Turning comedy into copy


Hey! 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 👇

“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.)

You made it! 💃

Reply to this email if you enjoyed it. I'll write back, pinky swear ;)

P.S. Check out my new B2B ads course – Boring Products, Fun Ads (150+ students)

The Creative Marketer

Learn how to brainstorm brilliant ads and copy | You’ll get one practical recipe every two weeks | Free bonus: get 25 creative marketing cheatsheets when you sign up.

Read more from The Creative Marketer

Read in your browser↗ Hey! Constantly coming up with new ads is hard... But a technique I learned from Pablo Rochat makes it easier. Credit: Nicer Tuesdays I call it Square Storming. And here's how I used it to come up with 100+ ads for my client, AppsFlyer: SPONSOR I use Senja to collect, organize, and share testimonials from my course students: And when I advise startups, Senja is the first tool I recommend, because nothing boosts conversions faster than social proof. SPONSOR Step 1: I...

Read in your browser ↗ Hey! Legal restrictions often kill good ads. But sometimes, they inspire genius ideas, like this: Here's another one from this campaign: The Recipe I call these “Legal Loophole Ads,” and I think there are two main ways to come up with them: 1. Complain about your legal restrictions I also love this classic from 1985: 2. Find a way around your legal restrictions And another great example: Budweiser couldn’t use photos of rock stars drinking Bud because of copyright. So...

Read in your browser ↗ Hey! Typographic ads are the perfect mix of copy and design. Because Typography turns plain copy into expressive visuals. So here are six techniques I use to create Typographic ads. 1. Replace letters with images 2. Turn words into shapes Small caption (right ad:) “See danger before it happens. Audi Cornering Lights.” Ad for mental health hotline. I had the pleasure of writing copy for this Coke campaign. Two stories, in two languages, form the shape of a bottle....