Luke Sullivan - Hey Whipple, Squeeze This : The Classic Guide to Creating Great Advertising

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18

FULLY UPDATED SIXTH EDITION

INCLUDES CONTENT CREATION, SOCIAL AND DIGITAL

FOREWORD BY ANSELMO RAMOS

ADWEEK

Copyright 2022 by Luke Sullivan. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 750-4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permission.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sullivan, Luke, author.

Title: Hey whipple, squeeze this : the classic guide to creating great advertising by / Luke Sullivan.

Description: 6th edition. | Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2022] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021051593 (print) | LCCN 2021051594 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119819691 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119819738 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119819745 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Advertising copy.

Classification: LCC HF5825 .S88 2016 (print) | LCC HF5825 (ebook) | DDC 659.13/2dc23/eng/20211021

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021051593

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021051594

Cover design and interior illustrations by Rushil Nadkarni

To my dear wife, Curlin,
and our two grown-up sons,
Reed and Preston

When Luke Sullivan invited me to write the foreword to the sixth edition of Hey Whipple, Squeeze This I panicked.

Not because Mike Hughes or Alex Bogusky had written previous forewords for this classic guide to creating great ads. Or because lots of people in marketing and communications from all over the world would read it.

I panicked because Luke Sullivan would read it.

Luke Sullivan was a name I used to see usually followed by a series of numbers. Itd be something like this: Luke Sullivan, 17, 18, 19, 47, 48, 56, 57, 80, 93, 94, 95, 110, 111, 130, 147, 158, 159. Those were all the page numbers showcasing Luke Sullivans work on the One Show Annuals.

When I was a junior writer starting my career in So Paulo, I would spend all of my entry-level salary on imported, expensive advertising annuals instead of basic items like food and clothing. It was all Luke Sullivans fault.

I would buy any One Show, Communications Arts, and D&AD annuals available for international shipping. Back then, it would take months to arrive.

I still remember the feeling of opening up the box, tearing off the plastic wrap, and taking a deep breath: Ah, the new imported advertising annual smell. It was the smell of a foreign, unattainable world. A world where advertising was clever, witty, funny, inspiring, emotional, and groundbreaking. The opposite of that promotional radio spot waiting to be written.

I was so moved by that kind of work that one day I sat in front of my parents and said, Mom, Dad, thanks for everything. Im moving to Minneapolis.

But why, son?

Because thats the place doing the best advertising in the world right now. Ill arrive at the airport, hail a cab, and say, Take me to Fallon!

Son, do you realize the average temperature in December is 20 Fahrenheit?

Anyway, a couple of years later I moved to Miami.

My English was intermediate at bestIm still learning every day.

During my entire first year in the US, Id take daily English classes during my lunch break. Id bring advertising annuals to Mary, my English teacher, and go over every single ad. Id be especially interested in the work coming out of Fallon McElligott in Minneapolis. I still remember campaigns like The Episcopal Church, Federal Express, Rolling Stone, Hush Puppies, Jim Beam, Lee, and Porsche. I wanted to study the language and the thinking behind every headline and every long copy ad. The same name would show up over and over again on the credits: Luke Sullivan.

So, in a way, Luke Sullivan didnt only teach me advertising but also English.

I first read Hey Whipple, Squeeze This in 1998. I remember thinking, How can someone teach advertising so well? How can someone write so well? How can someone be such an ad nerd?

This book should be required reading for every student, every agency, every client, and anyone remotely working in advertising. They should revoke your advertising license if you havent read it.

Because Im a proud ad nerd, before writing this foreword I decided to read this book again 23 years later. I realized that, consciously or not, I still use a lot of the teachings from this book. It influenced and shaped my career forever. And probably some of my tweets, too.

Its incredible how the world has changed from the first to the sixth edition. Before it was all about print, TV, radio, and billboardthe original four. Now its also about branded content, social media, mobile, tech, and every imaginable form of advertising.