Engineering Perception: How the Budyn Bros. Are Making Ads Worth Watching Again

For decades, commercials weren’t just interruptions. The best of them became cultural landmarks. Apple’s 1984 ad turned a product launch into a global event. Nike’s “Just Do It” campaigns sparked conversations far beyond sneakers. Even a quirky cereal jingle could linger in public memory for years.

That era feels distant now. In 2025, most advertising is designed to be swiped past. Short-form content clogs feeds, algorithm-chasing clips blend into monotony, and AI-generated ads churn out material at scale but rarely at substance. Brands chase visibility, but rarely resonance.

Three brothers from Chicago believe they can swing the pendulum back.

A Different Kind of Ad

Mateusz, Ireneusz, and Arkadiusz Budyn founded Budyn Bros. with a premise that sounds almost radical in today’s marketing climate: what if ads were once again worth watching?

Their signature format, called CinemAd™, doesn’t behave like a traditional commercial. Structured more like a Hollywood trailer than a thirty-second spot, these short films aim to captivate first and sell second. Instead of hammering slogans, they unfold like miniature stories with rhythm, emotion, and cinematic gravity.

“Most ads now are disposable,” says Mateusz Budyn, the company’s CEO. A filmmaker by background, his work has received nominations at the Santa Monica International Film Festival from a pool of more than 1,200 submissions, earning him invitations to prestigious events including the Academy Awards and Cannes. “People scroll right past them. But people don’t scroll past a story that makes them feel something.”

The brothers describe their approach as perception engineering — crafting campaigns that don’t just tell people about a product, but recalibrate how the brand is perceived. It’s less about interruption and more about immersion.

From Film to Advertising

Each brother brings a distinct background. Mateusz anchors the company with a director’s eye for the shot and atmosphere, drawing on years of experience in international film circles. Ireneusz, Chief Creative Officer, shapes the creative frameworks and narrative psychology that define CinemAd™, turning ideas into story blueprints. Arkadiusz, Chief Relations Officer, translates those visions into strategy, working closely with clients to align cinematic ambition with business goals.

Their careers didn’t begin in advertising. Mateusz cut his teeth in the media industry, working alongside Emmy-nominated teams tied to names like Tony Robbins, Mike Tyson, and Matthew McConaughey. Ireneusz’s early writing projects were less about marketing and more about J.K. Rowling-style world-building and storytelling inspired by the likes of Christopher Nolan. Arkadiusz studied international business and worked in the finance industry, always keen on bringing people together and making a team work under the right conditions.

But when they combined forces, they noticed a pattern: most clients didn’t just want visibility. They wanted transformation — to be perceived differently, to stand out in markets saturated with repetitive content. They turned to advertising as the most impactful medium to make that happen.

Case Studies in Cinematic Marketing

The Budyn Brothers’ portfolio stretches from startups to global players. A recent launch film for BurjX, a cryptocurrency platform in the UAE, leaned into sweeping visuals and narrative arcs that made the company feel like the unveiling of a blockbuster rather than a financial product. The film premiered at live events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where it was met with rounds of applause from high-profile guests.

In another success story, the brothers helped launch the Moona 2 sleep device. They used cinematic pacing to elevate what could have been a niche gadget into a campaign video that touched viewers’ hearts — and wallets. The Kickstarter surpassed its goal in under 20 minutes, and ultimately achieved nearly 6x its original target, raising a total of over $147,000. The brothers attribute this result to not just building an ad, but giving people a real reason to care.

They’ve also filmed and scripted video ads for more established names such as Tide, Duolingo, and Pocket FM. The common thread: the ads are not designed to be skipped, but shared and remembered.

“People are so used to ads being an annoyance,” says Ireneusz. “We want them to be a piece of content people actually want to show their friends.”

The Industry Context

Some creatives and media watchers suggest Budyn Bros. is tapping into a larger cultural shift. “There’s fatigue with algorithmic content,” says Daniel Ortiz, a freelance graphic designer in Los Angeles. “Audiences crave authenticity and art. When an ad feels like cinema, it bypasses the skepticism people usually bring to marketing.”

At the same time, AI-generated campaigns are flooding the market. While efficient, many of them lack nuance. That contrast makes the Budyn Brothers’ emphasis on human-crafted storytelling stand out even more.

“The irony is that in a time when anyone can generate an ad in seconds, people are more likely to remember the one that feels like it took months to create,” Ortiz adds.

Engineering Perception

The brothers insist they are not an agency in the traditional sense. They avoid the “plug-and-play” approach where clients hand over a budget and receive a generic campaign. Instead, they embed themselves into a brand’s identity, then construct a narrative designed to shift how audiences feel.

That’s what they mean by perception engineering: orchestrating not just visuals, but sound, rhythm, pacing, and emotional beats into a single unified experience.

A CinemAd™ isn’t necessarily longer than a typical spot — many run 30 to 60 seconds. But every second is crafted to evoke something. A pause where most ads would cut. A swelling score where most would add a tagline. A color palette chosen for mood rather than trend.

“Every beat has to matter,” says Mateusz. “It’s like composing music. If you’re off by even half a second, the feeling changes.”

Looking Ahead

Budyn Bros. is still a young company, but its ambition is outsized. The brothers talk about reviving advertising’s cultural role — when a single commercial could dominate watercooler conversations the next morning.

Their goal isn’t just to help brands sell products, but to create cultural moments that linger. “We don’t want people to just remember the product,” says Arkadiusz. “We want them to remember how it made them feel.”

Whether that vision will scale remains to be seen. Advertising is still dominated by budgets, algorithms, and attention economics. But Budyn Bros. believes that in a noisy world, depth is a stronger differentiator than volume.

“Perception is power,” says Mateusz. “If we can engineer that perception through film, then advertising doesn’t have to be background noise anymore. It can be impactful again. Like it used to be.”

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