How To NOT Write Copy: 8 Bad Copywriting Examples & Marketing Fails

Key Takeaways

have you ever seen a headline or ad so bad that it makes you wonder oh how did nobody spot that here are eight cringe-worthy copy fails that will have you think twice before pushing publish [Music] so as a copywriter I am sure you've made your fair share of typos and grammar mistakes and misplaced punctuation when you're burning the midnight oil during a launch or rushing to meet a campaign deadline if you're lucky your worst case scenario is just a run-on sentence or a missing word here and there if you're not so lucky it's a media backlash that ends up as a meme on the TI fu subreddit gone are the days when the protocols to publish something involves meticulous rounds of approval and proofreading before it went to the printers today anything from anyone can go live to millions of viewers with just the click of a button which is why it's creators we have to take the extra measure to review and prefer work before hitting publish post send or share because once you do it's out there forever just gonna take a screenshot back so this week I'm sharing eight examples of epic copywriting fails that you definitely want to avoid because let's face it sometimes the best way to grow is to learn what not to do but if you also want to learn what to do to write compelling persuasive and fail proof copy you're in the right place hit subscribe below because I release a new copywriting tutorial every single week now here are eight times copywriting went oh so very wrong let these mistakes be a cautionary tale to remind you that as a copywriter and marketer you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself alright bail number 1 when a joke goes wrong our first fail is brought to you by our friends at Airbnb I'm talking about this tone-deaf ad that was plastered all over San Francisco it reads dear Public Library System we hope you use some of the twelve million dollars in hotel taxes to keep the library open later okay so firstly this ad references something so obscure that the majority of people are likely to read it and think what are you talking about after I did some research I discovered that when Airbnb was asked to fork out millions in hotel taxes they put up this ad to suggest how the government should be spending that money but they made the huge mistake of throwing shade at the San Francisco Public Library System which really had nothing to do with the hotel taxes in the first place so that's weird but they also neglected the fact that San Francisco's public libraries we're already struggling to pay their staff and get financial support so as much as we all love a bit of tongue-in-cheek sarcasm if your coffee trivializes a serious struggle in misdirected rage it's no longer a marketing faux pas it's just in bad taste after a heated backlash and a public apology even the Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky himself admitted that it made us look like jerks fail number two when you alienate your audience if you're going to run a campaign make sure you don't accidentally offend or worse marginalize a group from your audience just to prove a point for instance when the Minnesota health plan provider Blue Cross Blue Shield decided to encourage people to exercise more by ditching the elevator and taking stairs they completely forgot about the people who rely on elevators to get around their cringe-worthy ad read today's the day we take the stairs let's start making healthier decisions today I'm sure this guy's thinking yeah great thanks awful a large number of people who use elevators use them not because they can but because they have to so what's the lesson here let's start making better copy decisions today I'll always know who you're talking to you so you don't a lien ate any part of your audience okay fail number three when you try to be too clever so here's an interesting fact studies have shown that the average adult reads at the 7th to 8th grade level which is why most mainstream novels are written for the average junior high student well the same goes for your copy it needs to be simple to be effective no matter your niche but clearly this online publication didn't the memo the pop-up call-to-action on their website reads it's never too late to start over if you weren't happy with yesterday try something better today don't stay stuck do better what in a painful attempt to sound clever this call to action created nothing but confusion do I agree do I disagree what doesn't even met what what does it mean fail number four when you've been living under a rock here's another display of tongue-in-cheek copy gone terribly terribly wrong this Christmas catalogue ad buy Bloomingdale's features a man looking intently at an oblivious woman who apparently is his best friend with the caption spike your best friends eggnog when they're not looking well that went downhill from cheek to creep fast how did nobody on the ad team catch that before it went to print not like a joke like this is ever cool but especially in today's me to era Bloomingdale's how did you think that was okay have you been living under a rock or are you just completely insensitive I'd chance a bet that you didn't have a single woman on your ad team when you created that ad because if you did it would have been thrown in the trash and it would never have seen the light of day okay fail number five when you're just a bit too controversial they say that any publicity is good publicity well that might always be true now don't get me wrong I love a good rebellious ad that disrupts the norm but the line between WoW and woe is sometimes very fine berlin-based funeral home Bergman's son decided to promote their service by placing a large ad on the wall of the underground station on the other side of the tracks with the words come a little closer yeah you might have my attention but do you have my business I am not so sure this ad trivializes death and belittle suicide which is no laughing matter well I can see the humor in it the sad makes me feel a little bit uneasy what do you guys think funny or faux-pas comment below and let me know okay fail number six when you make a reference that no one gets if you're a copywriter or marketer who spends a lot of time indulging in pop culture content in your spare time it can be hard to resist slipping in a little timely inside joke into your copy however references without context will likely backfire and make your reader go huh like this pop-up call to action from Mashable it reads you can pronounce jiff however you'd like get the best of digital culture with the click click click newsletter first they randomly use the whole shift pronunciation debate as their main headline so then promote their obscurely named click click click newsletter neither with much contact so I'm seriously confused and wonder what Jif or gif has to do with anything but now I'm actually curious to know how do you pronounce it okay now fail number 7 when you me me me all over the place now I've said this before and I will say it again your prospects will always ask the question what's in it for me you is one of the most powerful words used in copywriting so it's easy to see where rarely went wrong their homepage copy reads weird digital artisans an expert team passionate about crafting bespoke websites and apps their prospects are likely yawning and leaving the page way before they even get to the call-to-action button that says get to know us name so whether you're selling your product or service your sales copy should focus on what you can do for your customer not try to sell it how great you are Bale number eight when a pun goes wrong so so wrong okay I'll be the first to admit I love a good pun and humor is a great way to drive engagement but not at the expense of your brand identity or ad message like McDonald's implying their back door is open for business at 6:00 a.m. or ray-bans reminder of where to wear their sunglasses or sheets energy strips sharing one way to use their product well funny yes these fundamental coffee flaws could have had some detrimental consequences on the brand after the fact so as copywriters keep your dirty jokes and puns to yourself geez guys okay there you have it eight copywriting mistakes you should absolutely never repeat thanks so much for watching guys give me a thumbs up below if you liked this video and next if you want to see some killer examples of 10 brands that are getting their slogans and headlines right you can check it out right here and be sure to subscribe to catch my video next week until then I'm Alex ciao for now fundamental [Music]