Making Headlines

Advertising Workshop columnist Jerry Fisher picks his 10 favorite headlines of all time.

Truly great headlines are those that pull in a truckload of sales or leads for a particular product. And while there is not enough data to know for sure whether all the headlines shown below met that qualification, the punch they pack probably had a big impact on their respective companies. So for our purposes, best simply means headlines so provocative they leave an indelible impression. In no particular order, here's my list:

1. Lemon. This headline riveted attention on an ad for the Volkswagen Beetle many years ago. It showed a photo of a Beetle that had been rejected (because of a piece of tarnished chrome) by the stringent quality control standards at Volkswagen.
2. It's ugly, but it gets you there. Another great Volkswagen Beetle ad headline of the same era. This one played on the Beetle's anti-establishment cachet at the time.
3. Do you leave the bathroom door open when you're the only one home? A jaw-dropping headline printed on the envelope of a subscription solicitation mailing for Psychology Today magazine. Inside, it explained what this behavior says about you.
4. The lazy man's way to riches. What more desirable secret could you learn? This headline promoted a book of the same title that sold in the millions by mail order.
5. At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock. This classic headline from legendary ad agency Ogilvy & Mather inspired many an aspiring copywriter.
6. We're going rabbit hunting. The headline on a gutsy trade ad by then-upstart men's magazine Penthouse, announcing its intention to knock off the reigning king, Playboy. The visual showed Playboy's famous bunny emblem caught in the cross hairs of a gun scope.
7. Are you being punished for having a high I.Q.? Another envelope headline, this time on a mailing from high-toned Atlantic Monthly magazine. The headline implied there aren't enough good magazines for smart people like you.
8. What never to eat on an airplane. An envelope headline on a subscription mailing for the newsletter Bottom Line Personal, this is the most curiosity-arousing headline I've ever read.
9. Think of it as a steel bikini. Automobile advertising, with few exceptions, is routine and forgettable. This headline for a Japanese-made pint-sized convertible, floating above a photo of the car, broke the mold. It spoke to sun-worshipping, beach-going 18- to 25-year-old women.
10. Choose any 4 for only $1. Sound familiar? This was the headline--and brilliant offer--on an ad that put the famous Book-of-the-Month Club on the map years ago. Although getting four books for a buck doesn't have quite the oomph it once had--mainly because nearly every book club since has used a variation of it--this powerful concept endures today.

--J.F.