Before The Bible Was The Bible . . . Why Does This Headline Work?

Hey Folks,

I was at rehearsal for a play last night when I spotted another actor’s copy of “Skeptic” magazine . . . and immediately grabbed it out of his hands and read the full page ad on the back.

Why? Because of the frankly fascinating headline. It read:

“Before The Bible Was The Bible It Was A Bunch Of Little Books Written By A Bunch Of Different Writers With Different Viewpoints”

And it got me thinking “Wow, what a great headline” quickly followed by “Ok, but why the heck does this headline work?”

Because there’s no discernible benefit here . . .

And the language in the headline and the ad is as hype free and “Logic-based” as you can get (which fits the publication readership pretty well.)

I sort of chuckled as I though about some alternate headlines:

“Who Else Wants To Discover The Secret Terrible Truth Of The Bible That *They* Don’t Want You To Know”

“Finally Revealed . . . Here’s How *You* Can Learn To Be Even More Arch And Superior At Parties! You Won’t Believe How Easy It Is To Fill The Empty Void In Your Soul By Systematically Ripping Apart Other People’s Entire Belief Systems . . While Still Leaving Room For Dessert!”

“They Laughed When I Said The Bible Was Written By A Bunch Of Different Folks Who Didn’t Like Each Other Very Much . . . But When I Clicked On The Projector And Showed Them My Powerpoint. . . ”

“How A Skinny, Balding, One-Legged, No-Elbowed, Non-Tenured Professor *Accidentally* Took On The *Fat Cats* of ‘Big Religion’ And Knocked Over 2,000 Years Of Tradition To Its KNEES . . . Almost Overnight!”;)

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Anyway, what do you think makes the “Before The Bible Was The Bible” line work so well? And if you’ve got any other alternate headlines throw them up (though remember, we’re here to talk copy, not religion.)

Oh, and tangentially, flipping through the magazine I found an article by someone debunking the newfangled traction machines you hear about a lot of chiropractors using. What was fascinating to me was hearing her talk about the marketing used to sell the stuff. She quoted the headline (A “Who else” and sniggered at the “bad grammar” in the “free report” she got when she asked for more info.

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