Against the Tide To grab attention in a crowded marketplace, try breaking away from the pack with an understated ad.

Flip through most big consumer magazines, and what do you see inbetween the editorial matter? A blur of colors, exclamations,toothy pitchpersons, toll-free numbers, a coupon here, a Web sitethere. Or maybe it's page after page of anorectic models,greased in almond oil and draped in designer gear. Or perhapsit's a sheaf of toddler images showing little Trevors, Trentsor Madisons goo-gooing over their strollers, burpy dolls, car seatsor lozenges for little sore throats.

If any of these represent the kind of environment in which youplan to advertise, maybe you need to be a contrarian and create anad that leaps out with clever understatement. That's what thead shown here does. Created by Chicago's famed Leo Burnett USAad agency for Eggo, a division of Kellogg, it is designed in anunexpected letter format (contrasting with most of the ads beforeand after it) and sports a fresh and whimsical, triteness-freeheadline. No, the heading doesn't directly promote a benefit,as we're taught in Headline Writing 101. But it gets anexemption for being relevantly offbeat. To quote one of my favoriteadvertising pooh-bahs, the late Victor Schwab, on the value ofdeveloping headlines like this: "Many a headline fails to stopreaders because its vocabulary is so hackneyed. No word or phrasein it has any attention-getting element of surprise. No words,expressions or ideas are used that are not commonly seen in theheadline of an ad." So "You're sticky and we'resorry" gets a thumbs up.

The rest of the letter-ad reads, in part: "Toour friends: For years you've had to eat your Eggo waffles withsyrup that can drip from the bottle onto your fingers. But now weare putting an end to your suffering. [Eggo Syrup is] a greattasting complement to America's favorite waffles . . . and evenbetter, it comes in a high-tech, no-drip bottle."