Advertising Copy FAIL. Is There More To Life Than This?
Posted on | August 23, 2010 | 4 Comments
I pass by this advertisement on the outside of a church in the heart of Vancouver just about every day. It reads “Is there more to life than this?”
The ad is an utter failure.
The advertisement is for a course that will get students thinking about God, spirituality and the meaning of life.
The problem is that the photo in the advertisement doesn’t match the content. I look at the image of the guy embracing the awe-inspiring sight of nature unbound.
Based on that, my immediate answer to the question in the ad is “No. There’s nothing more to life than this. Clearly, this beautiful material world is what it’s all about. I have nothing to learn from a course on spirituality or religion because the meaning of life is all around me.”
Just to clarify, that answer above is not my usual view of religion and spirituality. The ad persuaded me to respond in this way. So, how to fix it so that it will actually work?
The fix is simple, actually. Change the line from “Is there more to life than this?” to “Is there more to life?”, cutting out the last two words. The person looking at the ad suddenly conflates spirituality and religion with the wonders of the world.
On the other hand, you could make the ad way better by changing it to something like this:
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
Tags: advertising copywriting > copywriting tips > Vancouver copywriter
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4 Responses to “Advertising Copy FAIL. Is There More To Life Than This?”
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August 23rd, 2010 @ 11:45 am
Good call. I agree. Humans rely on their senses…how can anything compare with this image and what it conveys?
I actually read a book (which I cannot remember the name of for the life of me) a year or so ago that gave an interesting stat — over 30% of people in Cascadia (BC, Washington and Oregon) consider themselves irreligious. That is, they don’t follow a specific religious tradition. The author, who was from New York originally, suggested that it was because we go into our abundant nature to commune with God, rather than spend time in a church worshipping.
If that is the case — if her suggestion is true — then this ad and its placement is even less effective.
August 23rd, 2010 @ 11:50 am
Thanks for the stat, Candrina. I’m going to have to check into that. It would be an interesting correlation.
September 9th, 2010 @ 3:30 pm
I agree completely. The original ad makes me think “No, life seems pretty awesome!”
Your version, with the awesome Office Space pic, now that’s dead on.
September 9th, 2010 @ 3:35 pm
Thanks, Monica. I’m pretty proud of that mock ad.