| animatic | A rough television commercial produced by photographing storyboard sketches on a film strip or video with the audio portion synchronized on tape. It is used primarily for testing purposes.
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| animation | The use of cartoons, puppet characters, or demonstrations of inanimate characters come to life in television commercials; often used for communicating difficult messages or for reaching specialized markets, such as children.
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| audio | The sound portion of a commercial. Also, the right side of a script for a television commercial, indicating spoken copy, sound effects, and music.
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| Ayer | No. 1 See poster-style format.
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| benefit headline | Type of headline that makes a direct promise to the reader.
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| body copy | The text of an advertisement that tells the complete story and attempts to close the sale. It is a logical continuation of the headline and subheads and is usually set in a smaller type size than headlines or subheads.
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| boldface | Heavier type.
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| camera-ready art | A finished ad that is ready for the printer's camera to shoot—to make negatives or plates—according to the publication's specifications.
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| casting brief | A detailed, written description of the characters' personalities to serve as guides in casting sessions when actors audition for the roles.
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| close | That part of an advertisement or commercial that asks customers to do something and tells them how to do it—the action step in the ad's copy.
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| command headline | A type of headline that orders the reader to do something.
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| comprehensive layout | A facsimile of a finished ad with copy set in type and pasted into position along with proposed illustrations. The "comp" is prepared so the advertiser can gauge the effect of the final ad.
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| demonstration | A type of TV commercial in which the product is shown in use.
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| design | Visual pattern or composition of artistic elements chosen and structured by the graphic artist.
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| device copy | Advertising copy that relies on wordplay, humor, poetry, rhymes, great exaggeration, gags, and other tricks or gimmicks.
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| dialogue/monologue copy | A type of body copy in which the characters illustrated in the advertisement do the selling in their own words either through a quasi-testimonial technique or through a comic strip panel.
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| donut | When writing a jingle, a hole left for spoken copy.
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| headline | The words in the leading position of an advertisement—the words that will be read first or that are positioned to draw the most attention.
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| hook | The part of a jingle that sticks in your memory.
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| icon | A pictorial image that represents an idea or thing.
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| illustrators | The artists who paint, sketch, or draw the pictures we see in advertising.
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| institutional copy | A type of body copy in which the advertiser tries to sell an idea or the merits of the organization or service rather than the sales features of a particular product.
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| integrated commercial | A straight radio announcement, usually delivered by one person, woven into a show or tailored to a given program to avoid any perceptible interruption.
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| interior paragraphs | Text within the body copy of an ad where the credibility and desire steps of the message are presented.
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| italic | A style of printing type with letters that generally slant to the right.
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| jingle | A musical commercial, usually sung with the sales message in the verse.
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| kicker | A subhead that appears above the headline. Also known as overline.
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| layout | An orderly formation of all the parts of an advertisement. In print, it refers to the arrangement of the headline, subheads, visuals, copy, picture captions, trademarks, slogans, and signature. In television, it refers to the placement of characters, props, scenery, and product elements, the location and angle of the camera, and the use of lighting. See also design.
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| lead-in paragraph | In print ads, a bridge between the headlines, the subheads, and the sales ideas presented in the text. It transfers reader interest to product interest.
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| lifestyle technique | Type of commercial in which the user is presented rather than the product. Typically used by clothing and soft drink advertisers to affiliate their brands with the trendy lifestyles of their consumers.
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| logotype | Special design of the advertiser's name (or product name) that appears in all advertisements. Also called a signature cut, it is like a trademark because it gives the advertiser individuality and provides quick recognition at the point of purchase.
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| mechanical | The set type and illustrations or photographs pasted into the exact position in which they will appear in the final ad. Also called a pasteup, this is then used as the basis for the next step in the reproduction process.
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| mnemonic device | A gimmick used to dramatize the product benefit and make it memorable, such as the Imperial Margarine crown or the Avon doorbell.
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| musical logo | A jingle that becomes associated with a product or company through consistent use.
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| narrative copy | A type of body copy that tells a story. It sets up a problem and then creates a solution using the particular sales features of the product or service as the key to the solution.
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| news/information headline | A type of headline that includes many of the "how-to" headlines as well as headlines that seek to gain identification for their sponsors by announcing some news or providing some promise of information.
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| on camera | Actually seen by the camera, as an announcer, a spokesperson, or actor playing out a scene.
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| pasteup | See mechanical.
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| photographers | The artists who use cameras to create visuals for advertisements.
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| picture-caption copy | A type of body copy in which the story is told through a series of illustrations and captions rather than through the use of a copy block alone.
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| picture-window layout | Layout that employs a single, dominant visual that occupies between 60 and 70 percent of an advertisement's total area. Also known as poster-style format or Ayer No. 1.
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| poster-style format | Layout that employs a single, dominant visual that occupies between 60 and 70 percent of an advertisement's total area. Also known as picture-window layout and Ayer No. 1.
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| presenter commercial | A commercial format in which one person or character presents the product and sales message.
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| provocative headline | A type of headline written to provoke the reader's curiosity so that, to learn more, the reader will read the body copy.
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| question headline | A type of headline that asks the reader a question.
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| radio personality | A disk jockey or talk show host.
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| script | Format for radio and television copywriting resembling a two-column list showing dialog and/or visuals.
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| seal | A type of certification mark offered by such organizations as the Good Housekeeping Institute and Underwriters' Laboratories when a product meets standards established by these institutions. Seals provide an independent, valued endorsement for the advertised product.
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| signature cut | See logotype.
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| slice of life | A type of commercial consisting of a dramatization of a real-life situation in which the product is tried and becomes the solution to a problem.
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| slogan | A standard company statement (also called a tagline or a themeline) for advertisements, salespeople, and company employees. Slogans have two basic purposes: to provide continuity for a campaign and to reduce a key theme or idea to a brief, memorable positioning statement.
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| storyboard | A sheet preprinted with a series of 8 to 20 blank frames in the shape of TV screens, which includes text of the commercial, sound effects, and camera views.
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| storyboard roughs | A rough layout of a television commercial in storyboard form.
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| straight announcement | The oldest type of radio or television commercial, in which an announcer delivers a sales message directly into the microphone or on-camera or does so off-screen while a slide or film is shown on-screen.
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| straight-sell copy | A type of body copy in which the text immediately explains or develops the headline and visual in a straightforward attempt to sell the product.
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| subhead | Secondary headline in advertisements that may appear above or below the headline or in the text of the ad. Subheads are usually set in a type size smaller than the headline but larger than the body copy or text type size. They may also appear in boldface type or in a different ink color.
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| tagline | See slogan.
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| testimonials | The use of satisfied customers and celebrities to endorse a product in advertising.
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| text | See body copy.
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| themeline | See slogan.
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| thumbnail | A rough, rapidly produced pencil sketch that is used for trying out ideas.
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| trial close | In ad copy, requests for the order that are made before the close in the ad.
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| visuals | All of the picture elements that are placed into an advertisement.
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| voice-over | In television advertising, the spoken copy or dialogue delivered by an announcer who is not seen but whose voice is heard.
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