Claim to Fame

When you have a strong claim to make in advertising, the impulseis to offer a chest-pounding declaration for all to see and hear.But the world is a cacophony of chest-pounding claims. So how doyou make your voice heard above the rest? One effective device isto shape the claim in the form of a question, essentially asking ifthe claim is true. This can provoke extra curiosity and, with it,readership.

That's what's going on in the Nature Made vitamin adshown here. The heading could have simply said, "Reduce theeffects of stress with Super Vitamin B-Complex" or other wordsto that effect. Instead, the company's ad agency,Williams-Labadie in Chicago, posed it as a question, partly toeducate the reader. The ad asks, provocatively, "Can a vitaminreally reduce the effects of stress?" It's a question thatattracts people dubious about the benefits of taking vitamins aswell as those who assume prescription drugs are the only solution.And of course, inside the question is the claim that vitamins doreduce the effects of stress.