“Call Me Crazy, But….”

 

OK, call me crazy, or nuts, or daft. But here’s the thing…

 

I don’t like to buy from advertisements or sales pitches that are gratuitously crude.

 

If the ad has to resort to the base & ignorant to sell, then how good can the product or content truly be?

 

I wrote a similar article about this a little while ago: Copywriting Takes The Low Road.

 

Well, here’s yet another example. It’s for an “Ultimate Million Dollar Copywriting Bootcamp” course. The first thing that turned me off was found right in the headline:

 

“Discover The Single Internet Skill

That Will Surely Make You A Millionaire,

Even If You Suck At Everything Else”

 

Listen… why did the author feel the need to put in a slang term for oral copulation? Are there no other words in the vast English language that would convey the same emotion with the same punch – other than “sucks?”

 

The second was the actual ordering page, which came with this headline:

 

Free 60-Day Brass-Balls

Examination Order

 

(I’ve tried keeping the original font and color for both headlines.)

 

Now, once again… is using gutter talk for a part of the male sexual anatomy really, really necessary to make your point?

 

I for one think not.

 

Here’s my take. If you wouldn’t feel comfortable about explaining these terms to your 7 year old daughter, don’t have them in your copy.

 

“Daddy, what does “sucks” mean?”

 

“It means something that is really bad.”

 

“Where does the word “sucks” come from?”

 

“It comes from a slang term for an act of fellatio, which is taking a man’s p*nis into your mouth to elicit sexual satisfaction for one or both partners.”

 

(Yes, I’m trying to avoid a black star rating here!)

 

Hmmm… Not really the way you’d want this conversation to go – is it?

 

Or the second instance…

 

“Daddy, what does “Brass-Balls” mean?”

 

“It means someone or something taking a huge risk, based upon courage or conviction or sometimes arrogance or stupidity.”

 

“Where does brass-balls come from?”

 

“It comes from an allusion to a man’s gonads, those two ball-shaped organs located beneath the p*nis. These are usually very sensitive to pressure, touch or stimulation. By adding the word modifier brass to this part of a man’s makeup, it signifies that the person in question isn’t afraid of feeling pain that would normally incapacitate others.”

 

Yeah, right.

 

Of course I know why the copywriter used these terms. They emulate the spoken word. They also create a “gut sense” emotion.

 

They also herald the decline of the English language, where vulgarity is becoming the norm rather than the exception. So, instead of elevating the style to impart the same intensity without resorting to crudeness, it seems the guy who wrote it thought “who cares – as long as it works.”

 

Anyone can use banality to paint a vivid picture. Just listen to some of the swill that passes for entertainment on current TV sitcoms.

 

It takes a better writer to transcend this easy way out, and craft words that sell that don’t need to be first filtered through a garbage sieve.

 

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please use this email address to comment:

 

Comments-1@highimpactcopy.com