Newspaper print is in its last chapter here in the United States
Ah, but there was a time when ads like this were commonplace — LONG copy golf ads.
Granted, the “market” for info products like this existed mostly in the golf magazines.
This ad for Dalton’s Guaranteed Golf System ran as 1/4 page insertions in 1997. [Continue reading]
Here's the company that never held back when it came to envelope teaser copy. You can't put much more on an outer envelope than they do. … [Continue reading]
Here's a lesson or two in selling high end real estate... from David Ogilvy's son! (UPDATE: Mr. Ogilvy passed away on February 3, 2020 at 77 years old after a long and stellar career.) David Ogilvy, son of the famous advertising legend of the … [Continue reading]
Comic strips, cartoons—the funnies in old parlance—call them what you will; the format was a common and powerful testing ground for strong advertising controls. Though they appeared within the newspaper medium, often right alongside the actual … [Continue reading]
This is a textbook "testimonial headline" in the world of book advertising. Book advertising in 2023? YES... it will continue to matter because it's a TRUE test of a an ad writer's mettle. As we've seen with the late 20th Century copy … [Continue reading]
Not clickbait, I promise, ! I remember the first time I spotted this ad 20 years ago. - It was an epiphany... - It was metanoia... - It was an idea so darn good... it ought to be SHOUTED from the rooftops... Over a hundred years later. … [Continue reading]
NGC Sports were BIG TIME in sport fishing and golf and had TENS of thousands of insertions in everything from local newspapers... to trade publications like Oklahoma Farm Bureau... all the way to Newsweek magazine and the Wall Street … [Continue reading]
This ad deserves to be in a book on winning financial advertising. The advertiser, Investment Research Services, ran this ad week in and week out in big media like The Guardian, Sunday Telegraph, and The Observer. American marketers and … [Continue reading]
This late-2025 promo is a newsletter ride-along for the supplement Peak Blood Flow. The copywriter does a great job with the core promise: “Healthy Blood Flow... from Head to Toe!” … [Continue reading]
About a week after publishing "My Copywriting 'Blasphemies' Against Eugene Schwartz" I stumbled upon this ad. As Michael Corleone grunts in The Godfather Part III: "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!" And so it was for this … [Continue reading]
This ad campaign is not for those with a weak stomach. It may be the most shocking ad campaign run in mainstream publications in this generation. Read at your own discretion! … [Continue reading]
Eugene Schwartz revealed this gem in a lecture to Rodale Press in the early 1990s. “The ugly thing in a world of beauty stands out.” You won't find uglier than this magalog... for a $238 biz-op book no less. … [Continue reading]
Talk about a jolting lead. This one is right up there with some of the best story selling ads ever to hit a mailbox. It had a long mailing track record. … [Continue reading]
How often do you see a full fledged real estate investment pitch like this in the New York Times? This ad was on fire in the Wild West of workshops in real estate investing and had thousands of insertions. … [Continue reading]
Here's another ad in the mold of "give them the fish" versus "teach them to fish" -- the headline screams it. This subscription selling offer for a trading advisory bills quarterly. And the star of this package brings some impressive proof … [Continue reading]
UPDATE: October, 2025. I'm still mesmerized by the power of this evergreen financial pitch. And hailing from Gary Bencivenga, how could it be anything but a perfect pitch? You won't find any fancy graphic design or embellishments here. Heck, … [Continue reading]
As a warm-up for the remarkable supplements ad that grabbed readers' eyeballs from 2012-2015... It's worth a look at an advertiser that made its bones with the power of demonstration. Because as our copywriting patriarch, Claude Hopkins, said: … [Continue reading]
I have a soft spot for aging science fiction films. And The Omega Man is near the top of the list. Why? … [Continue reading]
I vividly recall sitting in the cavernous conference room for the Glazer-Kenney-Insider Circle Summit at the Sheraton Park Central Hotel in Dallas in 2005. The big red banner on the wall of the conference room read: … [Continue reading]
Mere book on offer? No way. Here's a headline that dimensionalizes what would otherwise be a prosaic promo. And it was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, starting with The Observer in December 1968 through the Chicago Tribune in June 1974. … [Continue reading]
Ah, Las Vegas... only marketing conferences and children's chess tournaments ever bring me there these days. But I vividly remember wandering around the bustling Electronic Retail Association conference at the Wynn in 2011. Matthew Lesko, the … [Continue reading]
If you live in North America, you've surely bumped into this company's display ads, catalogs, print insertions or radio ads. Here's their 44 giant pages of course creation copywriting if you missed it. There's no topic of academic interest that … [Continue reading]
"SNAP! Change Your Personality in 30 Days" is a pretty whimsical title, even for a big-promise self-help book. While the ad copy for this offer is classic book advertising... any 20th Century advertiser would recognize... the goal is loftier, as … [Continue reading]
If you ever find lead-gen boring, you're not paying attention. Because there are countless markets in direct response and an infinite variety of lead magnets. And sometimes you can learn more from a direct response player OUTSIDE your normal … [Continue reading]
The Sumerian invention of cuneiform tablets was in widespread use as far back as 3400 B.C. Initially, its purpose was for keeping accounts and records of business transactions, but later it developed into a full fledged writing system. And … [Continue reading]