The Era of Startup Outrage-Bait Marketing Is Upon Us

If the goal was to spark a reaction among the denizens of the biggest city in the U.S., then a recent advertising campaign that implores new parents to “pick your baby” has been a remarkable success. 

Recently, ads for Nucleus Genomics, a New York City-based startup that offers what it calls IVF “for longevity,” began appearing in subway stations across the city. Images of ethnically diverse, healthy, and happy babies appeared above the words “IQ is 50% genetic,” and “height is 80% genetic” on banner ads hanging at Broadway-Lafayette station in Lower Manhattan. Other ads tell parents to “have your best baby” and to “have a healthier baby.” The campaign also points the public to a website: Pickyourbaby.com. (A Nucleus spokesperson told Inc that NYC’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority initially rejected the ads, requiring tweaks to copy and images before approval.) 

Nucleus was founded in 2021 by Kian Sadeghi, who describes the company’s mission as “IVF for genetic optimization.” The company offers “advanced embryo testing” that allows parents to lower their children’s chance of disease, it claims. So far, Nucleus has raised $32 million from a variety of investors, including Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six and Founders Fund. 

The reaction to Nucleus’s campaign has been mostly critical. Social media users accused the company of promoting a sci-fi-tinted version of eugenics—the pseudoscience that promotes racial purity through selective breeding.

However, Sadeghi has a different perspective. He tells Inc. the campaign was meant to cultivate a deeper understanding of genetics for prospective parents. “Some of the reasons why people get scared about genetics and the randomness of genetics is because they don’t understand it,” Sadeghi says. 

The startups standing out by rage-baiting

Nucleus’ subway campaign is just one example of how tech startups are intentionally rage-baiting the public to promote their businesses. The recent glut of AI startups has led several new firms to lean into the strategy to distinguish themselves from the competition. 

Earlier this year, another slate of ads run by the AI chatbot company Friend was defaced across the city by various detractors. The ads were sparse and featured a definition of the word “friend” alongside its flagship product, a necklace that listens to users and responds via a corresponding app. Its critics accused the company of promoting “AI sycophancy,” the kind of behavior that has led some users into codependent and sometimes delusional relationships with chatbots. 

Another AI startup, Cluely, raised eyebrows earlier this year after its founders introduced the app by saying it lets users “cheat on everything.” (Cluely has since pivoted to a note-taking product, but still promotes its “cheating on everything” ethos.) In August, the company purchased a billboard in Times Square. But instead of putting up a high-production-value ad, it ran simple black-on-white text with the tone of a meme, from the POV of the founder Roy Lee: “hi i’m roy im 21 this was very expensive pls buy my thing.” One advertising industry website called the stunt “brutally honest.” And Artisan AI, a company that builds agentic AI for sales, sparked a high-profile reprimand from Senator Bernie Sanders in October over its “stop hiring humans” campaign. 

Nucleus’ says it drew inspiration for its campaign from another recent ad blitz: Levi’s campaign with actress Sydney Sweeney featured the tagline “Sydney has great jeans.” The ads sparked an uproar about genetics, race, and societal beauty standards. However, the company’s presentation of ethnically diverse babies seems to be directly responding to the backlash against the Levi’s campaign for promoting white beauty standards. Signs taped around specific downtown neighborhoods offer a riff on the Levi’s slogan: “these babies have great genes,” they read. Before the launch of the Nucleus campaign, Sadeghi told Inc, “We expect it to incite conversation. We expect it to incite curiosity, and we expect people to start engaging.” 

But does rage-bait marketing work?

A spokesperson for the firm lauded the campaign in an email on Friday, writing: “Nucleus’ campaign has driven +150% surge in sales across its products and 8M impressions over social media this week, despite being met with negative backlash.”

While it’s unclear whether or not it always works for brands that intentionally incite public anger, research indicates that people are inclined to engage with content online when it defies or challenges their personal views.  

Nucleus’s metrics make for further promotional fodder, but it’s also spotlighted the company’s legal troubles. In October, Nucleus was sued by another IVF company, Genomic Prediction, for allegedly stealing trade secrets. So far, Nucleus has prevailed. Genomic Prediction’s request for injunctive relief was denied in federal district court last week, lawyers for Nucleus noted in a blog post. Sadeghi didn’t respond to Inc’s request for comment on the lawsuit, but he briefly took to X to address the outrage over the company’s ad campaign and to briefly remark on the legal victory. “To the mob trying to cancel Nucleus,” he wrote on Sunday. “Keep tweeting. Stay mad. We’ll keep building and serving patients. P.S. We won the injunction.”

The final deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, December 12, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.