The company puts out a sensational line of color printers – but you’d never guess from its latest advertising
There’s still a school of wise-guy advertising that seems to believe, “Look, Generation X or Generation Y or Generation Whoever people don’t take advertising very seriously. The way to overcome their resistance is to do sarcastic reverse-English advertising that doesn’t take itself seriously either.”
Don’t pay to send your kids to that school. It’s not a good preparation for the real world. (Except perhaps when you’re trying to create a fad, and I’m not qualified to discuss that at all.)
The creators of the Tektronix ad that I’ve chosen for this issue’s makeover must have graduated from that school.
One of the unfortunate lessons taught to such students is that if it comes to a choice between humor and accuracy – between the gag and the truth – the gag comes first.
Applying the Rule of Paraphrase to test the real meaning of the headline, the paraphrase might read, “We’ve spent so long thinking about color printers that now all we can think about is getting drunk.” I seriously doubt that was what the ad was meant to convey.
But even if we give them the benefit of the doubt and construct a more favorable paraphrase, what do we get? “After 15 years in the color printer business, we’ve decided that ease of reloading the color supply is the only thing worth bothering about.”
But that’s not what was really meant either. See how the joke pushes aside the message?
And the fact that the ad is talking about the latest addition to the Tektronix product line is buried in the body copy, with no mention that it’s a new model.
If you can read the body copy at all, that is. It’s set in fairly small type, about 90 characters to the line – twice as many as readability experts say make for comfortable reading.
This common typographic crime should be forbidden by an act of Congress and punishable by six months of community service – in the Balkans. (And running long lines of small white letters superimposed on a color photograph, preferably one that is printed slightly out of register, calls for punishment too dreadful to talk about.)
In the reproduction here, reading the body copy is even more difficult than in the original. After the subhead, “Loads fast, prints even faster,” there’s the following:
Take it from us. We know what should go into a printer. Our ColorStix ink is a good example. Since each color has a unique shape, loading the Tektronix Phaser 840 printer is as easy as loading a stapler. And just as quick. In fact, everything’s quick. Print speed is twice as fast as a typical color laser. So easy in, easy out could be this printer’s motto. But that’s exactly the kind of thinking we put into all our printers. So you can think about more important things. Like how to celebrate seeing color at work. Take a load off your mind by calling 1-800-844-362-6567 ext. 1578. The call is free and so is all the black ink you will ever need. You can learn more at www.coloratwork.com.
The copy does not contain very many selling points, does not mention that the Phaser 840 is a 1999 model, and does not provide much incentive to check out the Web site and learn more.
In my makeover, I’ve chosen a headline that dramatizes the news of a new-product introduction and emphasizes what is probably more important than ease of color loading to the prospect – namely, printing speed. In my long subhead, I spell this out and display a strong invitation to visit the Web site or call for more information.
But I have also tried to include as much information in the ad as comfortably as possible. In case you can’t read my body copy in this reproduction, here’s what it says:
“This kind of printer should be in every office in the country,” writes columnist John Dvorak in PC Magazine. The Tektronix Phaser 840 delivers up to 10 color pages a minute at up to 1,200 dpi.
What’s more, this speed is achieved instantly – not after the lengthy warm-up required by color lasers.
Our ColorStix inks make replenishing literally a snap. Since each color stick has a unique shape, loading in new ones is as easy as loading a stapler – and just as quick. Top off any color even while printing!
Go to our Web site. Get the whole story. Or call us – the call is free, and so is a lifetime supply of black ink.
Down below are illustrations and captions you won’t be able to read here. They offer impressive proof of the Phaser 840’s first-page speed and simplicity of construction.
Why so much selling detail? Because the more a reader learns and likes about what you’re selling, the more he or she will want to know.
In e-commerce today, one of the buzzwords for desirable qualities in a Web site is “stickiness” – does the site grab visitors like flypaper and compel them to stick around for a while? But what about putting a little more “stickiness” in the print ads designed to drive them there? Namely, by including enough information to get readers to spend more time with the ad and build up their desire to obtain more information.
That’s what I have tried to do here.
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