The Ad Money Machine

  • Ad Money Machine Home
  • The Envelope Secret
  • Crisis Copywriting
  • About Lawrence Bernstein

The Case Against Swiping (Part 2)

The first time I met Joe Sugarman was 16 years ago on a blazing hot evening in Midtown Manhattan.

If it looks like I’ve got an impossibly goofy expression on my face… it’s because I do!

Joe was (and still is) my hero in direct marketing… and I just couldn’t keep calm.

But several years later, we spent an even HOTTER evening together here in “Cactus Country.”

Direct response came up a few times.

I wasn’t there to pick Joe’s brain. We discussed so many things that evening.

Joe’s book, Success Forces, is one of my most prized library holdings, and it has little to do with advertising. One of the “success forces” Joe advocates is humility. And believe… me he lives it.

So many hotshots destroy themselves in all industries because of arrogance and Joe is 100% right about the power of humility.

But considering how many times he’s been knocked off over the years, Joe might say…

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” NOT!

When Joe came out with his blockbuster story selling opener, he was knocked off right off the bat.

Copywriters from all corners knew a good thing when they saw it.

And since Joe was running hundreds of ads and TV spots for his trademark Blublocker sunglasses, they figured he might be on to something.

Here’s the opener.

“I am about to tell you a true story. If you believe me, you will be well rewarded. If you don’t believe me, I will make it worth your while to change your mind. Let me explain.

Len is a friend of mine who has an eye for good products. One day he called excited about a pair of sunglasses he owned. “It’s so incredible,” he said, “when you first look through a pair, you won’t believe it.”

Quite a lead.

The late great Professor Weckesser ran with the opener a few months after Joe Sugarman.

And what’s not to like about “I am about to tell you a true story,” given that story selling is one of the most powerful advertising angles around.

When Professor Weckesser used Joe’s opening sentence, it was not only smart, but was one master paying tribute to another, like the great Impressionists often did, except in mail order. 🙂

But not every fellow advertiser is so noble.

This one, executed a “perfect swipe” of Joe’s ad right down to his trademark, “Let me explain.”

The ad ran once or twice and was never seen or heard from again.

Mind you, there are a LOT of variables in direct response, not the least of which is the price for media.

But some marketers get too carried away with imitation.

It pays to borrow from the best, but ultimately every ad is different… every ad is unique.

Here’s something you can sink your teeth into — now, tomorrow — 2020 and beyond.


ANNOUNCING THE WORLD’S GREATEST
ARSENAL OF ADVERTISING

AD MONEY MACHINE

You are not currently logged in.








» Lost your Password?

