Nobody reads ads. Or do they?
“Adland’s greatest philosopher” AKA Jeremy Bullmore once said, "A brand is not a process, a product or people. It can live on after processes and products have changed – and people have died."
On January 2023 Jeremy Bullmore passed away, aged 93.
But his teachings and stories will endure for generations.
This is one of my favorite Bullmore stories.
One day adman Len Heath sold his interest in an advertising agency.
So this was a good excuse to invite Bullmore for lunch.
After lunch, Heath offered to drive Bullmore back to his office.
But Bullmore said it wasn’t necessary. Because his office was only a 10 minutes walk away.
But Heath kept insisting.
In fact, Heath insisted so much that Bullmore ended saying “Ok”.
Then when they got to Heath’s car, Bullmore understood why Heath insisted so much.
It turns out Heath’s car was a gorgeous, brand new, *leave your neighbors green with envy* James Bond-style Aston Martin.
Then Heath proudly says, “You may be interested to know why I bought this car”.
Then Heath clarifies why, “I bought it because I saw an advertisement for it.”
Bullmore replies, “Well, fancy that”.
Then Heath adds, “But that’s not the interesting bit. What’s interesting is that I saw that advertisement when I was 14.”
Contrary to popular belief in 2024, most buyer behavior starts with memories, not clicks.
And that’s why *cof cof* contrary to what Zuckerberg and his Silicon Valley ad tech amigos sold us…advertising’s real job isn’t to maximize clicks.
Advertising’s real job is to reframe or reaffirm thoughts about a brand in people's minds.
And that requires being interesting enough to break through the noise. And to keep a brand famous and desirable in people's minds.
Today, tomorrow, and 50 years from now.
Which is why today I’m announcing a little fun side project I just launched.
Introducing nobodyreadsads.com. 🎉🍾
Ad legend Howard Luck Gossage once said, “Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them. Sometimes it’s an ad.”
Howard Luck Gossage was right. Nobody reads ads.
But the truth is, if you write ads in a way that feels new (And relatable), people will read every word.
nobodyreadsads.com is an online archive of old and new print and outdoor ads + ONE thing each ad does well. Curated and with snackable copywriting breakdowns by yours truly.
I’ll keep updating nobodyreadsads.com with new ads and breakdowns every month or so.
Everyone right now is so obsessed with AI and scared that AI will take our jobs.
The bad news is, it’s true.
AI can and will replace copywriters, strategists, art directors or even advertising agencies whose entire business model is based on delivering mediocre, safe, ’‘acceptable’ creative ideas.
Which is precisely why we need humans to come up with more outrageous, wacky, weird ideas that AI can’t create.
The good news is, nobodyreadsads.com is a good place to start and get your creative juices flowing.
Your pal,
🚀 Founder & Chief Copywriter: Teardwn ↬ “Hire me to give voltage to your website copy”
💌 Newsletter: Creative Samba
🏂 Side projects: ✍🏼 Nobody Reads Ads 💭 Snackable Copy Tips + 👀 Great Landing Page Copy + 🎧 Chill Music Club + Make me an offer…I’m selling two domains: dreamfootballjobs.com. ⚽ (Minimum accepted: $699, Appraisal value of $1,121) + hiredogtrainer.com 🐶 (Minimum accepted: $699, Appraisal value: $1,096).