Curiosity gap

The pattern

This still is filed under Curiosity gap.

Define

A missing piece is named but not filled, so the reader has to continue to close the loop.

Mechanism

Incomplete pattern. Attention is the itch. The next line is the scratch. The gap is a debt we must pay.

Verdict

The following sentence can pay off the gap with a fact, a name, or a mechanism

Why it works

The lead line, Hiroshima takes revenge on its destroyers, sits over a photo of an atomic cloud and asks something the reader cannot answer alone: how can a flattened city strike back. Ten boxed titles below each open a smaller loop, from hypnotism that 'makes you a complete person' to a call for Arab youth to learn how to laugh, and each carries a named writer or doctor. The bottom bar closes on 'tomorrow', 164 colour pages and 7 piasters, so the answer is one day and a small coin away.

The big idea

A shocking line, Hiroshima takes revenge on its destroyers, set over an atomic cloud, leads a July al-Hilal packed with ten signed teasers.

The offer

al-Hilal's July issue, out tomorrow, 164 colour pages for 7 piasters, with Hussein al-Shafei on the army and the revolution, Fathi Radwan, Muhammad Farid Abu Hadid and more.

The proof

Named bylines on every box, including Hussein al-Shafei, Fathi Radwan, Dr. Amir Buqtur and Muhammad Farid Abu Hadid.

Lines from the ad

هيروشيما تنتقم من مدمريها

Hiroshima takes revenge on its destroyers

التنويم المغناطيسي يجعلك إنسانا كاملا..!

Hypnotism makes you a complete person

أيها الشباب العربى تعلم كيف تضحك؟

Arab youth, learn how to laugh?

Steal this when

Use it to sell an issue, report or course by leading with its most provocative claim and then showing every item inside with its author.

The emotion

Written to Curiosity. It makes the Say move.

The lead, Hiroshima takes revenge on its destroyers, names a gap the reader cannot close alone, and ten boxed teasers each close part of theirs with a named writer or doctor.