While visiting BadLanguage.net today, I found a post that provides a perfect example of how poor copywriting can ruin an ad and possibly your brand. The post focuses on a retail ad that used copy saying, "Everything Half Price*" followed by a disclaimer appearing in a smaller font that read, "*Sale items only."
One of the most important aspects of effective copywriting is ensuring you can deliver on the promises communicated in your ad. It's essential to your brand's credibility that your customers feel like they can trust you and your business. By exaggerating or hiding disclaimers in your ad copy, you can destroy your brand image with just a few poorly chosen words. The word-of-mouth advertising that will undoubtedly follow will have a compounding negative effect that you may never be able to bounce back from.
The copy in the ad discussed on BadLanguage could nearly be considered a bait and switch tactic. However, the disclaimer is directly beneath the headline and in a large enough font that the retailer could probably defend himself in court, but using a headline that says, "Everything Half Price," is risky in terms of creating dissatisfied customers. The retailer might have the necessary disclaimers to protect themselves legally, but I don't think the same can be said for protecting themselves from the wrath of dissatisfied customers and the ultimate damage to the brand and business.
What do you think? Do you believe that ads and copy can sometimes do more harm than good?
I have to give them credit though. When I first looked at the Ad, I only saw "Everything Half Price" and my gut reaction was "Great! A sale and everything is half price." I completely missed the disclaimer. I would have gone to the store, pulled something off the shelf, made my way to the check-out counter and been really pissed off. If that's what they're going for, that's what they would have gotten.
Posted by: Scott | August 13, 2007 5:05 AM | Permalink to Comment