Patagonia’s “how did they think of this?!” ad

This is Jack's favourite bit of copy ever written. He's waxed lyrically about this in several of our newsletters, on Instagram and to whoever will listen.

And to be fair to him, it is an absolute banger.

This ad is absolutely stacked with clever copywriting techniques layering on top of each other.

👉 The negative headline is a pattern interrupt that grabs your attention.

👉 The centre-aligned text is harder to read, so your natural reading rhythm slows down and you pay attention.

👉 The bottom-up structure means you have to actively work to decode it, which is the Generation Effect in action. (This effect makes copy 15% more memorable and engaging because the reader has to actively engage with your copy to figure it out. Smart.)

(Plus, maybe we're reaching here, but that last line about "now read this bottom up" rather than "read this in reverse"? Grassroots movements and people pushing for change is called "bottom up" progress. That can't be a coincidence, right?)

But the big thing we love about this ad is that none of those techniques are there to convert you in the traditional sense.

The whole ad is engineered to say "hey, if you care about the planet, you're one of us".

And for Patagonia, that IS the conversion.

And that's why this is in our swipe file. To remind us (and now you) that copy exists to do more than just sell, sell, sell. It's there to connect. To engage. To grab attention.

And sure, we're always going to write copy that sells to as many customers buy as possible.

But sometimes, the route to that sale is about getting them engaged, about making them feel seen and part of a community.

Not FOMO spam and a discount code.

So next time you're writing something, it's worth asking: is this a sales message? Or is it a chance to make a customer feel seen and like part of our community to warm them up for a sale?