When Copywriters Don’t Think
May 2nd, 2007 by Bob Bly
With all the increased emphasis on copywriting education today, it’s amazing how much bad copy gets written.
Case in point: the headline on a recent ad selling a book on big band music, which said:
“Swing has never gone out of style!”
It fails because it is so clearly in opposition to the truth, which is that swing HAS gone out of style.
The big bands survive as a shadow of their former selves. Many famous band leaders now perform with smaller groups, since the modest ticket sales don’t cover the costs of a full orchestra. One big band trumpet star was even reduced to giving private lessons to supplement his performing income!
The headline is also off base because it assumes that we big band aficianados CARE that our music is out of style.
We don’t. We love listening to swing, and pride ourselves on the superiority of our eclectic taste in music.
Really, the copywriter was aiming at the wrong audience.
He was trying to get general book readers to buy a book on big bands by making the case — false and not believable — that swing is still hot.
What he SHOULD have done is forget those readers and concentrate on the real market for a book on the big bands: people who love big band music — don’t you agree?
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