Problem-agitate-solve

The pattern

This still is filed under Problem-agitate-solve.

Define

Name the problem, make the cost of leaving it felt, then present the way out as relief.

Mechanism

Tension then release. The offer is not an interruption. It is the only door once the cost of staying is clear.

Verdict

The problem is known but not yet urgent

Why it works

A hand holds out a Preservatol tube, and its rays drive off a half-dressed woman wrapped in a serpent while a young man in a fez looks on, so the product is drawn as a shield against the price of temptation before a word is read. The copy then speaks to the young man directly, names gonorrhoea and syphilis, and lists the cost of neglect: suffering, long treatment, expense and weakness passed on to his children. It ends with named Cairo pharmacies and a telephone number, so he can buy without asking anyone where.

The big idea

Protection for young men against gonorrhoea and syphilis, drawn as a tube whose rays drive off temptation itself: a half-dressed woman wrapped in a serpent.

The offer

Al-Waqi (Preservatol) ointment: 15 piastres for a large tube that lasts a long time, sold at named Cairo drug stores and their branches, or from the concession holder at Opera Square, telephone 909.

The proof

The ointment is called guaranteed in its benefit, and the concession is held by a doctor at Opera Square in Cairo.

Lines from the ad

الانتصار على الامراض السرية

Victory over the secret diseases

أيها الشاب

Young man

فاحفظ صحتك باستعمال (الواقي)

So protect your health by using al-Waqi

Steal this when

Use it for a prevention product the buyer is shy about, when the picture can carry the danger and a list of stockists can make buying discreet.

The emotion

Written to Fear. It makes the Say move.

Addressing 'Young man', it names gonorrhoea and syphilis and what neglect costs, then gives a discreet step: a 15 piastre tube from named Cairo drug stores or telephone 909, bought without asking anyone.