Unselling a dishwasher with one sentence

How to blow a great opener

Dear Beko:

I don’t envy anyone who writes ads for dishwashers. There just aren’t that many ways to say “this thing will clean your dishes.” Thus my hat is off to your copywriter for coming up with the first line in the attached ad:

Our new dishwashers perform flawlessly using 50% less water and 25% less energy than U.S. standards for dishwashers, saving money and the planet too.

That’s killer copy. The photo rocks, too, with a view through a window that subtlety reinforces “uses 50% less water.”

But the writer blew it with the second and final line:

Did we just sell you a new dishwasher with a single sentence?

Um, no, you didn’t. You intrigued me. And then you promptly un-intrigued me with presumptuous gloating.

If you were smart, you would have told me to call or visit one of the dealers that you’d listed below the ad or directed me to a website. Then, one of your dealers could have closed the sale.

The writer who penned the ad, the creative director who signed off on it, and the client who approved it should be pilloried.

The art director, however, deserves praise.

Sincerely,
Steve Cuno

Click image to enlarge.