Dan Douglass on direct

Dan Douglass

Last week, 'Campaign' devoted its 'Close Up' section and editorial to the demise of copy. It started by mourning long copy and then went on to toll the bell for 'all copy'. This on the basis of awards - or lack of them.

There were some brave writers ready to take Robin Wight's copy-test on the relative merits of Mars and Snickers. Some of it, well, sweet, sugary and indulgent, like the product. But the point was lost. Long-copy or short-copy, overwritten or spare, what really matters is that the best copy is where the prose isn't prosaic, where the narrative voice is actually that of the brand or product, not the copywriter.

As Hemingway proved, long copy can contain very few words. Long copy continues in the mind of the reader, who takes up the story and is cpapable of embellishing it.When asked by a friend whether he could write a story in one sentence, Hemingway gave him a story in six words: 'For sale:baby shoes:never worn.'. And at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln's words enshrined the vision of the Founding Fathers and sold the future of the nation to 30 million Americans in under 270 words - an address that lasted just two minutes.

The main event that day was a famous orator called Edward Everett, scheduled to speak before Lincoln. As President of Harvard, Everett had the credentials - he was learned, respected and wise. He took two hours to dedicate a part of the Gettysburg battlefield as a consecrated burial ground by cataloguing practically every incident within every skirmish of the War, from Bull Run on.

Yet what do we remember? 'Government of the people, by the people, for the people'. A concept that couldn't be bettered with a hundred thousand words. Good copy sells. Nations. Books. Product. Period.