Top hooks and ad formats this week: November 2, 2026

What led this week?

Both leaders held from last week's issue, and this time talking-head UGC was the most common named format on TikTok as well as on Meta. The rest of the week split by platform: Meta's new ads used more hooks and more formats, including acted skits and voiceover pieces, while TikTok's top ads leaned on plain product footage that fits no named format at all.

This issue counts the hooks and formats of two samples: the US ads TikTok's Creative Center ranked highest for impressions and click-through rate in the last seven days, and the most-shown active video ads that started in the last two weeks for ten consumer product and app searches in Meta's Ad Library. Each ad is labeled once, with the opening words the label was read from, and every number on this page links to the ads it counts.

Top hooks this week

A hook is how an ad opens: its first line or first seconds, the part that decides whether anyone keeps watching. Here is every hook the sample used, most common first, with its share on each platform.

The "other" row takes a larger share of TikTok's ads than of Meta's: a promo code, a recipe name, a row of hashtags, a woodworking guide's title, openings that name the product without trying to stop anyone. If you're looking for hooks to borrow, the named rows are the ones to read. For the formulas behind them, see viral hooks for TikTok and video ads.

Bold claims

A bold claim opens with a promise, a number or a flat statement: a discount, a result, a "new" or a line that dares the viewer to disagree. It led on TikTok, in 9 of 22 ads (41%), and on Meta, in 44 of 91 ads (48%).

It tells the viewer the payoff in the first line. This week's examples range from a plain sale line to a skincare brand announcing a moisturizer as breaking news. The ones that read best are specific: a named result, a discount, or a warning about money the viewer might be wasting.

• Up to 50% OFF! Clip Studio Paint is on sale now until October 15clipstudio.net on TikTok, #1 by impressions, 1,252 likes. Bold claim hook, other.Open in the TikTok Creative CenterIts row below
• this is the clip video three kinds of clips, which are really uniquechristmaslightcontractorsusa.com on TikTok, #9 by impressions, 130 likes. Bold claim hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the TikTok Creative CenterIts row below
• BREAKING NEWS: The dry spell has officially been CANCELLED!Kiehl's on Meta, #99 by impressions for “skincare”, started Oct 26, 3 versions running. Bold claim hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• Enter your new era for fast-growing, longer, and stronger hair.Nutrafol on Meta, #29 by impressions for “hair growth”, started Oct 23, 8 versions running. Bold claim hook, slideshow.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• Don't get caught paying for THIS in 2026Together We Budget on Meta, #59 by impressions for “budgeting app”, started Oct 26. Bold claim hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below

Problem callouts

A problem callout names the viewer's frustration in the first line, so the right person recognizes themselves at once. They ran mainly on Meta, in 14 of 91 ads (15%), against 1 of 22 ads (5%) on TikTok.

Fitness and money coaches, and budgeting apps, ran the most of them, with mattress, hair-care and skincare brands among the rest. The pattern is the same in each: say the problem the way the customer would say it to a friend, sore mornings, shedding hair, a budget that never sticks, and only then bring in the product.

• Stop scrolling if you're looking for comfort and sustainability!famolare.com on TikTok, #15 by impressions, 10 likes. Problem callout hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the TikTok Creative CenterIts row below
• If you ended up marrying a rotisserie chicken like me… your solution is a Tempur-PedicMattress Firm on Meta, #37 by impressions for “mattress”, started Oct 23, 3 versions running. Problem callout hook, voiceover over b-roll.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• Stop the Shedding with Pantene Abundant & StrongPantene North America on Meta, #36 by impressions for “hair growth”, started Oct 20, 4 versions running. Problem callout hook, other.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• On a GLP-1? Don't lose muscle along with the weight.Jillian Michaels on Meta, #114 by impressions for “fitness app”, started Oct 21. Problem callout hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• WISH I WOULD HAVE KNEW EARLIERChanged App on Meta, #14 by impressions for “budgeting app”, started Oct 21, 2 versions running. Problem callout hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below

Questions

A question hook asks the viewer something they want answered, so they keep watching for the answer. On TikTok it was the most common named hook after bold claims, in 3 of 22 ads (14%), and on Meta it ran in 9 of 91 ads (10%).

