Testimonial lead

The pattern

This still is filed under Testimonial lead.

Define

The first voice on the page is a customer's. Proof arrives before the company's claim.

Mechanism

Borrowed voice. The lead sentence is already someone else's verdict. The seller speaks second.

Verdict

The result is easier to believe from a peer

Why it works

The headline names the illness and a deadline, tonight, so the promise is quick and testable. Below it, about ten portrait photos of named Egyptian men, each with his job and town and a short account of how the tablets helped, turn one claim into a crowd of peers who vouch for it. The closing box states that prices are unchanged, with a pack of 2 tablets for 5 milliemes, so the reader has no cost reason to wait.

The big idea

Beat the flu tonight: take Aspro now, and let a page of named Egyptian men who already did it vouch for the result.

The offer

Aspro tablets at prices kept unchanged until further notice: 27 tablets for 5 piastres, 10 for 2.5 piastres, 2 for 5 milliemes.

The proof

About ten portrait photos of named men with their jobs and towns, each telling how the tablets helped, plus the claim that Aspro harms neither heart nor stomach.

Lines from the ad

تغلب الليلة على الانفلونزا باسبرو

Beat influenza tonight with Aspro

خذ اسبرو الآن

Take Aspro now

اسبرو لا يضر القلب ولا المعدة

Aspro harms neither the heart nor the stomach

Steal this when

Use it when you have many ordinary customers willing to be named and pictured, and a low entry price to close with.

The emotion

Written to Relief. It makes the Say move.

Beat influenza tonight sets a result the reader can test by morning, and about ten named men, each with his job and town, report the relief they already had.