Nothing But the Truth
WHEN A NEW WRITER ENTERS the copywriting game, he or she studies the masters to see what they did and how they approached their prospects. When I started out, I was referred to copy written by Eugene Schwartz, who wrote for Boardroom, Rodale and his own publishing business. He sold millions of dollars’ worth of books.
His style was short, punchy copy that promoted benefit after benefit. I wondered, as I read some of his work, if these things were true. I’ve since learned that many were not. I also learned that for years he’d been dogged by the Federal Trade Commission for making false claims in the ads he wrote.
Look at some of Schwartz’s past copy and you’ll find claims such as: How modern Chinese medicine helps both men and women BURN DISEASE OUT OF YOUR BODY using nothing more than the palm of your hand! or Eventually throw your glasses away, and never need to see an eye doctor again, simply by rubbing around the eyes for a few minutes every day.
His mailing pieces contained hundreds of statements like that, many of questionable validity. When you encounter statement after statement, you begin to question your sense of what’s true or false. Since we grew up believing that the government protects us from charlatans, and that the truth-in-advertising laws prevent lies from being told in ads, we can come to doubt our own reason.
Here’s the ugly truth: You can write anything you want in a book.
As long as there is no libel involved, the book can’t be challenged. It can be untrue or wrong and the author will suffer nothing worse than the ridicule of those who know better. He can battle things out and win his argument by using the First Amendment, which assures freedom of expression.
From there, whatever is stated in a book, whether true or a lie, can be presented in advertising copy for that book, in information pamphlets and in newsletters. Because the claims were taken from a book
