Sometimes a cover-up works to a brand’s benefit.
National Jewish Health. “She’ll Never Dance Again.” (New York Times Sunday Magazine)
The National Jewish Health ad is an elegant marriage of words and image: the dancer’s leg, lifted en attitude, blocks out most of “never.” The copy supports the concept:
Doctors said Karen’s lung disease meant she would never dance again. But that was before she came to National Jewish Health. Here, we never say never…
Another medical institution, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, uses the strikeout device in ads…
WSJ magazine, October 2011. “Cancer” is, in fact, part of the institution’s name.
…and in online copy:
Strikeouts can be striking online, too:
Go to Duarte.com to see how animation transforms this home-page headline.
Here’s a strikeout that swings and misses:
Meredith Corporation: “There Are No Guarantees in Life.” (New York Times)
Meredith owns many nationally distributed magazines, including Family Circle, Ladies Home Journal, and Parents. The torn-paper effect is nice, but the concept here is less successful than with “Dance Again,” mostly because of the jargon-y copy that takes too long to explain the headline:
Introducing the Meredith Engagement Dividend
Powered by Nielsen, this ground-breaking ROI tool quantifies the direct impact of your Meredith media investment on product sales. And that’s not all. Because we believe so strongly in the power of our magazine brands, we’re offering the industry’s first and only proof-of-performance guarantee.
They lost me after “ground-breaking ROI tool.”
That first one, the National Jewish Health ad, was so striking it brought a tear to this old curmudgeon's eye.
Posted by: David Craig | October 10, 2011 at 06:02 AM