The Three Stooges recipe for writing better copy that hides in plain sight
If you are familiar with the Three Stooges then you have most certainly heard this secret recipe. Even if you are vaguely familiar with the show you have heard them say it out loud (making it only secret to the uninitiated).
They say it often (maybe not that often, but you’ll recognize it when I tell you).
Hey what’s the big idea?! — The Three Stooges
That’s the secret that is hiding in plain sight.
Confused? Allow me to expand.
Any copy that you write needs to revolve around a central theme.
David Ogilvy (namesake of advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather) calls this “the Big Idea”. In fact, there is an excellent book by Michael Masterson and John Forde called Great Leads that devotes the first chapter to teaching you the impact of using a central idea in each promotion.
Thus is the power of a big idea.
In filmmaking this is the central theme of the movie. This is the underlying idea that the movie is trying to get across to the audience. Take one of my favourite movies for example Kill Bill. The central theme is revenge.
You can see many examples of movies that have good versus evil as the central theme. Star Wars, Avengers: Infinity War, Harry Potter, and many more…
The point is you can take a lesson from what they do in films. They entertain people, and (like it or not) give people different perspectives on things (that is really important when you are trying to get someone to buy).
According to Eugene Schwartz in his book Breakthrough Advertising, you cannot create desire for your product, you can only channel an existing desire.
Using the concept of a big idea is simply taking a strong existing desire and connecting it to a solution (your product).
So, take it from the Three Stooges and find out what your big idea is…
