Tesco’s refreshingly honest ad copy

We absolutely love this ad.

Imagine leading the meeting to pitch this idea. "Hey. Well, thanks for taking the time to meet with us today. We're thinking that we're going to tell everyone that our product is cheap and comes in an ugly can..."

But this ad is so good because it's so brave and bold.

But, even more importantly, it's based in really, really knowing how your customers think about your products.

This is a really great example of matching your copy's energy to the stakes of the purchase.

Sometimes, when you're writing copy, it can be tempting to go all the way with it.

Suddenly, the dishcloth you're writing about becomes "a microfibrous miracle, specifically designed to agitate and excavate even the stubbornest of stains. Prepare yourself, you'll never look at a yellow and green scrubby again."

And no matter how good the copy is, you end writing yourself into this weird disconnect between your copy and what the customers are buying.

But when a brand kind of acknowledges what the product is and why you're buying it and they address the elephant in the room, we trust them more. (This is called two-sided messaging and studies show that it reliably increases how much people trust your brand.)

Which begs the question: is there anywhere in your copy that you could be disarmingly honest with your customers? Is there anywhere your copy maybe doesn't quite line up with the experience of your product or over-eggs what they're actually buying?

If so, try saying what the customer is thinking in your copy.

Something like this:

"We know. How good can a dishcloth actually be? Well, it's not going to put man on Mars, but it's pretty clever. We spent ages testing fibres that don't disintegrate after a few washes. And it's anti-microbial, so it won't get that swampy smell after a few hours." is better than something like "Revolutionary new dishcloth technology with patented anti-microbial fabrics and Teflon-coated fibres for the ultimate in cleaning power and endurance."