Seth Godin makes some good points about bad copywriting in his blog post: Fresh Fish Here
But the "Fresh Fish Here" story is not just about dull copy. It also shows what happens when you cut the life out of good copy.
David Ogilvy said, "You cannot bore people into buying your product. You can only interest them in buying it."
But Ogilvy also gave a list of "words and phrases that work wonders" including such workhorses as "HOW TO, SUDDENLY, NOW, ANNOUNCING, INTRODUCING, IT'S HERE, JUST ARRIVED, IMPORTANT, DEVELOPMENT, IMPROVEMENT, AMAZING, SENSATIONAL, REMARKABLE, REVOLUTIONARY, STARTLING, MIRACLE, MAGIC, OFFER, QUICK, EASY, WANTED, CHALLENGE, ADVICE TO, THE TRUTH ABOUT, COMPARE, BARGAIN, HURRY, LAST CHANCE."
Then he said, "Don't turn up your nose at these cliches. They may be shopworn, but they work. That is why you see them so often in the headlines of mail-order advertisers and others who can measure the results of their advertisements."
You have to make your point clearly and powerfully. "Creativity" is great if it makes the message memorable and evokes emotion.
As for redundancy, wordsmiths like William Safire may hate "Free Gifts." But millions of new bank accounts say more people love them.
OK, so it's not remarkable. But it does get action!
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