Every copywriter in the world (worth his or her salt) understands fully how vital is The Benefit within a piece of copy yet so often we see advertising where someone has obviously missed the point, and they include what is known as The False (or Fake) Benefit. Advertising is littered with such worrying mistakes and here are 3 main examples of this...

1: The Mistaken Feature. A common error. Features have a big part to play in copy yet they can often be construed by the writer as being a Benefit, and they're not, although it is true that when talking to technical, scientific or medical people (as in Business to Business) a Feature can often be considered a Benefit - but to the consumer rarely so. Features 'describe, explain and attract'. A Benefit sells!

The headline seen here for a furniture company not only is a Feature (and not a Benefit) it's also a pretty poor one to boot. BEAUTY is subjective and in the eye of the beholder, BLACK is merely the colour (I assume unless you're Henry Ford, you have others) and LEATHER is the material (it has to be made out of something). All Features, nothing in it for me, at all!

2: The Confused Benefit. We're back into the 'speak English please' syndrome, often emanating from the advertiser. The understandable Benefit is often hidden in gobbledeespeak, and here's an example.

We have said 'High Performance Tools to Upgrade your Windows Registry', which is actually a Benefit (apparently) but unless you're a 'techy' it means little. Or we could say 'Increase Your PC Performance by 70%'. Ahh, now I understand.

3: The Irrelevant Benefit. Seen often in local press. An example of the copywriter (and it's often the advertiser!) simply not understanding one of the basic rules of advertising, 'think like the customer, and not like the seller'.

This headline was for a car dealership (I have removed the name to protect the guilty). 'The largest ***** dealership in Essex' does absolutely nothing to trigger that interest.

Does the fact that you're a large company mean I get a better deal? If so how? Explain! And it could even be a negative as perhaps 'you've got big by ripping people off ' or 'does that means I'm a small fish in your big pond?'.

Now, if this statement meant that I get '3 Years Guarantee and Free Servicing' you've got my attention.

Never make a claim or mention a Feature unless you clarify 'how or why' you have made that statement, or leave it out!
If you say 'the Best in Britain', explain why. If you say 'a vast range of colours' say how many.

If a statement is flaky, no-one believes it. It's simply
not credible, like this ubiquitous old chestnut...