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12-OCT-2024 | Excerpt from The Economist’s “What’s the rush?” Ad

Author

Dan Bogachek
October 12, 2024

Excerpt from The Economist’s “What’s the rush?” Ad

What’s the rush?

Life is getting trickier for time-wasters. Businesses that depend on just-in-time delivery cannot tolerate lateness. Stockmarkets trade millions of shares every minute. Twenty-four-hour news channels bombard us with information. Blogs and tweets provide of a blizzard of instant comment.

But is it wise to be in such a rush? High-speed trading can lead to market meltdowns. And is taking one’s time so bad? Regulators warn people not to buy things in the heat of the moment. Procrastinators have a built-in cooling-off period. Businesses want workers to be creative, and inventing things takes time. Asked how to write a novel, Ernest Hemingway said that the first thing to do was to clean the fridge. 🏁

  • Hook — when in doubt, make it a question and keep it simple.

  • First paragraph: illustration with repetition within a theme.

  • Second paragraph: we start off with A-B, A-B. Then another string of repetition just like in the first and a final longer line to wrap it.

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].