“The Man In The Hathaway Shirt” Ad by David Ogilvy

swiped by Mike Schauer ran 1951

"The man in the Hathaway shirt"

Legendary ad man David Ogilvy ran through 18 concepts for shirt-maker Hathaway's ad campaign before deciding on Baron Wrangell & the eye patch idea. Here's...View More

The man in the Hathaway shirt

Key Takeaways

  • The success of the Hathaway ad is a reminder that sometimes all you need is one unexpected, out-of-place element to draw people in. If they didn't use the eye patch, it would be nowhere near as successful. The man would no longer seem interesting enough to carry the ad.
  • In the second ad, the gun plays a similar role to the eye patch. They are both props that make the character & story more interesting.
  • However, remember that using any obscure prop to grab attention isn't necessarily strategic. The eye patch & the high-end gun represent a sense of aristocracy, which is something they wanted their character to embody.

Analyst Spotlight

Mike Schauer

Mike Schaueris the founder of Swiped.co and the main analyst in the swipes section. After intently studying & building conversion-focused websites for 6+ years, he started Swiped to help others master marketing & copywriting through the analysis of great examples!

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