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

A famous face, Bertrand Russell, delivers a surprising verdict in a black band: let us leave the moon in peace. Then one huge word, Why?, opens the gap, and the next line says the answer is only inside al-Hilal's new issue. The long list of named writers and doctors below turns one teaser into a full issue worth buying.

The big idea

Bertrand Russell's verdict, let us leave the moon in peace, is followed by one huge Why?, and the answer is only in al-Hilal's November issue.

The offer

al-Hilal's issue out 1 November 1959, with Russell's answer, a long list of articles by named writers and doctors, a problem of the month on youth delinquency and a book of the month.

The proof

Russell's photo with the title 'the great philosopher', and a column of named doctors and writers beside every article.

Lines from the ad

فلنترك القمر فى سلام

Let us leave the moon in peace

لماذا؟

Why?

اقرأ الجواب على صفحات مجلتك الكبرى الهلال

Read the answer in the pages of your great magazine, al-Hilal

Steal this when

Use it to sell a report, issue or episode that contains one provocative expert opinion: lead with the verdict, ask why, and put the answer behind the purchase.

The emotion

Written to Curiosity. It makes the Say move.

It gives part of the answer first, Bertrand Russell's verdict, let us leave the moon in peace, then names the gap in one huge Why? and places his reasons in the 1 November issue.