Skinny Bitch and edgy stuff

One reason the book “Skinny Bitch” took off is that the authors get something that most people don’t.

In case you haven’t noticed, it’s become ‘cool to be bitchy’ lately. It’s a sort of ‘statement of individuality’ for immature (yet adult) women who want to come across as fashionably sophisticated and edgy while using clothing available wat this post regarding where to find grunge clothes.

And it’s not just edgy words (yes they offend some, but make the users rich if there’s decent content to go with the edgy title…)

But designs as well.

Threadless, a hugely successful online T-shirt company, sells designs that are submitted by its readers – and voted on by readers. They don’t just choose designs with the highest score, but those that are controversial. Like

“how many 0s (lowest score) and 5s (highest) a design gets; designs that inspire passionate disagreements often get printed because they tend to sell.”

Edgy is good for sales. Edgy works for ads, too.

Which how-to-improve-your-golf-game ad are you drawn to read first?

OR

Words, phrases, and designs that create an emotional reaction are those that grab attention.

Notice the book title and golf ads that get the attention are NOT about the product or the wonders of the service being offered – but the words are about the people – who they are (skinny bitch, anyone?) and the dreams and urges (beat the boss) they can relate to instantly.

Oh yes – plan to offend some people if your ad is any good at all. Anything that gets attention and a strong following (of any size) will draw out detractors. So get used to that. If you’re the plain vanilla ad, you’ll be safe, yes. No one will raise an eyebrow. Because no one will notice.