100 Good Advertising Headlines (Victor Schwab)
Victor Schwab was a marketing guru who was one of the most famous direct marketing copywriters of all time. He was born in New Jersey in 1898, with his most prolific period of work being in the 1930/40s America where he ran Schwab & Beatty ad agency.
In 1941 he ran a series of advertisements for his agency, one of which listed '100 Good Advertising Headlines - and why they were so profitable' - they were huge full page adverts with over 3,000 words on.
Here's a sample of some of them below, but you can download the PDF to read all one hundred by clicking the image here. If you print it, do so on a very LARGE sheet of paper!
6. HOW A NEW DISCOVERY MADE A PLAIN GIRL BEAUTIFUL
Wide appeal; there are more plain girls than beautiful ones — and just about all of them want to be better looking.
12. HANDS THAT LOOK LOVELIER IN 24 HOURS — OR YOUR MONEY BACK
Universal appeal to women. Result guaranteed: “Or Your Money Back.”
34. IS THE LIFE OF A CHILD WORTH $1 TO YOU?
Trenchant headline for a brake-relining service. Strong emotional appeal: how the life of a little child may be snuffed out by an accident due to your ineffective brakes.
38. HOW TO TAKE OUT STAINS…USE (PRODUCT NAME) AND FOLLOW THESE EASY DIRECTIONS
An example of a good “service” ad — one which, besides being relevantly tied up with the product, also contains helpful information usable in itself. (Such ads often have considerable longevity because they are cut out and used for future reference.)