Eugene Schwartz wrote this ad just over 40 years ago and insertions mushroomed into newspapers and magazines all across the country.
It even appeared in the conservative financial publication, “Barron’s National Business and Financial Weekly.”
It’s a little high brow yet at its core, it’s a business opportunity ad.
You can click on the thumbnail to the left for a fully readable PDF of the ad but if you do nothing else, put this one into your headline swipe file.
Few could package a giant (often bordering on an unbelievable) promise into an irresistible read like Eugene Schwartz.
The “Do you have the courage…” preamble really adds topspin to the claim.
Imagine running across a headline today that reads: “Now You Can Earn a Half Million Dollars a Year.”
Even for the average white collar worker reading Barron’s, this is hard to swallow.
Now, imagine encountering this ad in 1967. That year, $500 thousand was worth over $3 million in 2010 dollars.
The claim seems nuts.
Yet this ad had a ton of insertions over the course of several years.
Were people just gullible in the 1960’s?
Hardly.
The beauty of “Do You Have the Courage to Earn a Half Million Dollars a Year?” verses “Now You Can Earn a Half Million Dollars a Year” is it deflects the attention from the claim to an internal quality in the reader. The headline is then paid off perfectly with the qualification process spelled out in the body copy.
This is one of those evergreen headlines that’s very customizable today. The real beauty of it is it’s still virgin swipe material for use online.
Unlike the now nauseating “Who else wants?” headline which mindless marketers continue to ape, this is the kind of headline that can add a jolt of power to your promotions and make them stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Yes, there are a few dated elements to the ad like the exclusive use of masculine pronouns but Gene’s copy is timeless.
Here are the lapel grabbing fourth and fifth paragraphs of the ad.
And above all, [for the kind of man] who is willing to accept the responsibility for other men’s futures, the loneliness that always surrounds the person in command, and the envy and hostility that will plague him for the rest of his life.
Do you have the courage to reach out for this kind of life? To accept its incredible rewards and incredible hazards? If you do, read on. If you don’t, consider yourself lucky and turn the page — there is nothing left in this ad that will make an iota of sense to you.
Tying your prospect’s personal pride into the headline in this way is the kind of brilliance Eugene Schwartz was famous for.
And you’re so right.
Without the question the headline would be almost impossible to believe but with it that challenge to your pride almost forces you to read the ad.
Great copy.
Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh
I think the biggest action word, is Courage. It is this
one word that turns this ad from being medicore to being
a great display ad.
Merry Xmas
Bruce
Questioning the capability of people is the key of this ad. It challenges everybody who reads it and sets them to do what he wanted them to do
Its something from a great and creative mind.
Happier Times Ahead
Kwasi
I’m glad I’m not the only one to find headlines starting “Who Else Wants…” particularly nauseating!
Regards,
Gill Clark
I think the real magic in this ad was the fact that Schwartz attacked the biggest objection to the sale head-on. The claim of “How To Make Half a Million DOllars” automatically illicits skepticism and in itself would be a huge barrier to readership, let a lone a sale. Schwartz addresses this objection in the headline and switches the subject from “you can” (a greed appeal) to “do you have the courage to” (an ego appeal)… Reminds me of something I picked up from Zig Ziglar’s “Secrets to Closing the Sale” (a must read for all copywriters in my opinion) and that is “the best time to handle the objection is before it occurs”. Great site by the way!
“Unlike the now nauseating “Who else wants?” headline which mindless marketers continue to ape, this is the kind of headline that can add a jolt of power to your promotions and make them stand out from the rest of the crowd.”
Agreed. Lawrence thank you for all of the awesome content you continually post to this blog. You are a diligent archivist and I appreciate your hard work.
I continually refer to your blog.
Thanks again,
Doug Hughes
Great site Lawrence. There is much to be learnt from the masters. But IMHO, copy is most effective when it targets the demographic head on. I have no idea what the general mood of the consumer was back then, to comment with any authority why the ad worked. It could have been the word “courage”. Or something unrelated to the ad itself.
But before I write copy, I want to know the general sentiment of the audience I am writing to. So I get on the phone and cold call at least 300-500 names on the list. And pitch the product or service. I am a pretty good salesman. So my efforts aren’t wasted. And this exercise gives me all possible objectives the copy must address; doubts; concerns; and solutions my target audience seek. Doing this also gives me the headline theme. And most important: the “offer”. Instead of gambling on guesswork. This is market research at it’s crudest. But perhaps not so crude, because I am not asking bog standard questions dreamt up by some numpty. It’s amazing how easy it is to write copy – for me, that is – when I do this. Just my two cents worth.
Hi Carl,
You’re 1-in-a-million.
Well, at least 1-in-a-hundred.
Dead on insight about how to get in the mind of the market and yet so few do it.
Last month, I got on a 45 minute conference call (that turned into almost 3 hours) with a client and four of his biggest customers.
After I ran down my checklist, as well as going on plenty of tangents I could never have anticipated, I had 400 pages of transcripts which when boiled down to its 40 page essence was the backbone for a DM piece that’s taking off like a rocket.
Lawrence,
Great ad written by great man, I hand-rewrote it many times.
I don’t know how I came to your site, but what I do like in it is your resources. Every time I check my email I wait for your messages. Thank you for them. They are the sunshine comparing to digital garbage that my swamps my inbox daily.
On the other hand, I see you are getting closer to the philosophy of the greatest ad grands of 20th century. Congratulations.
Yours for not so bold ideas…
Algis
Basel