Once at one of my copywriting seminars, a radio station account exec protested, “What’s wrong with using clichés in commercials? Obviously they must work, or people wouldn’t keep using them.”
I guess I’ll just need to keep repeating this to radio programmers, copywriters, producers, air talent, and salespeople:
If everyone does it, it’s probably wrong.
I know nothing about engineering, so I have no idea if most radio station engineers do their jobs poorly.
(Somewhere in a desk drawer, however, I do have a copy of my First Class Radio-Telephone Operator’s license. With that piece of paper, I was allowed to stand around and “supervise” while the unlicensed engineer/owner converted the station’s transmitter to a nuclear power plant.)
Anyway….
The fact that “everyone uses clichés in commercials” should be enough reason for you not to.
But here’s a more specific explanation of why clichés are to be avoided like the plague.
Using timeworn clichés invites the audience to stop listening.
If I say to you, “It’s just like riding a bicycle…” you are free to let your mind wander because you know what I am going to say next.
If I’m trying to get you to take an action as a result of hearing my commercial, I can’t afford to have your mind wander — not even for a few seconds.
Bad copywriters don’t fill their commercials with clichés because they work. They fill their commercials with clichés because they’re bad copywriters.
A Partial List of Cliches You Never Again Will Use In A Radio Commercial
“Going on now”
“Now is the time…”
“They won’t last long.”
“Service second to none”
“Savings throughout the store”
“The sale you’ve been waiting for!”
“It’s sale time!”
“It’s midsummer madness time!”
“It’s bargain time!”
“It’s inventory time!”
“It’s big savings time!”
“It’s clearance time!”
“Storewide savings”
“It’s happening now!”
“It’s happening at…”
“We service what we sell.”
“For all of your _____ needs”
“Friendly, knowledgeable staff”
“Locally owned and operated”
“Conveniently located”
“And, what’s more…”
“So hurry on down…”
“For the finest in…”
“It’s our people that make the difference!”
“Quality service”
“Not to mention”
“And, what’s more…”
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Sadly the worst offenders are usually national advertisers. If I hear, “there has never been a better time to buy..”, I am going to throw something at my 52 inch HDTV that I bought from a knowledgeable and friendly staff member who had lots of free parking!
“there has never been a better time to buy..”
…But there will be tomorrow….
Plus: No one wants a “better time to buy.”
A bunch of people might want the product.
But none of them woke up this morning thinking,”If only I could find the right time to buy it…”
One of my “faves”…”Nothing is being held back!”
….No cliche is being left unturned!
Even news departments, much less copy writers, use, “It’s that time of year again . . .” My reply was, “It’s ALWAYS that time of year again!”
Paul T.
Years ago, someone came up to me at one of my commercial copywriting seminars in Missouri to tell me about one of their station salespeople who begins EVERY spot with a sound effect followed by:
“You know what THAT sound means: It’s (season, holiday, etc.) again….”
Presumably the sound effect relates either to the season/holiday or to the advertised product.
“You know what THAT sound means….”
Yeah, it means old whats-her-name wrote the commercial.
My favorite: “In business since (insert year)”