Part 2 of a 4 Part Series of the “100 Best Ever Headlines And Why They Were Successful”.
Here are the second 25 Best Ever Advertising Headlines and why they were so profitable.
26. WHOSE FAULT WHEN CHILDREN DISOBEY?
What parent wouldn’t be stopped cold by this headline? “I’m the one who’s probably to blame. It’s a distressing condition — and, most important, a reflection upon me. Maybe this ad tells me what to do about it.”
27. HOW A “FOOL STUNT” MADE ME A STAR SALESMAN
What is the ‘fool stunt’? Why did people call it that? How did it transform this fellow? I’d like to be able to ’sell’ myself and my ideas — even though selling may not be my vocation.”) A large expenditure was made profitably on this ad after its resentfulness had been proven.)
28. HAVE YOU THESE SYMPTOMS OF NERVE EXHAUSTION?
Everyone likes to read about his “symptoms.” The appeal is broad; the condition of “nerve exhaustion” is common.
29. GUARANTEED TO GO THROUGH ICE, MUD OR SNOW — OR WE PAY THE TOW!
If you offer a powerful guarantee with your product, play it up strongly and quickly in the headline. Don’t relegate it to minor display. Many products are actually backed up by dramatic guarantees – but their advertising does not make the most of them.
30. HAVE YOU A “WORRY” STOCK?
“Perhaps this ad will tell me why I need not lose any sleep over it — or how I can replace it with one that will zoom.”
31. HOW A NEW KIND OF CLAY IMPROVED MY COMPLEXION IN 30 MINUTES
Promises a desirable reward for reading. And the true experience of another person (with something relevant to our own desires) is always interesting.
32. 161 NEW WAYS TO A MAN’S HEART — IN THIS FASCINATING BOOK FOR COOKS
Again, the attraction of the specific — tied up with a strong basic appeal.
33. PROFITS THAT LIE HIDDEN IN YOUR FARM
Widely run in farm papers, with exceptional results. The hidden-profit ideas and the suggestion of retrieving a loss.
34. IS THE LIFE OF A CHILD WORTH $1 TO YOU?
Trenchant headline for a brake-relining service. Strong emotional appeal: how the life of a little child may be snuffed out by an accident due to your ineffective brakes.
35. EVERYWHERE WOMEN ARE RAVING ABOUT THIS AMAZING NEW SHAMPOO!
The colloquial: “raving about.” The “success” word: “everywhere.” (The increasing popularity and sale of a product are adduced as evidence of its merit. “Nothing succeeds like success”; and people love to climb on a bandwagon.) And the overworked “amazing” still seems to have some power left.
36. DO YOU DO ANY OF THESE TEN EMBARRASSING THINGS?
Bull’s-eye question. All of us are afraid of embarrassing ourselves before others: being criticized, looked down upon, talked about. “Which ‘ten’ are they? Do I do any of them?”
37. SIX TYPES OF INVESTOR — WHICH GROUP ARE YOU IN?
This ad produced inquiries in large quantities. Investors reviewed the characteristics of each of the six groups, as described in the ad, then inquired about a program designed to meet the investment purposes of their particular group.
The Primary Viewpoint — The “Point of You” … Breather No. 3 is a short one because you already know the “lesson” very well. But to stress its importance, let us point this out to you: 43 of these 100 headlines contain one of these actual words — “you”, “your”, or “yourself.” Even when the pronoun is first person singular (for example, “How I Improved My Memory in One Evening”), the reward promised is so universally desired that it is, in effect, really saying, “You can do it, too!” Thousands of words have already been written about the “point of you” — but let me remind you that, given a fountain pen, 96 percent of 500 college women wrote their own names; shown a map of the USA, 447 men out of 500 looked first for the location of their home towns! Howard Barnes, of the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association, really was on target when he said: “To call up an image of the reader, all you need to do is pin up a target. Then, starting at the outside, you can label his interests in this order: the world, the United States, his home state, his home town, and we’ll lump together in the black center his family and himself….me. Myself. I come first. I am the bull’s-eye.
