My best friend Tom is a copywriter, so we talk about ads a lot.
Usually, that means snapping pictures of bad ads and texting them to each other (with comments like “LOL what a stupid value prop” or “can’t believe an agency got paid for this 🤦♂️”).
But not this morning.
This morning, he sent me something that could spell the end for advertising …
And with it, the end of the entire copywriting industry.
Along with his job, my job, and probably YOUR job too.
Really! We’re all doomed.
So what was this omen of death he sent me?
A … Pinterest post.
Specifically, a Pinterest post about a new pair of AR goggles, called the “Brand Killer”, which had this line:
“The Brand Killer is an augmented reality headset that detects and blocks advertisements.”
I first thought it was a joke.
Until I Googled it … and found that it was very, very real.
I kid you not:
It is a massive headset that covers your entire freaking head with goggles so that you don’t have to look at ads.
For real.
Yeah.
All us copywriters … doomed 😂
Oh, and this thing doesn’t stop at just ads … it blocks brand logos, too.
I watched a demo video and couldn’t stop laughing: the guy picks up a can of Dr. Pepper … and suddenly the logo disappears — poof! — in a fuzzy pixellated square!
Just think of how useful that could be!
You wouldn’t have to go shopping and see all those (ugh) annoying labels on the cheese and stuff.
Heck, even something as mundane as picking a soft drink at a party would become a thrilling lucky dip. (You can imagine old Diabetic Diana in her anti-ad goggles, cracking open a can of Coke, thinking it’s zero-sugar: “Wow, why does this Coke Zero taste … so … GOOD?” *glug glug glug*)
Anyway, I wish the creators of these goggles all the best.
Although … I do look forward to seeing how many units they can sell without … you know, er … advertising?
(Perhaps they could do what Tom suggested to me: run an obnoxious ad campaign that says ‘Sick of this ad? Buy these goggles!’)
Thing is though, I predict they’ll be a huge flop:
Most advertising is boring enough on its own … it doesn’t need any help to be ignored.
And that includes 99% of emails, too.
The other 1%?
Well, they’re from those rare few people who know how to write interesting sales emails that people actually love to read … and buy from.
It’s an exclusive club.
(I’m the club captain and I get to decide who comes in.)
But soon, I’ll be giving you the opportunity to join it, when I launch—
“Your new coaching program, Inbox Detonator,” you say, rolling your eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I’ve only heard that like, 50 times over the past two weeks.”
Huh.
Getting a little saucy with me, are we?
Because let me tell you:
Even though, yes, I have been talking about my upcoming coaching program Inbox Detonator in most of my emails for the last couple of weeks, and including a link to a waitlist for when it opens …
… every single day I get a bunch of new people clicking that waitlist.
(And one guy who isn’t new, but who seems to have made it his goal in life to click it every day, so … power to him.)
So riddle me that one, O Wise One.
For now, I’ll keep mentioning that waitlist until it’s ready.
‘Cause I’ve already got many times more people on the waitlist than I’ll be able to take in the first month … I might even need to do a waitlist within the waitlist to thin the numbers a little more.
At any rate — if you’re not on that list, count yourself out.
But if you’re sick of seeing my emails talking about it, I understand.
Hey — I actually know this really cool new product that could help you with that …
Daniel Throssell