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NewsvineGOOD COPY IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
August 29th, 2006by Becky Ehrick / BusinessVoice Copywriter
Just a little while ago, I discovered that the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words” isn’t an age-old proverb after all; it comes from an advertisement published in the magazine Printer’s Ink in 1921, extolling the benefits of advertising with pictures on street cars. The actual phrase, penned by Fred R. Barnard, was “One Look is Worth A Thousand Words,” and the ad didn’t even include a picture! To give his words a little more credibility, he called it a Japanese proverb.
In 1927, the phrase popped up again, in a slightly altered form: “One Picture is Worth Ten Thousand Words.” Only this time, the credit is shifted from Japan to China, but this is no sage saying of Confucius. Again the person behind the advertisement is Frederick Barnard.
“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride” is another common phrase that comes to us from advertising copy. You can thank Listerine mouthwash for that one (and for coining the word “halitosis”). “Getting there is half the fun” began life as a slogan for Cunard Lines.
Even now, many of today’s advertising slogans are blurring the line between English and Adlish. Remember when “WASSUP??” rippled through the collective vocabulary? These days, we lighten up bad news by joking, “but hey, I just saved 15% on my car insurance!” When advertising copy rains, it pours. We let our fingers do the walking, we don’t wanna grow up, we want the real thing. It keeps going, and going, and going”
Why? Why ask why? We just do it. Because we’re worth it. Because so much is riding on our tires. Maybe just because we’re not going anywhere for a while.