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  • 27-NOV-2024 | An excerpt from Charmin’s Bathroom Reading Ad by Lapiz Leo Burnett

27-NOV-2024 | An excerpt from Charmin’s Bathroom Reading Ad by Lapiz Leo Burnett

Author

Dan Bogachek
November 27, 2024

An excerpt from Charmin’s Bathroom Reading Ad by Lapiz Leo Burnett

The number one read for your number two moments

Some ads are born with aspirations of greatness. Take the minimalist yet gigantically pretentious billboard with the one-word headline you can see from your car. Or the strange French ad you try in vain to decipher while waiting for Federico to style your hair.

What is the copywriter trying to do: sell a product or show how clever he is? Not the case with this ad. This, my friend, is actually a useful ad. It was created to be read in the bathroom while you go.

Some will underestimate its great purpose. It happens all the time. In 1596, Sir John Harington’s successful career as an inventor came to a stop after his new contraption, the toilet, was labeled “an absurd device.”

Critics are everywhere. 🏁

  • Immediately starts with “you” and doesn’t stop. The copy even addresses you as “my friend” — it’s really talking to you and not being shy about it.

  • Refreshing variation in sentence length. And a pattern we see all the time: the last sentence is a punctuation after the longer, more detailed one about Harington.

“Nobody reads advertising. People read what interests them; and sometimes it’s an ad.”

Howard Luck Gossage

You glance at your watch.

It’s 6:28. You’ve been at it since 3.
Crap. Your hot date is at 7. Running late. Sink shower it is.
Nowhere close to done editing…

“…at least all the ideas are laid out, so there’s that. Did I miss anything? I don’t think so? Ok, but how do I make it flow? I need to get the final draft to Stacey for design asap, team cutoff is at noon Thursday…”

You’ve spent dinner completely distracted. Your date just took off. You go home exhausted, plod to your desk, and crack open the laptop.

Or… it could go like this:

5:41 — you’re out of the shower and lip-syncing.
6:17 — dressed to the nines and zenned out.
7:03 — the sunset glints off your aviators as you smile hello.
8:36 — it actually feels like you’re hitting it off. Not just hot, funny to boot.
Next morning, 10:27 — polished draft ready in your inbox.
10:31 — Stacey messages back, “thanks, looks good!”

The difference?

You had Copygloss handle it yesterday afternoon.

For help with editing, email Dan:
[email protected].