Here’s an ad that should be placed in the “could-of-been-a-contender” category.
It starts off with a flash and quickly burns out.
“Ten years ago a good friend pointed a solid gold gun at my skeptical head and pushed me into a real estate profit of l000%! Since then, I’ve turned modest land investments into the kind of money I never hoped to have. I have nothing to sell-no ax to grind. But I know this:
You can make your money grow in western land , as you can in no other investment. All you need to know is
THE SIMPLE TRUTH ABOUT WESTERN LAND INVESTMENT
Talk about a great hook — “Ten years ago a good friend pointed a solid gold gun at my skeptical head…”
But the reader quickly discovers this advertiser has pulled a fast one. Not only is there no pay-off of the captivating pre-head, but it’s clear the ad writer has cheaply embellished to snag our attention.
No solid gold gun. No story. Max Sackheim would call this a Deadly Advertising Mistake.
What the ad might have been if there was a drunken, midnight poker game and the cowboy’s New York host suddenly pulled a revolver on him to emphasize the value of real estate investing in the Western United States. This is likely why there were so few insertions for this ad in the mid 1960’s — a mere generation after the Florida Land Boom of the 1920’s — curiously not mentioned in the ad. Perhaps, this is also why Doubleday & Company sold so few of the books.
Nevertheless, it’s looks like time to start hording some good real estate advertising templates. “Be greedy when others are fearful” and all that.
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