Hi friends,

Tell me this.

Why do some ads not feel like ads at all?

You're scrolling, minding your own business, and suddenly you stop.

Not because of some shitty IG ad saying "BUY NOW!"

But because someone just made you feel something, you forgot you could feel.

Today I’m going to show you one of the most elegant pieces of copy ever written + the hidden force that makes you want things you never knew you wanted.

Copywriting Example

Dove

How would you describe a soap? Yes, a bathing soap. (think about it and keep the answer in your mind.)

Now.

Picture this: It's 1955. Soap is soap. Every bar does the same thing. Gets you CLEAN.

David Ogilvy walks into a soap factory and asks one simple question: "What's actually in this thing?"

The answer changed everything.

"Well, one-quarter of it isn't technically soap. It's cleansing cream."

If it were some mere advertiser, he would have said, “Well ok, what else?”

But not David Ogilvy, because he noticed things that most of us would miss.

And this is how most of us would have gone about it.

"25% cleansing cream formula" with lab coats and scientific diagrams.

Ogilvy did the opposite.

He created an ad that felt like you were eavesdropping on a phone call.

A woman in a bathtub, talking on a phone: "Darling, I'm having the most extraordinary experience... I'm head over heels in DOVE!"

No ingredient lists. No desperate sales pitch.

Just one friend telling another about something amazing she discovered.

But here's the genius part: Ogilvy didn't just pick the word "Darling" because it sounded nice.

He ran psychological tests. Flashed hundreds of words on screens while measuring emotional responses.

"Darling" scored through the roof.

The whole ad worked because it didn't feel like an ad. It felt like insider information from someone you trust.

Your brain thinks, "If she's this excited about it, maybe I should try it too."

The result? Dove became profitable in its first year. And 70 years later, they're still using that same positioning.

Sometimes the best sales message isn't a sales message at all. It's just showing people what they could become.

Marketing Secret

Mimetic Desire (a.k.a. why you want to be THAT person)

iPhone 17 just dropped. (It's awesome, btw.) and your favorite YouTuber has it and dropped the review video.

Now, you want it too, right?

Here's the uncomfortable truth: You probably don't actually want it.

You want to be like the person who has those things.

This is mimetic desire.

René Girard figured this out decades ago. He said we don't naturally know what to desire. We learn by watching others.

It's not "I want that Ferrari because it's fast."

It's "I want that Ferrari because I want to be the kind of person who drives a Ferrari."

The car is just the vehicle. What you really want is the identity.

Tesla figured this out. Elon Musk became the model everyone wanted to imitate. Suddenly, driving electric wasn't just about the environment; it was about being a forward-thinking innovator.

Instagram is basically mimetic desire on steroids. Everyone's showing you exactly what they have and where they go. Your brain starts thinking, "I want that life."

But here's where it gets tricky for businesses.

If everyone's copying everyone else, you end up with mimetic competition. Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube are stealing each other's features.

When everyone's imitating, nobody stands out.

The brands that win long-term? They become the model others want to copy.

Supreme figured this out. They made their stuff so hard to get that wanting it became part of the identity. You don't just buy Supreme. You earn it.

So ask yourself: Who are your customers trying to become? What identity are they chasing?

Because they're not buying your product. They're buying a version of themselves they haven't met yet.

Talk soon,

Alen

P.S. I almost called this section "Social Proof" but realized that would be like calling a Ferrari "transportation." Sure, technically true. But you'd be missing the whole point.