Whence the skies open all hell will rain down on mankind….

The Book of Eli is one of those movies both hard to love and hard to hate. Where your compass lands will depend on whether your filmic taste buds are partial to a bit of the post-apocalyptic.

It just so happens, mine are.

Yet The Book of Eli left a bittersweet taste and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d been better off investing two hours in John Carpenter’s Escape from New York.

The Book of Eli: A Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland

I can’t really think of many movies in the post-apocalyptic canon which are devoid of faults. Given that the genre stems largely from B-movie making, mistakes are to be expected. In fact, mistakes are to be welcomed.

It is, after all, part of the charm.

It’ll come as no surprise then that The Book of Eli is more uneven than a Jaffa Cake. Sure, the Hughes brothers imbue their barren wasteland with some fresh stylish fun, but once the dust settles there is little to write home about.

The central character, played by Denzel Washington, spent three decades wandering dystopian America. Washington chops his way through an array of unsavoury characters in his quest to protect a sacred book.

Picture Bill Bryson with a samurai sword.

The Book of Eli has a number of things going in its favour. The Hughes brothers, for instance, neatly avoid the trappings of bullet-time which has annoyingly become a staple of actions films post-Matrix. While the 300-eseque camera filter occasionally distracts, the uncomplicated action brings a fresh air to what is admittedly a tired genre.

The settings are great, it’s thematically simple and the biblical card isn’t overplayed.

That’s the good, what about the bad…?

Where the film falls down is Denzel ‘Mumbles-A-Lot’ Washington’s take on a largely uninspired character. It is only fair to recognise Mr Mumbles spent 30 years roaming the deserted plains of America. Who’s going to feel sociable after that?

The ‘strong silent hero’ role marks a clear nod to a litany of films including Sergio Leone’s ‘Dollars Trilogy’ – ‘The Man with No Name’ wasn’t really the talking type either.

Cast your mind back to Clint Eastwood’s masterful depiction of the complex gunslinger. Eastwood achieved emotional resonance through action, not words. Washington, on the other hand, phones-in a lacklustre performance, mumbling his way through the majority of a pedestrian script.

The character’s isolated nature prevents any meaningful relationships being formed with the film’s other players. Subsequently, I found it hard to sympathise or relate to Mr Mumbles.

As good an actor as Washington is, his stilted performance packs more wood than the entirety of Pinocchio’s upper body.

Speak up Mr Mumbles…

The Book of Eli is a mixed bag of fruit. While the general audience may struggle to embrace it, there is more than enough to raise a half-smile on the faces of post-apocalyptic film fans.

But please, what’s with the mumbles?

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars – available on Blu-ray and DVD

“This is the life”, mutters Frank as he takes view of the green fields below.

With that, both engines start to chug.

Houston, we have a problem!

Bullet points and in-flight safety?

Abandoning the cockpit, a frantic search for a parachute ensues. All Frank finds is a ruler, a half-eaten sandwich and a copy of Reader’s Digest.

7,000 feet and counting…

A bulb suddenly lights up the murky abyss of Frank’s mind. Whipping an iPhone from his trouser pocket with the precision of a gunslinger, he connects to the internet.

6,000 feet and counting…

Frank shakily thumbs the words ‘what to do when a small aircraft goes down’ into Google. Clicking on the first return, a stream of dense content clogs the screen. With time of the essence, Frank hits the back button and continues his search for more easily digestible material.

5,000 feet and counting…

Now don’t take this the wrong way, online readers generally have short attention spans. This is especially the case when aboard a light aircraft in freefall.

As such, writers of web copy are tasked with keeping readers on the beaten-path and averting any unnecessary detours. This is no easy feat to achieve.

The copywriter must unleash a furious assault on the senses of the reader. Bullet points, of course, are a crucial cudgel in the copywriters’ arsenal.

Chunking-down body copy with bullet points

4,000 feet and counting…

A quick glance out of the cockpit window informs Frank that the once distant fields below are creeping up faster than a cheetah in a Ferrari. Desperation sets in. Clicking on the next search down, Frank hits the same wall. “I don’t have time to read a book”, he screams, “where are the bullet points and lists?”

