Curiosity gap

The pattern

This commercial ad 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

Why it works

'شاركنا الاحتفال واربح' casts the shopper as a guest at the store's birthday rather than the target of a sale, and the 44 in the corner says how long Panda has been around without a word about heritage. The prizes are shown, not listed, spilling from opened boxes in Panda green and red, while the way to enter is held back for later posts, which gives followers a reason to keep watching.

The big idea

Panda turns its 44th anniversary into its customers' party, with the prizes, a TV, a phone, a fitness band and gifts, floating around one line: celebrate with us and win.

The offer

Join Panda's 44th anniversary celebration for a chance to win prizes; the image shows a TV, a smartphone, a fitness band, gift boxes and a Panda card. Followers are told to expect more surprises.

Lines from the ad

شاركنا الاحتفال واربح

Celebrate with us and win

Steal this when

When a long-running retailer marks an anniversary and wants to open a giveaway campaign with a teaser before the rules are announced.

The emotion

Written to Excitement. It does neither clearly.

Prizes, confetti and gift boxes build eager anticipation, but the post gives no date, rule or first step, only a promise of more surprises to come.