Great Moments In Copywriting: Ogilvy And The Beggar

Derrick DayeJanuary 17, 20081 min

During one of his morning walks to work in New York City, David Ogilvy encountered a man begging with a sign around his neck. The sign read: “I am blind,” and, as evidenced by his nearly empty cup, the man was not doing very well. Ogilvy removed the man’s sign from around his neck, pulled out a marker and changed the sign to read,

“It is spring and I am blind.”

He hung the sign back around the beggar’s neck and went on his way. On his way home he was pleased to notice the vagrant had a full cap.

David Ogilvy once again proving the great power of the right combination of words.

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One comment

  • Jesse

    January 8, 2014 at 9:02 pm

    Some people claim this story should be attributed to French poet Jacques Prevert…his version allegedly read: “Spring is coming, but I won’t see it.” …either way, I’m biased towards Ogilvy 😉

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