3,000 feet and counting…

Frank is of course right to suggest that the visual composition of body copy is vital to holding readers’ attention. So when tackling a dense web copy project, why not try throwing a bullet pointed list into the mix? This will break your content down faster than a snowman at a tanning shop.

Readers are partial to the odd bullet point

2,000 feet and counting…

Beside himself with anger at the uninviting content, Frank sets about writing an email to the website’s author:

Dear Sir/Madam,

This may be my final communication with the outside world, so I feel it crucial to underscore the importance of bullet points when it comes to online readability.

Web writers use bullet points for a number of good reasons:

• Readability                   – quite simply, people like lists
• Concision                     – makes for scannable web copy
• Visual                           – visual layout is crucial

In closing, bullet pointed lists must contain relevant information. They won’t work unless the list has been carefully thought-out. Bullet pointed lists need to be understood at a glance.

Regards

Frank

Ground control to major tom: we need bullet points

1,000 feet and counting…

With the end in sight, Frank makes one last ditch effort and clicks on the next website down. Hallelujah! The body copy is immaculately presented, utilising the benefits of headings, subheadings and bullet points.

Quickly scanning the content, Frank lays claim to an invaluable piece of information – ‘check the ignition’. Dashing into the cockpit with more vigour than a tooth fairy at the dentists, Frank spots that the ignition key is turned to ‘off’. Rotating the key one click to the right, the aircraft quickly jumps back to life.

2,000 feet and counting…

Ascending back to the heavens, Frank gives thanks to the bullet point which just saved his life. Dialling home, he tells his wife of the near catastrophic events. As the conversation draws to a close, Frank muses:

“Bullet pointed lists, headings and subheadings offer copywriters a fantastic method of making content visually pleasing and easy to read. Honey, we need writers to keep rocking the boat by peppering their content with appropriate page breaks. After all, to make a cake, you’ve got to crack a few eggs.”

10,000 feet and counting…

These days I see things differently. When devilish apparitions spring to mind I quickly replace them with visions of sugarplums and dancing fairies.

There is, however, one thing that still gets under my skin; one thing that makes me shudder more violently than an Eskimo in a heat wave. And that, my dear readers, is poor headline writing.

‘Man eats microwave’: a tasty headline…

Putting a cat in the oven doesn’t make it a bun. By the same extension, cobbling a few words together to sit atop your web copy does not constitute an effective headline.

Headlines are integral to the process of web copy.

Let me explain: headlines, in essence, entice your reader into the story you are about to tell them. If the headline doesn’t sing, the reader is likely to pack their bags and take the first bus out of town.

So don’t torment them. Hit the nail on the head and let the reader know what to expect.

Reading on the internet is such a particular beast. When consumers purchase a magazine, for example, they do so with the intent of reading it.

No such agreement resides between the reader and your web copy. So where possible tempt them with an enthralling headline and make a big splash.

The headline is, after all, a springboard to your body copy.

Web copy headline hints and tips…

Effective web copy headlines come in all shapes and sizes. Even so, every headline is tasked with describing the story they represent.

Here are a number of approaches worth bearing in mind when engineering a headline:

1) DIRECT HEADLINES: Get straight to the heart of the matter and bypass complexity in favour of simplicity. Adopt a ‘does what it says on the tin’ mentality and inject an air of transparency into your opening message. In a world of spin, direct headlines often generate a favourable response.

2) INDIRECT HEADLINES: Spark curiosity in the mind of the reader. A degree of mystery will capture their attention and make them want to read on.

3) NEWS HEADLINES: News headlines call attention to the ‘scoop’ of the story, the central thrust. Generate interest with a catchy headline and instil a ‘read all about it’ mentality on the part of your audience.

4) THE ‘HOW TO’ HEADLINE: This headline device is capable of instilling a sense of value to the content the reader is about to devour. Prefixing your opening salvo with ‘how to’ indicates that they are about to get some useful information for free.

5) PUN HEADLINES – Puns are often used in headline writing – most notably in tabloid news media. Wordplay translates well to web copy and witty twists on familiar phrases can hook your reader in faster than a cat at a fish market.

When it comes to web copy, no headline should be incidental. Everything happens for a reason; at least that’s what I’m told.  So also optimise your page for better search engine placement by building keywords and phrases into the titles.

Headline copy, the final curtain…

A close friend imparted a string of wise words to me this morning. Musing over his coffee he turned and said: “If you’re going to make an omelette, you’ve got to break a few eggs”.

At first I was baffled. It wasn’t until later in the day when I realised what this most incisive of individuals was trying to say:

The most effective headlines are usually produced once the body copy has been finalised. At that point you’ll be perfectly placed to tailor your headline to fit the content.

Brilliant advice!

He also told me to “hit it when it’s hot”. On that, I’m less clear.

Air sea rescue mounted a desperate operation in the form of a spoon but the sodden remains of said biscuit are yet to be found.

Biscuits and writer’s block…?

As I searched desperately for the crumbly castaway in the murky abyss of my coffee cup, it occurred to me some things in life are universal.

Those who partake in the time honoured tradition of biscuit dunking run the risk of sullying their mugs with fallen biscuits. Biscuit density and quality is of course a factor. At the end of the day though, it doesn’t matter whether you are rocking McVitie’s or Tesco’s own brand, we are all prone to losing a biscuit here and there.

Superman’s Achilles’ heel was Kryptonite. Dunkers face the risk of biscuit breakage. So what is it exactly that sends a collective shiver up the spine of the copywriting community?

In a nutshell: writer’s block! There I said it. It’s not a dirty word, its nothing to be ashamed of; it’s something all copywriters must battle from time to time.

Walls are made to be broken…

As with biscuit breakage, there is no scientific formula to excavate your person from the shadows of the writing block wall.

Having worked in the writing trade for the best part of a decade, the Writing Block Monster only rears its ugly head occasionally nowadays. Even so, when the beast does transpire in all its ferocity, I still struggle getting coherent thoughts down on the page.

With web copy deadlines on the horizon, it’s easy to panic. But don’t, this is what the sharp-toothed blockish partition in your mind wants.

It feeds on a diet of fear, so make sure it goes to bed hungry.

Here are a number of methods I find useful in shepherding my mind back to the righteous path of web copy:

1) Come out with your hands up and step away from the keypad! Take a break, have a biscuit (careful if you’re dunking). It may sound overly simplistic, but give your eyes and mind a rest.

2) If your web copy deadline permits, why not leave it till the next day? Things always look different in the morning. Even though you may have temporarily stepped away from the project your subconscious will continue processing information. This will help iron out those creases in your mindscape.

3) Talk to a friend, family member or colleague. Use them as a sounding board to bounce ideas off. I often find fleshing out web copy ideas with others triggers that much need inspiration to keep the Writing Block Monster at bay.

4) Read material related to your web copy project. Not only will this count as research but it could help you view the work through a more positive prism.

5) Rearrange or rewrite the outline/draft for your web copy endeavour. Like a Rubik’s Cube, fiddling often helps the pieces fall into place.

6) Don’t bang your head against the wall. It’s hazardous to your health and you could end up chipping the paint.

7) Fuse your mind with the things you find inspirational. For me, that’s films, literature and music.

The fall of the writing block wall…

Some things are built to last, the writing block wall isn’t. How you scale the wall will depend on you. But scale it you will.

In most cases perseverance and self-belief should dissolve writer’s block faster than a biscuit in a sea of coffee. On the odd occasion, it may take longer.

Whatever the case, just stick with it and remember: unlike mermaids, submarines, goldfish and Olympic swimmers, biscuits don’t like being left in water for too long.

Act 1: The Beginning

Good web copy is all about flow. Once you’ve finished your final draft, sit back and read it aloud. Does it roll off the tongue? Did you hit any verbal roadblocks?

Here’s one thing that is all but guaranteed: if you, the copywriter, stutter along the way, your reader will encounter the same problem.

Such errors can prove more disruptive than an Icelandic volcano. If you keep tripping the audience up you risk disconnecting them from the copy altogether.

And as any good copywriter will tell you: that’s a ‘no-no’.

Act 2: The Middle

There are a number of fundamental devices – besides good writing – I use to instil a free-flowing feel in my web copy.

One such method is to harness the archetypal three-act structure many creative writers use.

There are a number of reasons I like to do this: -

Firstly: the beginning, middle and end modus operandi offers copywriters a paradigm that resonates well in the mind of the majority of readers.

People, whether they know it or not, respond well to the three-act structure. Tap into the emotional selling point of the product or service you are promoting and build a meta-narrative around it.

Tell a story. Work out the start point, the middle and the end. This will invigorate the reading process and help nestle the information better in the mind of the reader.

Secondly: a three act structure allows the river of web copy to flow more freely. On a personal note, while I always have an eye on the overall narrative, I also build this three-tier concept into my copy on a smaller, micro level. So each paragraph I write, for example, will have some semblance of a beginning, middle and end and where possible, I endeavourer to do the same for each individual sentence.

When the ink dries the constituent parts of your copy should come together to function as one homogonous whole. The end result, of course, is free-flowing copy.

Thirdly: story-telling is the most universal form of communication on the planet. People relate to stories, they want to be drawn in, lose themselves momentarily in what you have to tell them.

Act 3: The End

If a piece of web copy is to maximise the potential of a product or service then all of its individual parts must work in unison.

Remember, ducks always fly together.

A lack of structure will leave your web copy dancing more erratically than a Texan oil miner who just struck gold.

So next time you sit down to compose a piece of web copy, shuffle the need for structure to the forefront of your mind.

Hook the reader by introducing the main goals, the setup and inciting incident. Use the middle ground to flesh out the facts and figures then land a knock out blow with an ending the reader won’t forget.

When you buy a bar of chocolate, you expect chocolate. When you splash out on a new pair of shoes, you expect shoes. And so it is when you sit down to watch a film called Fighting, you expect a fair bit of fighting.

Say what you will about Snakes on a Plane, it had plenty of snakes on a plane and Big Nothing was well, big on the nothingness.

Fighting, on the other hand, has about as much fight as a hibernating squirrel.

Urban action flick..?

Director Dito Montiel clearly didn’t attend the Jean-Claude Van Damme School of underground fighting films. Montiel instead steers his vehicle away from its self-proclaimed premise and parks it in the ‘urban action flick’ zone.

This contemplative drama about underground fighting – a paradox if I’ve ever heard one – follows the story of small town boy hustling his way through the big city.

Shawn MacAuthur, played by Channing Tatum, quickly forms an uneasy alliance with a scam artist who inducts him into the violent world of bare knuckle fighting.

The fights, however, are few and far between and weak choreography means when they do come, they aren’t overly exciting or inventive.

It is perhaps unfair to lambaste Montiel for a new spin on the tired street fighting genre and his movie is admittedly far from terrible.

What it lacks is pace and conviction to its central premise – fighting. Consequently I was more frustrated than a monkey midway through a world banana shortage.

Blood and bone…

Fighting would perhaps have benefited from adopting a similar approach to the 2009 film Blood and Bone. Like Fighting, the premise is basic: an ex-con takes the underground fighting world by storm in a quest to fulfil a promise to a dead friend.

Simple, right?

Unlike Blood and Bone though, Fighting fails to accept the limitations of the genre in which it operates.

Blood and Bone is heavy on the Van-Dammisms and lighter on the urban drama.

Was it a stupid film? Absolutely. Was it unrealistic? I didn’t buy it for a minute.

Put simply, however, Blood and Bone was just more fun.

Seconds out, final round…

While Fighting precariously teeters on the edge of a pit of movie despair, it never falls in.

Be that as it may, Fighting is more Van Don’t than Van Damme.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars – available on Blu-ray and DVD

Ok, so riddle me this: how is it that a film so good in the first half ends up sinking lower than a leaky fishing vessel in the second?

This is a question only House of the Devil director Ti West can truly answer. But given that Mr West is unavailable for comment, it seems only fair I give it a go.

A game of two halves…

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

Let’s start with the good…

Mainstream Hollywood is presently preoccupied with remaking every film it can get its grubby hands on, so it’s always refreshing to see an original entry into the horror genre.

To Ti West’s credit, he brilliantly builds tension and audience expectation within the opening hour of House of the Devil.

College student Sam, played by Jocelin Donahue, is lured to a Victorian mansion deep in the woods in search of work. Desperate to earn cash to pay the rent on her new apartment, Sam reluctantly accepts a babysitting job despite sensing something is amiss.

And as the name of the movie suggests, the night ends in a bloody mess.

It’s not called House of the Devil for nothing…

The crackle and pop of the opening hour is infused with a fantastic 70s/80s grind house aesthetic. Unlike Tarantino’s Death Proof which reneges on its gritty cinematography half way through, House of the Dead remains true to its roots throughout.

So convincing were the stylistics that on a number of occasions I found myself scanning the sleeve of the DVD just to make sure that the movie wasn’t actually made during the 80s.

House of the Dead is of course a 2009 production, but the soundtrack and credit sequence channels the nostalgic joy of classics such as Halloween.

Fruity hair cuts, walkmans, dour clothing and a lead actress who looks as though she walked straight off the set of Starsky and Hutch, all add to the film’s evocative aesthetics.

Purring like a kitten at a milk factory, the build up is an exercise in pure cinematic class.

Where the movie falls down is in its cack-handed reveal.

As the mystery finally unfolds, what emerges is a clichéd ending that’s almost amateur in its execution.

Without giving too much away, the inevitable blood bath is one of the weakest payoffs I’ve seen of late.

It may be that the ending benefits from repeat viewings and I’m sure the final third is deliberate in its implementation.

But as the saying goes, sometimes you’ve just got to take the bad with the good.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars – available on Blu-ray and DVD

The premise is basic: Harry Brown, played by Michael Caine, seeks to avenge the death of an elderly friend.

Harry lives on a hellish estate where danger lurks round every corner. The gritty urban landscape is a far cry from the picturesque postcard London we are used to.

When his only friend is savagely killed by a pack of disenfranchised youths, the ex-marine hunts down the culprits and exacts a bloody revenge.

Pensioner power…

Harry Brown is timely. The movie taps into and exploits the pervading fear among Britons about the rise of anti-social behaviour.

The estate is lawless, police unable to control rampaging youths; broken families are caught in a perpetual cycle of violence.

Faced with such antagonism does one run or fight back?

It’s a question we are all faced with to varying degrees at some point in out lives.

Harry Brown’s answer is to take the law into his own hands.

You’re a Loose Cannon Brown…

I’ve heard film critic Mark Kermode suggest Harry Brown almost justifies vigilantism; that it promotes the notion only violence can quell violence.

And as the escalating troubles in Iraq and Afghanistan show, ‘shock and awe’ isn’t always the best plan of attack.

I can’t help feel though that Harry Brown is essentially a conventional revenge thriller.

Yes there’s a socio-political allegory at play, but this always comes second to the movie’s genre-like credentials.

Where the film struggles is in marrying these two ideals together.

Harry Brown precariously straddles the line of gritty urban drama and conventional revenge thriller. On the one hand, you have a character driven tale of a man imprisoned in his own home and on the other, a narrative which has ‘Hollywood’ stamped all over it.

The excessive use of CGI blood also took me out of a number of scenes.

That said, for the most part I was riveted to the screen. This was largely down to Caine’s beautifully complex portrayal of a man with ‘nothing left to lose’. Fragile and ruthless in one, Harry Brown guides the viewer through a concrete jungle of despair.

And Barber shows real promise as a director, displaying the material through a prism of well composed and interesting shots.

Harry Brown entertains from start to finish and also has something to say in the process; well worth a watch.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars – available on Blu-ray and DVD

They also cause shoppers to lose their sunglasses.

This unfortunate side effect befell my person the other day during a trek round Ticker T Boos – a retail establishment in my hometown of Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

The day had started well: my doormat was bill-free; coffee tasted good; a smiling sun simmered overhead.

I glided through the warm breeze, sunglasses in tow, feet pounding the pavement more eagerly than an overactive woodpecker. Turning the corner, the magical kingdom of Ticker T Boos rose like a phoenix out of the horizon.

Excited, I stepped up the pace.

For years, I’d heard townsfolk talk of a maze-like jungle of bunk beds situated on the second floor of this mysterious shop; I intended to investigate.

Here lies jack torrance…

So it was I found myself standing on the verge of a fabric labyrinth; the rumours, it would seem, were true. If New York City was made of beds then this is what it would look like, I thought.

Tower blocks of bed frames and mattresses ricocheted beams of light through a ceiling of windows back towards their parent sun – this was no place for glasses.

I folded them into my palm and stepped into the shadows.

Endless passageways ran between the bunks bends and I’d half expected to stumble across dusty skeletons of forgotten adventurers.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a collection of words. The lettering appeared to be attached to a picture of some type, but a nearby bed obscured the object from view.

Through the haze of squinted eyes I made out the following: ‘In space, no one can hear you scream’.

“That’s a nifty strapline”, I mumbled under my breath, fearful of alerting nearby predators to my position.

Then it clicked. I’d recognise that strap line anywhere. Closing in on my prey, I already knew what was lurking in the shadows.

And it wasn’t Elvis…

Recklessly hurling my shades on a nearby bed, I hauled the article from its hiding place. Sure enough, what should appear but a canvas sporting the renowned poster for Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror classic, Alien.

“Sweet baby Jebus”, I proclaimed, “that would look great on my wall.”

An hour or so later, I emerged from the jungle, canvas in hand.

On my travels home it occurred to me that from a marketing perspective the strap line – ‘In space, no one can hear you scream’ – is genius.

Three decades on and the sentence still packs a visceral punch which captures Alien’s claustrophobic credentials.

Even before I’d seen the picture in its totality, I knew what it was and as any good copywriter will tell you: a strap line that alerts the reader to a product devoid of images has to be praised.

congratulations Mr Strap line…

Understandably parched from my adventures, I decided upon a quick detour to McDonalds. Only a week earlier my attempt to garner service via the drive-through on foot had proved fruitless.

As such, I headed straight inside, bought a black decaf coffee and took residence in a quiet window booth. Propping my new acquisition up on the plastic table top, I sat back and observed it with admiration.

“Producing a movie poster that stands the test of time is a fine art”, I said, as concerned glances from fellow patrons informed me that I was talking aloud.

A long-haired bearded-man caught in the throes of a rigorous conversation with a poster is never a promising sight. I hurriedly repositioned the canvas to block out the surrounding interest and continued my deliberations by means of internal dialogue.

Unlike a trailer, I mused, poster art is tasked with capturing the excitement and promise of moving frames in a still image. Posters must communicate as much information about a film in one quick look.

The Alien poster hits these notes with the precision of a concert pianist, I continued.

Marketing magic…

Released back in 1979, 20th Century Fox’s space science-fiction horror film centres on an unstoppable demonic beast.

Alien is renowned for its Freudian sexually-charged symbolism. There are numerous examples embedded within the film. Consider the memorable moment when a male crew member is ‘impregnated’ by a facehugger. After implantation, the surrogate mother ‘gives birth’ to a baby alien which rips from his chest.

The Freudian exposition continues in the form of the starship’s computer interface which is aptly christened ‘Mother’.

Taking a heavy sip of coffee, I scanned the canvas sat opposite.

It became instantly clear that the major forms and conventions of the poster perfectly captured the alienation of space travel and vulnerability of the crew who floated light-years from Earth.

The visual simplicity, I said, is astounding. Framed in the void of a dark space, a cracked alien egg emits an eerie yellow glow – a clear nod to the reproductive nature of the film.

And the sparseness of the imagery chimes skilfully with the isolated sentiment of the strap line.

The idea behind the concept is to create a memorable phrase that will sum up the tone and premise of a brand or product.

‘In space, no one can hear you scream’, does just that. It encapsulates the soul of the film in a matter of eight short words.

home! sweet home!

An hour or so later I was back at home nailing my newly acquired canvas to the wall. Stepping slowly backwards with the caution of a gunslinger at high noon, my eyes fired a steely glance in the direction of the print.

With that, a bolt of sunlight burst through the window, engulfing the picturesque view in a shroud of whiteness.

Reaching aimlessly round for my glasses, I realised for the first time that they were gone, trapped for eternity in the fabric city.

“Damn you strap line”, I cried.

‘Copy in Culture’ is a new series of blog posts from CreativePen that excavates the copywriting credentials of cultural icons, ideals, and brands.

We’ll kick things off by dragging World Wrestling Entertainment legend Bret Hart under the analytical spotlight.

The Excellence of Execution…

Say what you will about the WWE, but chairman Vince Mcmahon has long-trail blazed the way in the world of sports entertainment branding.

Mr Mcmahon, who’s enjoyed various successes and failures outside the ring, has built a dominant empire around his wrestling brand.

Melodramatic storylines and huge pay-per-view events played an integral role in this achievement.

But as with any successful film or television show, the action revolves around a strong set of distinct characters that the audience can relate to.

Characterisation and Copywriting…

Technically Bret Hart is one of the greatest wrestlers to have graced the squared-circle. An enigmatic character swathed in pink and black, ‘The Hitman’ long dominated the wrestling scene.

The root of his longevity is multifaceted, but can be traced in large part to the character’s brand identity.

Mr Mcmahon’s savvy ability to brand his wrestlers is comparable to a copywriter composing a piece of advertorial copy.

When selling a product or service it is the copywriters’ task to tap into the ‘emotional selling point’ of that which they are promoting.

Mcmahon adopts a similar approach by playing on the obvious symbolism which resides in ‘The Hitman’s’ name – Hart.

When the audience hears ‘Hart’, they think of ‘heart’. This conjures up an image of a man who fights on the side of good and walks a path of righteousness. Mcmahon’s creative team augments this symbolism by coupling it with a strong back-story and positive colour identity.

The palette of pink and black swamping ‘The Hitman’s’ person funnels directly into this audience friendly perception. Throw a logo and distinctive entrance music into the mix and the brand starts to take shape.

Similarly, the copywriter may wish to extrapolate such symbology from the product or service they are selling to inform the composition of their content.

An irresistible force meets an immovable object…

Nestled among the copywriters’ cache are slogans, straplines, taglines, end lines, payoffs, signatures and headlines.

Creating a memorable phrase that sums up the tone and premise of a brand or product can form an essential part of getting the message across.

Occasionally, a tagline can be so effective that it alerts the audience to the nature of the product devoid of images.

“It does what it says on the tin”, or “a Mars a day helps you work, rest and play”, are great examples of slogans that have become embedded in our culture.

The same can be said about the Bret Hart brand.

His nickname – ‘The Hitman’ – is suggestive of the wrestler’s clinical nature. A specialist in technical wrestling, the name underscores Hart’s in-ring ability.

The character is also trimmed with a raft of memorable slogans that are seared into the fabric of professional wrestling.

“The best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be”, and “the excellence of execution”, are synonymous with the Hart brand.

Legends never die…

Even today, 13 years on since Hart’s incongruous departure from the WWE, his brand identity lives on.

In many ways it’s a testament to Hart himself and the ingenuity of Mcmahon’s WWE branding machine.

The Hart mythology blends fact with fiction and like a good product or service, it refuses to go away.

It’s true to say Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart will always be “the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be”.