Snapchat’s first paid advertisement was a trailer for the horror film Ouija, shown to users on October 19, 2014. It was a 20-second movie trailer and marked Snapchat’s early move into advertising.
Snapchat had announced its upcoming advertising plans two days earlier, on October 17. The company said it needed a revenue stream but wanted ads to feel entertaining or informative rather than overly targeted or intrusive. The Ouija trailer was the first practical test of that approach.
The ad is sometimes confused with later sponsored stories, Discover advertising, or branded lenses. Those formats became important parts of Snapchat’s business, but they came after this initial trailer placement. Snapchat later expanded its advertising system, including Discover content and sponsored geofilters, while the Ouija trailer remained the landmark first paid ad.