David Lynch's enduring impact on advertising

When people ask me what my Big Three are, I am no longer going to give them my star signs.

I will give them my list of fallen fathers.

My icons.

My ultimate trio of inspiration.

Bowie. Bourdain. And, as of two weeks ago, Lynch.

The unexpected death of the iconic filmmaker has left the art girlies heartbroken.

The Lynchian effect had a profound impact on all areas of the creative world, his dreamlike style venturing far beyond the silver screen.

Even, unsurprisingly, advertising, where his mark was both subtle and transformative.

So, in light of his passing, let's take a look at the mark David Lynch left on our industry.

Lynch was best known for crafting worlds that feel both familiar and unsettling. He knew how to balance dreamlike beauty with eerie discomfort.

Whether in his directorial work in commercials or the broader embrace of surrealism in modern campaigns, Lynch’s brand of uncanny storytelling has fundamentally altered how brands engage audiences.

Most filmmakers dabble in advertising at some point. But Lynch’s approach to commercial work stands out.

His ads go beyond the traditional sales pitch. They're almost miniature psychological thrillers, often as cryptic and hypnotic as his films.

His 1990 PlayStation 2 commercial feels more like an unsettling fever dream than an ad at all. With distorted faces, cryptic dialogue, and a sense of existential dread, it reinforced the idea that the PS2 was not just a gaming console.

Instead, it was a portal to another dimension. His style was so distinct, you could almost slot it into an episode of Twin Peaks without anybody ever noticing.

Then there’s his work for Calvin Klein. Lynch turned perfume ads into eerie, atmospheric vignettes. He replaced glossy commercial tropes with stark minimalism, hauntingly beautiful black and white imagery and eerie, monotonic voice over.

And who could forget his series of Japanese Georgia Coffee ads? Lynch inexplicably inserted characters from Twin Peaks into an alternate narrative about a missing FBI agent?!

Lynch never just "made ads." These were puzzles, tapping into the subconscious to make brands linger in people’s minds.

(Mostly making them ask, "WTF did I just watch?")

Lynch’s signature aesthetic was uncanny environments, offbeat dialogue, and characters teetering between normalcy and nightmare.

And this has bled into branding and advertising at large.

We live in an age where traditional marketing often gets lost in the noise. So many brands have embraced this kind of hyper-stylised surrealism to stand out.

For example:

• Balenciaga’s unsettling ad campaigns are perhaps the most Lynchian examples in fashion. The distorted, stiff postures of models, the eerie lighting, and the sense that something is slightly “off” all mirror Lynch’s ability to make the ordinary feel ominous.

• A24’s marketing strategy for films like Under the Silver Lake and Everything Everywhere All at Once leans into disorientation and dreamlike imagery. This brand plays with reality in the same way Lynch does.

• Even Apple’s abstract advertising, especially in its early days, borrowed elements of Lynchian mystery. It was wordless, evocative, and more about feeling than function.

And, well, surrealism sells.

Lynch’s influence proves that advertising doesn’t need to be straightforward to be effective.

In fact, ambiguity and the uncanny can create stronger emotional connections with audiences. Brands that embrace surrealism tap into something primal—our curiosity, our desire for mystery, our attraction to things we don’t fully understand.

Think about the commercials or campaigns that stick with you.

They’re often the ones that don’t spell everything out. They leave you with questions rather than answers.

Lynch’s legacy in marketing is just that—an invitation to explore, to feel, to get lost in the surreal. And in an oversaturated media landscape, that’s a strategy that still works.

-Sophie, Writer