For the last 2 months, I have been devouring copywriting ideas and books by the truckload.
I was hoping and down right on my knees praying that everyone here could help guide me along in my idea.

Here it is:

Goal: Sell weightloss supplement (Make Money) and get my name out for future ideas.

Take out a full page ad with the local newspaper. Have a picture of me with no clothes on (except shorts of course) showing my large, gelatinous, hapoon-scarred gut. Tell everyone, that I am tired of all the weight-loss claims out there and am going to try a weight loss program that says I can lose 10-12 lbs. in 9 days. Come on... really? 9 days?

I want the readers to follow me on my quest to lose weight. No before and after pictures and wild claims from people that they have never met before. Just a before picture... and during. This way the proof will happen in front of them. I plan on having a blog with video that shows EVERYTHING that I am doing and 3 times daily weight check-ins. The reason for the newspaper is the shock value. I am thier gunea pig.

Next... take the article and send it to all of the newspapers, radio and TV News stations in the state of Washington to try and create a buzz about this. Also, the company that has the weight loss stuff offered to pay for the supplements.

After 9 days, If I lose the weight that is claimed, I will do it for a total of a month and then join a gym that would sponsor me for free. Track everything on exactly what I am doing and how much weight I am losing.

If it works.... I think I could sell quite a few units of this product. And, Next time I write an article or send them direct mail or email, they already know me... almost too much.

I think it would be pretty ballsy to put my picture like that in the newspaper, because this is a smaller town.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Jon Bauer

What if it doesn't work? Then maybe there would be some negative publicity the company doesn't want. To mitigate that, you might want to keep the product a secret until it does work. This might create some interest through curiosity.

I am just a newbie to copywriting too, so maybe I am way off on this.

Jon,

My initial problem with the idea is that I'd guess 99% of those who would even consider buying a weightloss supplement, wouldn't be ordering until they see the results. And I don't mean 10 pounds in 9 days.

You're a big guy I gather... You know 10 pounds isn't going to make a dent in your "harpoon scarred... gelatinous body."

IMO your audience wants real results... but dramatic results...

It's my educated guess here that there's a reason you don't often see "during" photos. It's because they remove the drama. When Anna Nicole did the whole trimspa thing, you saw her everywhere on TV as the fat bloated Anna Nicole. Then one day she just appeared sexy again. Like a phoenix rising she was Anna Nicole again.

When something that dramatic happens, somewhere in the audience's brain they're making an instantaneous connection. By that I mean... with no "process" being shown, they see before and after and a connection is made that makes them almost subconsciously infer that the transformation was instantaneous.

Now you're no anna nicole. But I think you see my point.

that is exactly what I planned on doing. I took the product a year ago.. and in 9 days lost 24 lbs. (probably water weight) and 2 inches. I was stupid and lazy and didn't continue with it. But I know I can get the results. I don't want to give the companies name out of course in the off chance that it doesn't work. Plus, when people can see that it does work, they will get ahold of me and then I can sell it to them.

Totally understand... I do know that there still is a feeling of disbelief when you see those ads. I only took the product the first time because I saw how much a friend of mine had lost. That made it real to me. The idea behind the paper is that alot of people in my town know me or know of me. I want to try and bring the realism to them. I won't offer anything until I go a whole month and show results.

People love the reality shows... this one will just play out in a different format.

Jon,

I understand what you're saying, but do yourself a favor and don't gloss over the fact that showing the "during" removes the drama from the equation.

I think since you are known around town, a typical before and after would serve you better. But good luck with your endeavor.

What about having the before picture.... then tell them and show them with video what I'm doing as far as the supplements and how to take them etc., then show an after photo. No pictures of me or video of me during.

Here's a video I produced.
Lose Fat And Get Six Pack Abs With Vince DelMonte

Note how I "tease" the during, but only a little. What I'm really doing is setting them up for the big reveal. And that reveal is what sells the whole transformation.

Ok. I do understand from a marketing perspective. You want the sizzle.
But I am a consumer first. I don't know that guy. In addition, I don't really know if that is him slimmed down and ripped. In the back of my mind I hope it is him, but you just can't see him transforming into him. That's what has always kept me from buying any product because of the "yeah right" factor. Anything from wine to movies to cars and weightloss programs have always been influenced from word of mouth advertising. I would never have spent good money on this weight loss program if it wasn't for a friend of mine taking it and losing the weight that I could see.

I have a friend that (no joke) won't buy a Nintendo Wii, Cell phone, Car, weightloss plan unless he gets to try it out first or has a friend that has one or done it.

I do appreciate everything that you are telling me and will defenately integrate everything that I can. I really do.

I hope to get more feedback on this.

Thanks,

Jon

My point wasn't for you to use some other guy... but to see how dramatic the transformation is. You need that kind of drama... that kind of "wow."

That is absolutely him. If you look closely enough, it is him and there are other videos that show the tranformation in timelapse. (which adds its own wow factor)

But timelapse is not something you can do in print.

I appreciate that, but what does that have to do with the price of tea in china? You asked about the concept of putting your ad up, not about the power of word of mouth.

Your friend is the exact reason so many weightloss (and other) products have a free trial or a money back guarantee. Again, I'm not sure what this has to do with your original question.

I go back to my only point from the beginning. I believe you need the "wow" factor. Without the wow (which comes in my video at the reveal), I think you're going to have trouble getting buyers.

You could do 2 ads... 1 week apart. Have the first one be you all fat and nasty... but tell them that you've had this tranformation. But... they'd have to see next week's paper to see the results. This would cause buzz and get curiosity seekers... and the 2nd week would provide a "wow" factor. But the downside is you probably won't get any orders until the second week.