Search Ad Money Machine

Swipe of the Week

Case Studies in Cash Creation

  • Which of These Couples Will Die Young? (Story Selling Sensations)
  • “Regain All the Pleasures of Full Sound Without Ringing!”
  • “Basic training for commodity traders”
  • “How You Can Make $4,000.00 A Day, Sitting At Your Kitchen Table, In Your Underwear!”
  • The NEW NEW Thing… That’s Actually Old
  • “New Research Reveals ‘Pandemic Stress Syndrome’ Responsible for New Wave of High Blood Sugar in Americans over 50!”
  • Selling Productivity in the New Year… with the Help of Old Swipes that Never Die
  • One of the All Time GREATS in the History of Food & Beverage Advertising
  • Even More… $3,200 Anti-Aging Supplements
  • And Advertising Admonition on Humor (Magic Subject Lines)
  • “Colloidal Silver Making Machines Are About to Become Very, Very Illegal”
  • 20 Year BLOCKBUSTER Headline in Foreign Language Learning
  • “But I only care about advertising in my own market!”
  • Money you didn’t even know you had!
  • “How You Can Get Super Rich In Commercial Real Estate”
  • Charlie Allen’s AMAZING Golf & Fishing Advertorials
  • Learn how the Japanese have been improving their health & maintaining their slim figures for over 4,000 years
  • Three Celebrity Business Gurus Series (Mortgage Origination)
  • “Customer service is trying to get a hold of you…” (Magic Subject Lines)
  • Tiny Bookalog… HUGE Response
  • Ogilvy’s “Magic Lanterns” for Getting Copywriting Clients
  • The Shocking Story Of How A Combat-Hardened Special Agent Was TERMINATED
  • “Are YOU unknowingly operating… a HALF business?”
  • If you’d like a wealth of new insight on 10 centuries of brilliant music, read this ad…
  • Get Ready for the $16.8 Trillion “REBOOT” of 2020 and Beyond
  • Why spend years accomplishing something that you could achieve in only a few months… or even weeks?
  • Ogilvy’s Killer Coupon and Travel Advertising
  • The World of Cheese (Epicurean Continuity Clubs)
  • China’s Secret Plan to Bankrupt Millions of Americans?
  • Newspaper Print Advertising CRASHING during Covid
  • “A Case of This Rare, Rugged Red Wine Goes for $450… An Entire Year’s Worth Sells Out in 24 hours… I’d Like to Send a Bottle to Your Doorstep for $1.”
  • Fight Tech Neck
  • Case Studies in Catastrophe (When the FTC Comes a Knockin’ Part 2)
  • Newsstand Sales During Covid and Winning Supplement Ads
  • Classic Self-Help “Spiritual Solution” Package
  • How To Rob WINNING Headlines… Legally
  • Way Below Wholesale
  • “It’s Impossible to Get Sick if You’re Alkaline” (2 Year Control)
  • Case Studies in Catastrophe (When the FTC Comes a Knockin’ Part 1)
  • $995 a Year Newsletter Proves a “Perfect Pitch”
  • Mastermind Business Growth
  • Become MY NEXT APPRENTICE in The World’s Greatest Business!
  • ULTIMATE Product Positioning (The World’s Most Powerful Money Manual)
  • The ULTIMATE Dining Club Offer (The Anti-Groupon)
  • Evergreen Products with Interviews (World’s Winningest Traders)
  • It’s About to Rain Hammers (Subscriber Reactivation Offer)
  • Napoleon Hill 2.0
  • “These Cures Can KILL!”
  • Legend who bought Apple at $1.42… (Banners that Bring It)
  • $14.95 Home Exercise Device… $14,615 Home Exercise Device
  • Irresistible Offers and the “Furnace Letter”
  • MAGIC Headline? “Get Paid” + “Lose Weight” = BIG Trouble
  • Ad written on car hood (in 15 minutes) brought in $140 million in a year (Orange jumpsuit advertising)
  • The MAGIC of Multiple Readership Paths
  • “Look 10 Years Younger in 10 Hours” (Selling High Ticket Hair)
  • What the EXPERTS Do When THIS Happens
  • Keeping KILLER Controls Kicking… 14 Years Later
  • How to Shelter Your Money In a Swiss Bank
  • Biz-Op Pitch to a “Sucker’s List”
  • “FREE Plus Shipping” Red HOT Book Offer (Magic Subject Lines)
  • Joe Karbo Control: The Power of “Selling Against Type”
  • The Fifth Greatest Trade Of All Time
  • A PAINLESS “Pandemic Pivot”… Not Everyone Can Make
  • Chiro and Professional Practice Marketing During Covid-19
  • MIRACLE Pills & Potions at $3,200 a Pop
  • The World Atlas of Wine… Cheers!
  • The Immune System PIVOT in Supplement Selling (UPDATE)
  • “I’ll Never Give You All My Trading Secrets, But I Will Give You My Trades…
  • $14,615 Home Exercise Equipment and… and Selling with “Satisfied Customer Stages”
  • “My Weekly Options Paycheck Machine made an incredible 6,712.7% return in just one year…
  • Get Rich in Real Estate Pitches During COVID-19 (UPDATE)
  • Be Smarter, Sharper, and More Mentally Fit in Just 5 Minutes a Day!
  • WWII Pilots Use VISION SECRET to Defeat the Nazis (November 2020 Mailbox HIT)
  • “How to safely double your retirement portfolio over the next 3 years…”
  • Malcolm Decker and the SECRET of His 27-Year Running DOUBLE Control
  • The Crimes They Commit Against Their Ads (UPDATE)
  • Killer Layouts… Rabid Response & Multi-Readership Paths
  • The Story That Became a Brand… The Brand that Became a Blockbuster
  • Magic Subject Lines (Harvard Health Publishing)
  • The secret toll-free phone call that enables you to increase your dividend yield by 10-times or more
  • ‘The kit is identical to one my friend paid a dentist $600 for and actually worked faster”
  • Clinics Offering Cortisone Shots Could Be Affected by a New, At-Home Arthritis Pain Reliever
  • The Greatest WIN-WIN Lead Gen Campaign in History!
  • Pitching Gold… Like It’s 1980
  • MEASLY Million a Year in Mail Order… Or a Supplements Brand Selling for HUNDREDS of Millions? (The 3 MAGIC Keys)
  • The Biggest Accounting Hoax Since Enron
  • When the World’s 2nd Best Copywriter Swipes from the World’s Best…
  • Something very big is set to happen before the November presidential election.
  • A $14.95 Tax Shelter
  • Stop your anger, guilt, and fear. Become the happy, successful person you were meant to be.
  • Best You Get Ready … It’s About to Rain Hammers Out There
  • Outlawed for 41 Years — Now Legal Again
  • Secrets Out in the Open… and Knock-Offs that Fail
  • Deadly Special Forces “Killing Arts” Just Released!
  • Marketing Secrets of the World’s Largest Chiropractic Franchise
  • More SUPER Supplement Selling (October 2020)
  • Paul Michael’s Print Ad Swipes

 
 
 
 
 

Coming soon

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Categories

  • A-Z Swiping & Video Series
  • Advertorials
  • Alternative Health Hits
  • Banners that Bring It
  • Beauty & Anti-Aging
  • Biz-Op
  • Blockbuster Products
  • Books, Home Study, Info Products & Newsletters
  • Business Development
  • Coins, currency & collectibles
  • Continuity Selling: Subscriptions, Alerts & Memberships
  • Corporate Advertising
  • Crisis Copywriting, Survivalism & Legal
  • Dangerous Advertising
  • Direct Response Dirty Dossiers
  • Direct Response Dynamite, USPs & Positioning
  • Education
  • Fabulous Fascinations
  • Financial Favs, Investing & Retirement
  • FItness, Sports & Self Defense
  • Food Copy
  • Fundrasing
  • Great Leads
  • High Ticket
  • Killer Teaser Copy
  • Lead Generation
  • Magic Subject Lines
  • Mailbox Hits
  • Origin Marketing Magic
  • Personality in Copy
  • Print Advertising
  • Professional Practices
  • Proof Element Powerhouses
  • Real Estate
  • Religion, Philosophy & History
  • Retail Copywriting Kingdom
  • Save Money & Rebates
  • Self-Help & Wealth Creation
  • Seniors & Boomers
  • Story Selling
  • Supplements
  • The Sales Liberator Videos
  • Trading
  • Travel Advertising
  • Uncategorized
  • Video Sales Letters & Funnels
  • Weight Loss & Diet

 
 
 
 
 
 

The World’s Greatest Treasury of House Ads

 

Breakthrough Business Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.
6890 E. Sunrise Ste. #120-118, Tucson, AZ 85750 USA 866-863-4850
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Manage Membership