Top 15 Examples Of Great Copywriting And How To Do It

Table of contents

Open Table of contents

• What is copywriting?
  • 1. Drink an Orange — Sunkist
  • 2. Opt-in email on The Hustle’s page
  • 3. The ad tease of Corvette
  • 4. Basecamp’s got your back
  • 5. Innocent Drink’s advanced thinking
  • 6. Harry’s new idea
  • 7. Apple’s marketing poems
  • 8. Nike’s Kaepernick campaign
  • 9. KFC’s FCK
  • 10. Does she or doesn’t she? — Miss Clairol
  • 11. Squarespace’s risk-free trial
  • 12. Baron Fig’s tool for thinkers
  • 13. Hiut Denim’s “do one thing well”
  • 14. Lion Matches
  • 15. British Airways’ Look Up campaign
• Tips for effective copywriting
  • Language is powerful
  • Be concise
  • Re-read the draft — and read it aloud
  • On AI and copywriting in 2026
• Copywriting Examples — 2026 FAQ
  • Is AI replacing copywriters?
  • What’s the most reliable copywriting framework for landing pages?
  • How do you write copy that works in AI Overviews and search?
  • What separates a memorable tagline from a forgettable one?
• Updated for May 2026

What is copywriting?

Copywriting is rearranging words to make things sell better. It’s the art of finding the exact phrase that makes a reader lean forward, trust you, and take action. Great copy is memorable because it’s timely, specific, and just surprising enough.

The types you’ll encounter most:

1. Sales — visible on ads, landing pages, and direct mail; the most obvious kind
2. SEO — written with search intent in mind so that Google (and now AI Overviews) surface the right content for the right query
3. Web content — the longer-form writing that builds trust and keeps readers engaged
4. Technical — requires deep product knowledge; often ghostwritten by the person who built the thing
5. Creative — the tagline, the jingle, the campaign concept; lives in commercials and brand identity
6. PR — press releases, official statements, crisis communications; all about controlling the narrative

Reading and studying examples is the fastest way to get better. Here are the 15 I keep in my rotation.

Relevant: Learn all about integrated marketing communication

1. Drink an Orange — Sunkist

Albert Lasker was hired by the then-budding Sunkist company and coined “Drink an Orange” — a phrase that helped create the entire orange juice category. Before this campaign, people peeled and ate oranges. The idea of drinking one was novel enough to stop people.

The lesson: category creation beats product comparison. Lasker didn’t say “our oranges are better.” He invented a new behavior. When you’re writing copy for a genuinely new product or feature, don’t compare — educate.

2. Opt-in email on The Hustle’s page

The Hustle (acquired by HubSpot) built a massive subscriber base partly on the strength of its opt-in copy: “Your smart, good-looking friend that sends you an email each morning with all the tech and business news you need to know for the day.”

Same offer as every other newsletter pop-up. Completely different frame. Instead of “subscribe to our newsletter,” they sold a relationship — a friend, not a brand. The follow-up line about joining a “pirate ship” added humor and made signing up feel fun rather than obligatory.

The lesson: reframe the transaction. Every email list is “subscribe for updates.” The ones that grow fast describe what the reader gains, not what they’re agreeing to.

3. The ad tease of Corvette

“They don’t write songs about Volvos.”

This line works because it’s true, and it doesn’t even mention what it’s advertising until you realize it. The implication is obvious. Corvette drivers aren’t buying transportation — they’re buying a feeling and a story. The copywriter trusted the reader to make the connection.

The lesson: let the reader complete the sentence. Readers feel smarter when they figure something out themselves, and that feeling attaches to the brand.

4. Basecamp’s got your back

Basecamp built its early marketing around the Problem, Agitation, Solution (PAS) framework. Their website copy named real frustrations that project managers feel — too many tools, too many emails, too much chaos — and positioned Basecamp as the calm alternative.

This approach is still effective in 2026 for SaaS landing pages because it signals that you understand the customer before you try to sell them anything.

The lesson: diagnose before you prescribe. Lead with the problem. If the reader thinks “that’s exactly how I feel,” they’re already halfway converted.

5. Innocent Drink’s advanced thinking

Innocent Drinks built a multi-hundred-million-dollar smoothie brand partly on packaging copy. No marketing speak, no superlatives — just direct, honest descriptions written in the voice of a real person, often with a dry joke tucked in.

The copy closed objections before customers could raise them: exact ingredients, calories, a clear story. Nothing to hide, nowhere to squint.