The questions that ran are short and a little odd: what a roommate is doing, what a small serving of calories looks like, whether you need an app at all to track your money. They work when the answer is the product, or when the viewer can't guess it without watching.

• Your singing videos are popping off? Here's what to do next.micchecktopaycheck.com on TikTok, #18 by impressions, 7 likes. Question hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the TikTok Creative CenterIts row below
• WAIT... IT BREATHES FIRE?Not Mention on TikTok, #14 by impressions, 13 likes. Question hook, other.Open in the TikTok Creative CenterIts row below
• WHAT is my roommate doing???Rocket Money on Meta, #5 by impressions for “budgeting app”, started Oct 26, 2 versions running. Question hook, skit.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• Do you really need a budgeting app to see where your money goes?The Sheet Code on Meta, #34 by impressions for “budgeting app”, started Oct 20, 9 versions running. Question hook, voiceover over b-roll.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• What does 100 calories look like?AppedietOfficial on Meta, #121 by impressions for “fitness app”, started Oct 26. Question hook, slideshow.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below

Top ad formats this week

The format is what the video looks like: who or what is on screen, and how it's shot. Here is every format the sample used.

The "other" row is the largest among TikTok's top ads: still product shots, a model posing, a coiled hose on a workbench, footage with no one speaking and no demo. On Meta the formats spread wider. Skits, acted scenes with characters, ran only there, and AI language-learning apps ran the most of them, staging a moment at an airport, a nail salon or a restaurant kitchen.

Talking-head UGC

One person speaking to the camera, filmed the way a creator would film it, was the most common named format on TikTok, in 8 of 22 ads (36%), and led on Meta, in 25 of 91 ads (27%). The settings are ordinary: a kitchen, a living room, a home gym, a bathroom.

It ran with every hook above. Big skincare brands ran it through creators holding the jar or applying the cream, and fitness and money advertisers ran it with a coach or a customer talking. For how it compares with other ways of getting the same look, see AI UGC vs creator UGC.

• Current high-protein snack obsession😋🩷greenfield natural meat on TikTok, #3 by impressions, 1,317 likes. I tried hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the TikTok Creative CenterIts row below
• bathroom transformation with OlayOlay on Meta, #83 by impressions for “skincare”, started Oct 23, 2 versions running. Bold claim hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• get unready with me after a date with my favorite @lorealparis triple power rich nightL'Oréal Paris on Meta, #93 by impressions for “skincare”, started Oct 21, 3 versions running. Bold claim hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• Menopause changes how your body builds and keeps muscleJillian Michaels on Meta, #138 by impressions for “fitness app”, started Oct 27. Problem callout hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• Want to transform your body in just a few weeks?Stndrd on Meta, #100 by impressions for “fitness app”, started Oct 19. Question hook, talking-head ugc.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below

Voiceover over b-roll

Product or lifestyle footage with a narrator or captions, and nobody speaking on camera, was the second named format, in 21 of 113 ads (19%). It ran mainly on Meta, in 20 of 91 ads (22%).

Mattress sellers used it most, with pet food, gut-health, budgeting and fitness brands close behind. With no one on camera, the hook usually sits in the captions or the post copy.

