Find one (1) headline that you came across recently and thought it was great. You are to explain why it resonated with you. Please ensure that you base your answers only topics discussed in class. Meaning, based on course content discussed in class, you are to tie specific elements that we discussed constituted a “good” headline or “elements” of a good headline and how this specific element is referenced in the headline that resonated with you. (6 Marks)
“14 celebrities who have so many kids, there basically running their own daycare, and 11 who said “hmm, hard pass” [i]
This headline that I found on the BuzzFeed website for some reason caught my attention/ resonated with me upon reflection- the first thing that grabbed my eyes was Anna Kendrick- who played as Becca in one of my favourite movie series- Pitch Perfect. So, with that being said her face kind of is ingrained in my head as being “Beca” even though she was just acting in the movie- so I immediately was like on Beca- and then it goes to celebrities that have so many kids they are almost running a daycare- imminently caught my attention.
Additionally, this headline has some key elements that we talked about in class-which I’m sure helped strike my interest / curiously:
- Uses the odd numbers “14 and 11”
- Celebrity appeal- not only does this headline include one of my favourite “characters”- it also includes a phrase from another one of my favourite shows with the saying “Hmm, Hard Pass”. This is one of the famous lines David Rose said in Schitts Creek- and by effectively having these celebrity endorsements/ sayings that clearly resonated with the audience I was not only intrigued to like click the link- I just naturally did it because it was appealing and interesting to me and likely to other targeted audience members- as they effetely leveraged both celebrity culture/ presence to help draw attention and resonate.
Meme for reference:
- The keyword use of the words “either lots or few” in this headline – was definity a effective method to use as I noticed it sparked my curiosity- because as talked about in class not only are people curious they are also nosey. So by them saying this being the curious and nosey consumer I am I naturally was appealed to this headline. And as discussed in class- have element’s such as mystery and curiosity in headlines is effective and also important.
- Format/ tone- Overall this headline came across kind of like very interactive and was kind of like a quiz- that simply just got you interested in actually reading the content. To be specific in what I mean simply the way that this headline was formatted naturally evoked curiosity as it pointed out something interesting- and the surrounding text was vague- which just intrigued more mystery in a fun way- causing readers such as myself to guess/ react and click- because we are interested.
- Even though we are talking about celebrity’s kids- kids in general tend to be a very relatable aspect of life to most people in some way shape or form- which likely sparked the aspect for Furter interest. Actually, according to Yahoo Life we like seeing kids in headlines because it enlightens us to feel the emotions of “positive emotions like happiness, innocence, and a sense of vulnerability “ [iii]
- This headline speaks in a conversational tone/ not like something is being sold to them. It sounds friendly and like its simply to server your interest in celebrities’ life’s- meaning it was more trusted. This is the case as people do not like to feel like they are being sold something. According to Bop Design “no one wants to feel like they’re being sold to. Rather, a prospect wants to feel like they are being helped”[iv] – making the tone of this headline very beneficial. Considering it was kind of followed by a joke “running their own daycare’- added to the novelty- as most celebrities like the Kardashians for example- all have nanny’s and don’t really watch their kids like the average family.
- Additionally, as talked about in class this headline includes some of the key criteria, we talked about it class/ from my notes:
- Its attention grabbing
- Its unique
- Effectively evoke emotion of curiosity- which made me ask myself questions + be intrigued to read the article.
- Use of odd numbers
- Used “your ”- it felt like I was the one personally being talked to
- This headline used good curated words like “daycare” and odd numbers + celebrity appeal- to get people lime me to react
- Was clear to understand
- Followed the 60- 100 characters max
- Had a strong call to action and call for attention
*Referenced from why notes from week 6’s class lecture on how to make great headlines (all in my own words- just referencing them, Scott!
[i] Zinman, A. (2025, February 12). 25 celebs who either have 6+ kids, or none at all. BuzzFeed. https://www.buzzfeed.com/abbyzinman/celebs-either-lots-or-few-kids
[ii] Schittscreek. (2021, March 16). Thats a hard pass David GIF – Thats a hard pass David David Rose – Discover & share GIFs. Tenor. https://tenor.com/view/thats-a-hard-pass-david-david-rose-dan-levy-schitts-creek-gif-20759567
[iii] Simanson, S. H. (2023, October 13). The psychology of “sharenting”: Why parents can’t resist talking about their kids online — and what experts say about it. Yahoo Life. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/the-psychology-of-sharenting-social-media-221628986.html
[iv] Durant, J. (2024, January 9). No One ever Wants to Feel Like They’re Being Sold To. . .. Bop Design. https://www.bopdesign.com/bop-blog/2014/10/one-ever-wants-feel-like-theyre-sold/