Exhibit in the column

The pattern

This still is filed under Exhibit in the column.

Define

An image is dropped into the column of type so the reader meets picture and argument in one scan.

Mechanism

In-flow exhibit. The figure is not a separate see fig. 2. It starts the paragraph. Eye and mind start together.

Verdict

Long copy must show as well as tell: a product cutaway, a before/after, a map in the story.

Why it works

Free-wheeling was a new and invisible feature, so the ad explains it with something every reader had felt: a small drawing of a cyclist coasting with his feet off the pedals, set right inside the copy. The car drawing above, lit by a beam, gives the product presence, while the long text walks through economy in fuel, oil and wear, the practical case for an expensive purchase.

The big idea

The new Hupmobile coasts like a bicycle whose rider stops pedalling: the car keeps its speed while the engine idles, which saves fuel, oil and wear.

The offer

The new Hupmobile with free wheeling, which costs less than before despite its improvements. Ride one and test it yourself. Agents: Awlad A. G. Dabbas and Co., National Commercial Car Company, 4 Sharia Suleiman Pasha.

The proof

A worked example in the copy: at 80 kilometres an hour the engine turns only as if at 10 or 12, and gears change between second and top without touching the clutch.

Lines from the ad

سيارة هبموبيل الجديدة ذات العجلات الحرة

The new Hupmobile with free wheeling

اختبر الطيران على اجنحة العجلات

Try flying on the wings of the wheels

هذه هي العجلات الحرة

This is free wheeling

Steal this when

When your key feature is technical and unseen, place a small picture of an everyday experience inside the copy that makes the feature feel familiar.

The emotion

Written to Confusion. It makes the Say move.

A coasting cyclist set inside the copy makes free wheeling familiar, then the text states its practical case plainly: savings in fuel, oil and wear, and gears changed without the clutch.