We see these expressions so much that we don’t realize they are “selling sentences,” and tested ones, at that. I am told that since they changed the reading on the weighing machines in the subways of New York from “Insert one cent” to “Insert coin,” out of every 100 coins now received several nickels and a few dimes! Besides that, more coins are found! People who had five-cent pieces and wanted to be weighed were afraid they would injure the machine or would not get weighed if they inserted coins other than pennies. When the inscription mere ly said “Insert coin,” well, that could mean a five -cent or a ten-cent piece, as well as the usual penny. The Redheaded Boy I am told that when a young fellow applying for a job found a long line of boys ahead of him, he immediately went to the telegraph office and sent a telegram saying: “BEFORE HIRING ANYONE SEE REDHEADED BOY AT END OF LINE.” He didn’t write – he telegraphed, in all senses of the word! And he got the job! “Servicing” the mechanical purchase is better than “repairing” it. So “Service Departments” have come to take the place of “Repair Departments.” “Beware of Hungry Dogs” is more effective in front of farm houses than “Beware of Dogs.” Here are some other popular expressions we don’t realize are time -tested sales words that make people respond: “Safety first.” “No cash needed.” “I can’t live without you.” There are hundreds of odd sayings, queer sentences, and peculiar words that are evidently making money for people. At least people continue to use them, and they get plenty of attention because of their humor or, perhaps, lack of humor – not because they are “magic words,” but “word magic.” No collection of sales words would be complete without such sentences as these: “Be the president of your own bank.” “The best book I ever owned.” (Bank book advertisement.) “Don’t spend hours breaking your back. Let our washing machine do it for you in one hour.”
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