38. HOW TO TAKE OUT STAINS…USE (PRODUCT NAME) AND FOLLOW THESE EASY DIRECTIONS
An example of a good “service” ad — one which, besides being relevantly tied up with the product, also contains helpful information usable in itself. (Such ads often have considerable longevity because they are cut out and used for future reference.)
39. TODAY…ADD $10,000 TO YOUR ESTATE — FOR THE PRICE OF A NEW HAT
Who wouldn’t want to do that? Doubt as to the promise if offset by the fact that the advertiser is a large and reputable insurance company.
40. DOES YOUR CHILD EVER EMBARRASS YOU?
Direct, challenging, a common circumstance. Brings up a flood or recollections. How can such unpleasant experiences be avoided in the future? Based upon a strong selfish appeal. Parents, are first, individuals; second, parents. The kind of reflection that children cast upon the prestige and self-esteem of their parents is a useful copy angle to remember. (This headline is the negative opposite of No. 4, The Child Who Won the Hearts of All.)
41. IS YOUR HOME PICTURE-POOR?
A rifle-shot question hitting thousands of readers. Illustrated by a photo of an otherwise attractive living room with blank areas on its walls; with X’s indicating where pictures would improve the room’s appearance.
42. HOW TO GIVE YOUR CHILDREN EXTRA IRON — THESE 3 DELICIOUS WAYS
It obeys the wise maxim of newspaper reporters: “Start where the reader is.” In other words, the public already accepts the fact that children’s blood should contain plenty of iron. So the headline goes on from there — promising “extra” iron and “3 delicious ways” to get it (“delicious” ways; so not the common parent vs. child battle).
43. TO PEOPLE WHO WANT TO WRITE — BUT CAN’T GET STARTED
Unerringly selects its audience, which is large — and stymied.
44. THIS ALMOST-MAGICAL LAMP LIGHTS HIGHWAY TURNS BEFORE YOU MAKE THEM
The word “almost” lends believability. Headline promises an automatic no-effort method of relieving an annoying condition or avoiding a dangerous emergency.
45. THE CRIMES WE COMMIT AGAINST OUR STOMACHS
Another “start where the reader is” headline — because most people already believe they often give their digestive process some pretty rough treatment. This rapport, between the theme of the ad and the common belief of its readers, makes the “we” and “our” practically equal in effectiveness to “you” and “your.”
46. THE MAN WITH THE “GRASSHOPPER MIND”
An immediate association with himself leaps to the mind of the reader. He wants to check at once on the personal parallel. What are the symptoms? Starting things one never finishes? Jumping from one thing to another.
“How much am I like him? It’s not a good trait. What did he do about it?” This is an example of a negative headline that strikes home more accurately and dramatically than would a positive one.
47. THEY LAUGHED WHEN I SAT DOWN AT THE PIANO — BUT WHEN I STARTED TO PLAY!
Another one that has entered our language. Sympathy with the underdog. Particularly interesting, structurally, as an example of a headline which “turns the corner” by using a final tag line to make itself positive instead of negative.
Also worth remembering: the before-and-after angle can be effective in many headlines.
48. THROW AWAY YOUR OARS!
Short and positive commands often make good stopper headlines. When Ole Evinrude, the outboard-motor king, ran a small ad with this headline, he took the first step toward building his one-room machine ship into a big business. (A similar headline, Throw Away Your Aerial! was also once responsible for building a business in the radio field.) This type of headline is worth thinking about when the product you are advertising eliminates the need for some, heretofore, necessary piece of equipment, some onerous job, or some sizable item of expense.
49. HOW TO DO WONDERS WITH A LITTLE LAND!
A successful headline which pulled 75 percent better than “Two Acres and Security” and 40 percent better than A Little Land — a Lot of Living. The reason: “how to” and “do wonders with.”
50. WHO ELSE WANTS LIGHTER CAKE — IN HALF THE MIXING TIME?
Strong appeal. Another good “who else” headline. (No 9, Who Else Wants A Screen Star Figure?)
