You have to give credit to the hucksters, or pros in writing advertising and marketing copy. Some of them are very gifted in their writing skills to promote the products they are hired to write about.

We see this stuff all the time. We are constantly bombarded with advertising and marketing hype. It is both a science and an art to write ad copy to attract attention and get someone to buy a product, like boots.

For example, here is copy from a popular boot retailer’s web page about a pair of boots, pictured here:

The Eastwood Boot packs a big dose of brawn. Black leather is polished to give it the special sheen. A harness is firmly secured with a forged O-ring, while an eagle stitch spreads its wings front and back. This boot is inspired by biker attitude, soaring eagles, and pure American freedom.

Rebellion. It’s in the soul. Breathe it. Wear it. Live it. Rebel Boots are about living life with no regrets. These all-leather boots are made to rock good time anthems, get dirty, and look good doing it. Ride. Rock. Run Wild.

Every Rebel Boot is handmade by skilled leather craftsmen. Only the finest leathers are selected with close attention to the natural variations in leather. All aspects of the boots construction, from leather selection to the smallest detail, are overseen by highly trained craftsmen. The finished boot is passed through strict quality control to ensure overall quality of construction and craft.

This copy does these things:

• It appeals to the side of manhood that many guys aspire to be — rugged, tough, masculine, and strong — with hyperbole, e.g., “made to rock good time anthems,” “Ride. Rock. Run Wild,” “pure American freedom,” packs a big dose of brawn.”
• It describes how the boot is designed and made (a good thing): “leather is polished,” “harness firmly secured with forged O-ring,” “handmade by skilled leather craftsmen,” “finest leathers are selected,” and so forth.

However, a wise boot buyer will get past the hype and look for these things:

• Sole — look at this photo — leather sole? Not good for a motorcycle boot. Not at all.
• Stitched sole? (Yes)
• Leather lining? (Yes)
• Location of manufacture? Yes, the page discloses that the boots are made in Leon, Mexico. That’s fine — boots made there are usually of good quality and craftsmanship.

Would I buy these boots? Well, no. Here is why:

• Primary reason — smooth leather sole. Absolutely a non-starter for a motorcycle boot. No traction = unsafe.
• Price 1: for about the same MSRP price of US$200, you can get a USA-made harness boot from Chippewa that has a sturdy and rugged Vibram 430 sole. Perhaps the Chippewa boot doesn’t have the fancy stitching pattern on the shaft, but who sees that? No biker wears his jeans tucked into harness boots.
• Price 2: Many products are priced like these boots at $199.99. I always round up. US$199.99 really is US$200. Sure, $199 sounds cheaper than $200 so that is why they are priced that way. Don’t fall for it. One cent makes no difference, so the boots really would cost at full MSRP US$200.
• Collection size. Yeah, I have to admit, while I personally really like the design of a 12-inch harness boot, I have 15 pairs of 12-inch harness boots, 8 pairs being black. I don’t really need another pair of black 12-inch harness boots. I really don’t.

Anyway, this gives you insights into what I look at when I receive ads for boots. Sure, I will look at the pictures and read the ad copy description. I will look carefully for information about the boot’s construction, leather quality, and country of manufacture. I will consider the price and the relative value. Working a deal with coupons or discounts (particularly around holidays), I may be persuaded to try a new brand of boot. But not this one. Tempting and interesting, but not a good value and definitely not appropriate to wear when operating a motorcycle.

I really do have to give credit to whomever wrote the ad copy about this boot. It is written very well to appeal to emotion of what motivates a man to buy boots: “Wear this boot and be rugged, strong, and tough.” Hah… just wearing boots doesn’t make a man tough, but doing so gives that outward appearance.

Life is short: read carefully and don’t fall for the emotional appeal to a side of your character that you aspire to be.