New Lady Clairol Instant Whip Creme Hair Lightener ad, Modern Screen April 1959
The pattern
This still is filed under Question headline.
Define
The first line is a question the reader was already asking, or one they cannot leave unanswered.
Mechanism
Open loop plus recognition. A good question is the reader's objection, spoken first by us.
Verdict
We know the real objection and can answer it in the next breath.
Why it works
The headline is a rumour posed as a question, so the reader supplies the answer and the ad never has to make a claim it cannot support. The photograph pays the claim off before a word is read: she has the prize, a man is doing the work, and she is the one enjoying it. The copy then reframes the whole decision as risk-free and trivially reversible, so the objection it answers is embarrassment, not efficacy: gentle, only minutes, deliciously cool, leaves your hair in wonderful condition. Closing on a season rather than a sale gives a deadline nobody can argue with.
Steal this when
You are selling a self-image change that people privately want but are scared to be seen making. Pose the benefit as a question the reader already gossips about, show a scene where it has already paid off, and spend the body copy dismantling fear rather than proving performance.