the brain’s love of order, symmetry, and completion. It’s about crafting a moment viewers can’t help but enjoy.

Check out this ad that AppAgent created for Supercell’s Clash of Clans, which utilises hypnotising visuals to grab attention:

3. Evoke a sense of accomplishment

People naturally love the gratification of completing tasks. This is a staple in gaming and can work beautifully in mobile ads as well. 

Simplify existing systems, make objectives clear, and showcase that “aha!” moment when the goal is achieved.

Fake ads often tap into this with invented mechanics, like exaggerated number-based challenges. While effective, it risks backlash if these features don’t appear in-game. 

A better approach is to creatively reinterpret what’s already there to achieve the same effect. Yes, it’s more work – but isn’t that what separates us from neural networks?

4. Incorporate catchy music

A great track, synced to action, is incredibly engaging – especially in the TikTok era where sound is back in play.

Supercell’s iconic ad music often becomes standalone hits, which enhances brand appeal. Other successes, like Voodoo’s music-infused ads, show the value of a good tune. 

Even beyond mobile, who doesn’t have tracks from The Witcher, Cyberpunk, or League of Legends on their playlist? Okay, maybe I’m alone on that one.

5. Make users feel smart

People love to feel clever – whether it’s by solving a puzzle, picking the right team, or making strategic decisions. 

Mobile can replicate this feeling in a number of ways, including:

• Choices: “Which character is the stronger choice?”

• Quizzes: “What’s the capital of Texas?”

• Pathfinding: “Which route leads to treasure?”

6. Start with what feels good to you

Look, there are plenty of ways to grab attention that aren’t harmful, don’t you agree? 

As a creative leader, it’s your responsibility to inspire your team to explore these positive approaches instead of leaning toward the dark side. By setting the tone, you can encourage your team to create content that captivates without crossing ethical boundaries.

What makes you feel good? That’s often a great place to start. 

Just as we can easily tap into shock and disgust, we can channel joy, curiosity, or satisfaction. It’s all about producing these feelings in a way that connects to the game experience.

Final thoughts: The execution trap

Of course, great ideas mean nothing without great execution. Not every attempt will land, just like not every joke makes people laugh. But as creative professionals, we thrive on the challenge of crafting something truly unique and impactful.

I hope this article has shed some light on why these harmful mobile ads fascinate us and, more importantly, how to achieve the same effect in positive ways. 

As an industry, we should strive for more than pregnant wolves or freezing babies – we can, and should, do better.