Hi Martin,

> Personally, I don't see any distinction. A
> great benefit is also a lovely surprise.
> Linda had a great example (which didn't make
> it into the final interview) and I will ask
> her to post it here. But it clearly
> illustrates that surprise and benefits are
> not separate issues.

> If the benefit doesn't come as a surprise,
> then perhaps the wrong benefit has been
> chosen.

Thanks, that's a good perspective....

> Sometimes the headline is purely used to
> shock or jar the reader into paying
> attention. But even then, a strong benefit
> must follow up pretty quickly in the
> subhead.

Yes, I can think of ads like this.

Joe Sugarman had an ad with the headline

Pickle Power

The copy was humorous, talking about their new (not-quite-ready) product, battery powered electronic pickles!

The REAL product, in fact, was the rechargeable, one-size-fits-all batteries - which, in the ad copy were used to power the pickles!

Of course, anyone reading the copy The approach to copywriting that you
> describe is what I call 'cascade writing.'
> Every line is like a tributary flowing into
> a river that by the end cascades into a
> torrent of positive emotion. Anything else
> just doesn't get the business.

Do you have any resources (eg. books, or articles I can look up, etc.) you could recommend to read about this? I'd like to read more about this from a different perspective....

Thanks again Martin, and to Linda too....

By the way, we keep a copy of Linda's story, The Grey Knit Vest right here at Sowpub.... :)

- Dien Rice