Heads Up! For some ads, it's no guts, no glory.

Garey Mann II of Slidell, Louisiana, submitted the ad shown tothe right, asking, "How can I improve my advertisinglayout?" My answer? The layout, per se, is not the problem;it's the message in the layout that needs moreoomph.

Mann is promoting Discovery Earthcare, his emporium of naturaland recycled products, but his ad doesn't transmit that messagein an arresting way. My idea is to find a truly unusual item on hisshelves to hoist up to the headline and arouse immediate curiosityand interest. Hence, the unexpected offering you see in the"after" ad headline. It's explained by a subhead thatthen transitions the reader into the rest of the ad.

Some may blanch at the reference to "dung" in theheadline. But it accomplishes what most headlines fail to do: Itoffers a lapel-yanking element of surprise. This often makes thedifference between successful ads and failures. Mann might evenconsider putting a blowup of the ad in his mall-shop window toattract passersby.