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Curiosity gap

What the ad shows

Three double-page print ads split the spread between two real cities that share a name: London, UK against London, Ontario, Naples, Italy against Naples, Florida, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France against its small replica, topped with a cowboy hat, in Paris, Texas. Each side carries the city name in huge airport-departure-board pixel type, and a white suitcase-shaped panel in the centre holds the headline, the free baggage loss insurance offer, and the Mashreq logo with a Visa card.

IN CASE YOUR LUGGAGE GOES TO THE WRONG ONE
FREE BAGGAGE LOSS INSURANCE WITH YOUR MASHREQ CREDIT CARD.

The image belongs to the brand, so we describe it here and link to where it is shown.

Mashreq Bank: insures your luggage against a same-name mix-up

Mashreq Bank2020Country: UAELanguage: English

Mashreq Bank. Agency: TBWA. The ad itself is shown at adsoftheworld.com.

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

Read the pattern

Why it works

The side-by-side cities make an obscure insurance benefit instantly visible by showing a real, checkable coincidence rather than explaining a risk in words. The pixel departure-board type places the ad in the exact airport moment of travel anxiety, and the suitcase-shaped panel turns the brand block itself into the object the benefit protects. The Paris execution is the strongest of the set because the cowboy-hatted replica tower makes the mix-up look almost comic and hard to forget.

The big idea

Many famous destinations share a name with another city worldwide, so bags land in the wrong one, and Mashreq cards cover that mishap with free baggage loss insurance.

The offer

Free baggage loss insurance with a Mashreq credit card.

Steal this when

Promoting a forgotten card feature or insurance benefit: find a real, surprising way the covered mishap actually happens and show it side by side before naming the benefit as the fix.

The emotion

Written to Anxiety. It makes the Say move.

Setting two same-name cities side by side, like Paris and its cowboy-hatted replica, shows exactly how a bag goes astray, then names the fix: free baggage loss insurance on the card.

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