For the past few days, newspapers around the country have been trying to scare us into seeing the new Joker movie. Here are some of the recent headlines:
“WEEKEND: ‘JOKER’ OPENS AS VIOLENCE FEARS SIMMER…”
“Studio Exec Warned: ‘Don’t Make This Movie’…”
“FBI on alert…”
Maybe I’m jaded, but this feels like a transparent marketing ploy by Hollywood execs.
Because I saw the trailer for the Joker a few nights ago. It didn’t seem interesting or intriguing. Though it did have a reference to the old Bob Monkouse joke:
“They laughed when I said I wanted to be a comedian. Well, they’re not laughing now!”
I can’t prove it, but I suspect this joke is itself a reference to a very famous ad headline:
“They laughed when I sat down at the piano but when I started to play!”
This headline has been ripped off, directly and indirectly, in hundreds or thousands of ads.
It’s become one of the great headline archetypes, along with “Do you make these mistakes in English?” and “How to win friends and influence people.”
But what makes the “They laughed” headline so effective?
Well, in just a few words, it starts to tell a story…
It introduces high stakes (nobody likes being humiliated)…
It creates intrigue and curiosity (“What happened when you sat down?”)…
And it implies a benefit (“I bet you showed them!”).
All that in just 15 words. I think that’s more excitement than you’re likely to get in 121 minutes of The Joker.
Anyways, keep the power of the “They laughed” headline in mind when writing simple stories in your marketing materials.
And if you want help in making those stories intriguing and curiosity-pumping, then you can find some specific advice in the following book on copywriting for advertorials: