Ad: David Abbot for Sainsbury Mince Beef in 1980

Subject line: Why this 1980 ad will never be forgotten.

David Abbot created the above ad. It ran in 1980 (if you couldn’t tell).

What I love about this ad is how it would still kick ass today. (Most ads I see today are hideous)

Sadly, we love to believe that yesterday is vastly different from today. It’s not. At least in the human realm.

We now have technology, AI, and blockchain.

But humans haven’t changed.

And that’s why I believe studying marketing greats (history) is a fundamental step toward producing great marketing yourself. So, are you ready to do some studying?

In this ad, the first thing to note is how the title addresses an objection while positioning it as an immense advantage.

“…if we don’t sell our mince in a day, we don’t sell it.”

Back then, people may have been worried about the freshness of their meat. This instantly puts them at ease. It also positions them well without the need to state it: At Sainsbury, we believe in only giving you the freshest meat.

Strong headline/title ✅

The next thing you should notice is the killer first sentence and how it weeds out non-ICP (ideal customers).

“The best mince is fresh mince.”

If you don’t believe this (“a few days old mince ain’t too bad”), then you probably aren’t whom Sainsbury is targeting. It also reduces the friction to get to the second sentence; It’s easy to read.

Strong headline/title ✅

Strong hook/first sentence ✅

The final thing I want to note is how well it builds toward the climactic moment for the hero (the customer).

Sainsbury states that their meat has a sell date of just one day.