Beware of headlines like that.
While doing some unrelated research, we came across an online article using this headline. As an advertising agency, articles like this do grab our attention, but seldom satisfy our skepticism. According to the article, the psychology department at Yale studied many English language words and discovered the 15 most powerful words in advertising, especially when attempting to persuade or sell.
So, what’s wrong with that? A different online article cites these same 15 most powerful words but says the research was done at the University of California. It doesn’t say which campus, but at least in this case we know it wasn’t Yale.
We did our own search and couldn’t find anything that could confirm the Yale or UC version. We did find more identical lists which were attributed to writers, humorists, well-known Madison Avenue agencies, and so on.
What Are The 15 Words?
Free, Sex, Now, Easy, Best, New, Save, Safety, Proven, Love, Discover, Guarantee, Health, Results and You!
While the studies are pseudo, the words are effective. They are also common sense. How hard is it to determine that the word FREE would be a powerful word in the world of advertising? Would it take a study? Estimates say there are about a million words in the English language, possibly more. Did they research every…single…word? Can we really boil all that down to 15 words? Couldn’t there be a 16th word just as powerful as “discover?”
Choosing the right words, whether you are writing a tagline, a headline, copy for a print ad, a radio or a television script is important, but there is no “official” list of powerful words. While the above 15 are effective, so are thousands upon thousands of others. There’s absolutely no guarantee using any or all of those words will work. The context is important. “A FREE 12-ounce drink with your meal,” is one way to use the word free. “Win a Free iPhone 8” is quite another.
Just Do It. The Ultimate Driving Machine. A Diamond is Forever. Breakfast of Champions. You’re in Good Hands with Allstate. Finger lickin’ good. Got milk? Think different. Where’s the beef?
Those are some of the most iconic slogans ever written. Not one contains any of the 15 most powerful words.