The lesson: preemptive transparency beats defensive disclaimers. If you know what the skeptics will say, say it yourself first. That’s not weakness — it’s confidence.

6. Harry’s new idea

Harry’s entered the razor market against Gillette and Schick by leaning hard into subscription simplicity. Their early copy made “shave plan” feel like a new category — which it effectively was for razors — rather than just “buy blades online.”

The lesson: name the thing differently. “Shave plan” instead of “subscription” made it feel intentional and personal. Naming the thing you’re selling is an underrated copywriting move.

7. Apple’s marketing poems

Apple’s product copy is famously rhythmic: short sentences, parallel structure, fragments used deliberately. “Shot on iPhone” is three words. “Think Different” is two. Their longer copy uses line breaks the way a poet does — each line lands, then pauses.

This forces the reader to read slowly, which means they actually read it. In a scroll-fast world, that’s a superpower.

The lesson: write for rhythm, not just meaning. Read your copy aloud. If it sounds clunky, it’ll read clunky.

8. Nike’s Kaepernick campaign

Nike’s 2018 campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick for the 30th anniversary of “Just Do It” was divisive by design. The tagline: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.”

The backlash was real and loud. The business outcome — significant stock recovery and sales lift within weeks — was also real. Nike made a deliberate choice to court one customer segment deeply rather than please everyone mildly.

The lesson: great copy knows who it’s not for. The Kaepernick line was the most polarizing Nike ad in decades, and it worked precisely because Nike was willing to lose some customers to win others. Bland copy written to offend nobody also converts nobody.

9. KFC’s FCK

In 2018, KFC UK ran out of chicken — a supply chain failure that closed hundreds of stores. Their response ad showed an empty KFC bucket with the letters rearranged to “FCK.” No excuses, just a genuine apology and a wink.

What made it work: the crisis was already resolved, the admission was genuine, and the tone matched the brand. You can only pull off edgy crisis copy if your brand already had that voice.

The lesson: apologies work when they’re real. Template PR statements (“we regret any inconvenience”) feel insulting. Owning the mistake in your brand’s actual voice earns trust back faster. The three conditions for this to work: the situation is resolved, the tone fits the brand, and the apology is real.

10. Does she or doesn’t she? — Miss Clairol

Shirley Polykoff’s line for Miss Clairol — “Does she… or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.” — is one of the most studied taglines in advertising history. It turned hair coloring from something women felt embarrassed about into something aspirational and slightly mysterious.

The genius is the question it implants. Readers spend a moment wondering before they get the answer. That mental engagement makes the line stick.

Also Read: 10 best marketing books to read

The lesson: a question the reader wants answered is a hook that costs nothing. If you can frame your copy as a puzzle the reader needs to solve, they’ll stay with you longer.

11. Squarespace’s risk-free trial

Squarespace’s early landing page copy was notable for leaning into risk removal. “No credit card required” is technically an objection-handler, not a benefit — but it converts because it removes the only reason left not to try.

The lesson: the last objection is usually commitment, not capability. Once someone believes your product can help them, the friction is emotional (“what if I regret this?”). Copy that removes commitment friction converts even skeptics.

12. Baron Fig’s tool for thinkers

Baron Fig’s “Our Story” page used a single line: “We make tools for thinkers. If you have thoughts, you’re a thinker.”

That second sentence is the move. It pre-emptively includes everyone who might feel like the “thinker” identity doesn’t apply to them. It’s welcoming without being generic.

The lesson: inclusion through specificity, not vagueness. The easy path is to write “for everyone.” The better path is to define who you’re for so specifically that everyone wants to qualify.

13. Hiut Denim’s “do one thing well”

Hiut Denim is a small Welsh company that only makes denim. Their copy leans into that constraint: “We make jeans. That’s it. Nothing else. No distractions.” It’s a five-word positioning statement that doubles as a quality claim.

The lesson: limitation is a brand story. In a world of sprawling product lines, a company that does one thing and says so clearly signals mastery. The copy doesn’t just describe the product — it explains why the constraint is a feature.

14. Lion Matches

Matches are a commodity. Nobody thinks hard about buying them. Lion Matches made people notice by treating them as anything but ordinary — vintage-style advertising with warm, narrative copy that made a box of matches feel worth remembering.

The lesson: any product can have character. If you’re writing copy for something “boring,” that’s a positioning opportunity. Every commodity has a history, a use case, a human behind it.

