A great creative director once told me:
“If you wanna learn copywriting, don’t read ads – watch stand-up comedy.”
And he was right. I can literally go to just-one-liners.com, pick a random line, add a logo, and voilà! I’ve got an ad. Let me show you 👇
The exercise
“Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.”
– Jerry Seinfeld
“If camping is so great, why are the bugs always trying to get in your house?”
– Jim Gaffigan
“Swimming is good for you, especially if you’re drowning.”
– Jimmy Carr
“There’s a fine line between hyphenated words.”
– Stewart Francis
“I like what mechanics wear, overall.”
– Stewart Francis
“Best way to get rid of kitchen odors: eat out.”
– Phyllis Diller
“If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?”
– Steven Wright
Why do this?
Obviously, I’d never steal other people’s work, but this exercise helps me:
- Improve my copywriting taste.
- Learn how to structure a punchline.
- Develop a radar for headline-worthy phrases. (They’re everywhere: product reviews, blog posts, conversations, etc.)