• For a limited time, see talk show host and comedian Sherri Shepherd as the Genieticketmaster.com on TikTok, #8 by impressions, 99 likes. Bold claim hook, voiceover over b-roll.Open in the TikTok Creative CenterIts row below
• When your mattress checks every green flag box for personalized comfort, support and relief—you justSleep Number on Meta, #130 by impressions for “mattress”, started Oct 20, 6 versions running. Bold claim hook, voiceover over b-roll.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• Switching to real food is easier than you think.The Farmer's Dog on Meta, #152 by impressions for “dog food”, started Oct 19. Bold claim hook, voiceover over b-roll.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• i've downloaded and deleted more budgeting apps than i'd like to admittreasury.sh on Meta, #25 by impressions for “budgeting app”, started Oct 26. I tried hook, voiceover over b-roll.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• My lab used to live with chronic ear infections.Dog is Human on Meta, #14 by impressions for “gut health”, started Oct 27, 2 versions running. Problem callout hook, voiceover over b-roll.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below

Demos and screen recordings

Showing the product working, an app on a phone or hands using the thing, was the third named format, in 11 of 113 ads (10%). It ran on both platforms: 2 of 22 ads (9%) on TikTok and 9 of 91 ads (10%) on Meta.

Apps used it because the screen is the product; physical products used it as a close shot of hands, an incense jar turned on a tray or a phone mount pressed under a cabinet.

• Nous avons réinventé l'encens.kethiouraye.com on TikTok, #6 by impressions, 330 likes. Bold claim hook, demo or screen.Open in the TikTok Creative CenterIts row below
• Magnetic Phone MountFelix tech on TikTok, #31 by impressions, 0 likes. Other hook, demo or screen.Open in the TikTok Creative CenterIts row below
• Learn a language for free with fun lessons designed to keep you motivated!Duolingo on Meta, #72 by impressions for “language learning”, started Oct 21. Bold claim hook, demo or screen.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• Ever wondered how many Reels you scroll in a day?BrainPal on Meta, #117 by impressions for “fitness app”, started Oct 29. Question hook, demo or screen.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below
• He just turned 31 and Daddy is still paying for him?!Late To The Money Lesson on Meta, #57 by impressions for “budgeting app”, started Oct 26. Reaction hook, demo or screen.Open in the Meta Ad LibraryIts row below

Brief recommendations

Each brief below pairs one of this week's leading hooks with a format it ran in, written as a brief for the studio: name your product where it says "my product" and keep the shape. To write more opening lines for your own product first, try the hook generator.

Make two or three, change only the hook between them, and keep the one that performs best, as in how to test UGC ad creatives.

Methodology

Sources. TikTok Creative Center Top Ads and Meta Ad Library, read through two Apify actors chosen for their usage and ratings among actors that need no login: one for TikTok's Top Ads and one for Meta's library. For how the TikTok library works and what else it shows, see the TikTok ad library guide.

Filters and dates. TikTok: the US, the last seven days, all industries and ad types, the top ads by impressions and by click-through rate. Meta: the US, active video ads, ten consumer product and app search terms as exact phrases, each term's most-shown ads, kept only when they started within the two weeks before this issue. The table gives the actors, filters, how many ads each source returned, how many were kept and what the run cost.

Keeping each ad once. An advertiser often runs the same creative under several library entries. Entries from one advertiser with the same opening copy count once, and no advertiser counts more than three times per source, so one brand's variants can't decide the week.

Labels. A language model read each ad's copy and one frame and chose one hook and one format from fixed lists, quoting the opening words it read the hook from, either from the copy or from text on screen. A quote it said came from the copy had to be the copy's own opening words, or the ad was left unlabeled and out of the counts. Quotes read off the frame can't be checked that way.

Limitations. Without a login, TikTok's Creative Center lists only a few dozen ads per ranking and often names no brand, so a website stands in. Meta's library doesn't report impressions or reach for US commercial ads, so its ranking is the library's own order, not a measured one. Labels come from copy and one frame, not the audio, so a spoken hook the copy doesn't carry is read from on-screen text or counted as other. One model labels each ad once, and nobody re-checks a sample by hand yet. These are samples of what advertisers ran, not a census, and the categories searched shape the Meta results.

Every ad this week

Every ad counted above is listed here once, grouped by hook, with its opening words, its format and what the library says of it, and each name opens the ad's own library page.