15. British Airways’ Look Up campaign

This last one lives in digital copywriting. British Airways put a billboard near Piccadilly Circus that used real-time flight data: whenever a BA plane flew overhead, a child in the ad pointed up and the board displayed the flight number and destination.

The copy was contextual and live — it couldn’t exist in print or in a static format. It worked because it was unexpected and true.

You can watch the campaign here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=GtJx_pZjvzc&feature=emb_logo

The lesson: medium is part of the message. The best contextual copy uses where and when it appears as part of the creative. A line that only works in one specific context is often more memorable than a line that could appear anywhere.

Tips for effective copywriting

Language is powerful

As a writer, you play with your reader’s emotions and trust. There are thousands of posts published every day. The ones that get read, shared, and remembered chose their words carefully.

Be concise

Keep it short. Keep it specific. If you can remove a word without losing meaning, remove it.

Re-read the draft — and read it aloud

The rule most copywriters follow: never post the first draft. Read it aloud. If it sounds clunky, it reads clunky. The ear catches what the eye misses.

On AI and copywriting in 2026

AI tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini) can generate a first draft of copy in seconds. I use them regularly. But none of the 15 examples above could have been produced by prompting an AI and accepting the output unchanged.

What AI does well: getting words on the page quickly, generating variations to test, checking for clarity, and removing obvious friction. What it still does poorly: the judgment behind the Kaepernick line (that specific risk was a brand decision, not a word choice), the tone calibration in KFC’s “FCK” ad (which required knowing exactly how much the brand could get away with), or the category-creating insight of “Drink an Orange” (which was a business strategy, not a copywriting assignment).

Use AI to draft. Use your judgment to decide what’s worth publishing.

Great copy still wins because the insight behind it is human.

---

Words have power and they stay with readers for a long time. That’s exactly what you aim for — for readers to remember what you wrote.

---

Copywriting Examples — 2026 FAQ

Is AI replacing copywriters?

Not replacing, but reshaping. AI handles first drafts, A/B variant generation, and SEO-targeted boilerplate faster than any human. What remains human: the strategic judgment behind a campaign, the brand voice decisions, and the insight that turns a product into a story (see: “Drink an Orange”). Copywriters who use AI as a drafting tool are faster and more productive; those who ignore it are at a cost disadvantage.

What’s the most reliable copywriting framework for landing pages?

PAS (Problem, Agitation, Solution) remains the most durable. Lead with the exact frustration your reader already has, make them feel it, then present your product as the resolution. Basecamp’s early landing pages are the canonical example — name the pain before you name the product.

How do you write copy that works in AI Overviews and search?

Google’s AI Overviews prefer concise, specific, directly-answering copy. Write clear topic sentences, use the actual question as a subheading when possible, and avoid fluffy intros. The same principles that made web copy readable for humans now also make it citable by AI — clarity wins in both contexts.

What separates a memorable tagline from a forgettable one?

The memorable ones do two things: they’re specific enough to be surprising and true enough to be believed. “Just Do It” works because it speaks to the internal resistance everyone feels before starting. “They don’t write songs about Volvos” works because it’s verifiably true and instantly visual. Generic superlatives (“best quality,” “trusted by millions”) are forgettable because they could belong to any brand.

Related reading:

• 10 best marketing books to read
• Learn all about integrated marketing communication
• Designing a landing page

---

This guide is part of alejandrorioja.com — written by Alejandro Rioja, who now builds AI agent systems for founders. Including the agent that keeps this site current. How it works →

Updated for May 2026

The fundamentals in this post still hold — Ansoff, BCG, integrated marketing, land-and-expand, NYOP, TOMA frameworks are durable. What changed since the original publication is how the implementation surface looks in 2026:

• The distribution channels assumed in 2020-era marketing posts (organic Facebook reach, free Twitter virality, paid Instagram CPMs under $10) are gone or transformed. Re-cost any tactical recommendation against today’s CPMs.
• AI Overviews ate the top of the SEO funnel — TOFU content strategy from the 2022 era now needs a GEO layer (see the SEO updated note).
• Land-and-expand as a motion is healthier than ever in B2B SaaS; PLG → enterprise progression is the default path for almost any 2026 startup.
• Integrated marketing communication in 2026 means the brand voice shows up the same across paid, organic, AI-cited, podcast guesting, and the newsletter — because models like GPT-5 and Claude 4.7 are increasingly summarizing the brand, not just individual pages.

If you’re using this framework for a 2026 plan, the strategic skeleton is right; only the channel-mix data points need a fresh source.