The Most Read Ad In History

Can you guess which ad it is?

It has been read by over 100 million people.

It was a single page in length. It asked the reader for a mere $2. It generated over 100 million dollars in gross sales.

I'm referring to the famous "Coat of Arms Letter" which was written by a man who started a massive business (he had 40 people just to open envelopes with checks) with the power of his pen alone.

The entrepreneur in question was the incomparable (and very sadly, late) Gary Halbert.

Here's an example:

"Dear Mr. MacDonald, did you know that your family name was recorded with a coat-of-arms in ancient heraldic archives more than seven centuries ago? My husband and I discovered this while doing some research for some friends of ours who have the same last name as you do."

The above line is from the Coat of Arms Letter itself which was signed by Gary's (then) wife Nancy.

There are dozens of Hidden Persuaders embedded in this letter, but the one I want to zoom in on above is subtle yet profound.

Notice the "my husband and I" line...

This immediately keeps the letter out of the realm of "advertisement" and keeps it personal and intriguing.

You paint a mental picture of a woman and her husband poring over books. It's like it was all a happy coincidence and you have lucked out because you're in on the secret...

This persuades you to trust and believe the sender of the letter, but it does not beg you to do so. Hidden Persuaders fly under the radar yet can accomplish a number of persuasive tasks (establish rapport, change a belief, empathize...).

One might argue that the only real persuaders in this world are hidden. Strong-arm coercion makes the reader wary and undermines any persuasion effort.

Another well known bit of advertising wisdom from the great Robert Collier advises us to "admit flaws" openly. When you do this, it disarms the reader and it subtly cues them to believe the rest of your message.

Gary employed that quite deftly here:

"It should be remembered that we have not traced anyone's individual family tree but have researched back through several centuries to find out about the earliest people named Macdonald."

This line serves several purposes, but here are two: it removes any confusion about what the reader will get and it stimulates the imagination.

To illustrate: what's your last name?

Get ready to insert it in the following blank:

Aren't you curious to "find out about the earliest people named ________?"

Who wouldn't be? It's almost impossible to resist.

In my opinion, this is one of the most elegantly penned letters ever, despite its folksy and familiar tone.