Lord & Thomas reason-why copy is all about the product and what it does: “well-groomed hair,” “olive oil for gloss–palm oil for richness,” “thorough removal of dandruff,” “thick, mild, profuse, penetrating lather,” “none of the usual harsh dryness,” and so on.
Recommending the surprisingly lively narrative of Albert Lasker’s life: The Man Who Sold America: The Amazing (But True!) Story of Albert D. Lasker and the Creation of the Advertising Industry, by Jeffrey Cruikshank and Arthur W. Schultz. Lasker ran the advertising agency Lord & Thomas from the 1910s through the 1930s, promulgating “reason-why” advertising, or…
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