A poster on the Warrior Forum asked if using fear in advertising was unethical. Here was my reply…
How is using fear any less ethical than any of the others emotional states we try to induce? How about greed? Or lust? Pride, hunger, thirst, or any other human desire?
What’s unethical about it? You’re writing ad copy or making a video. If they don’t want to continue reading or watching, they can put it down. You’re not putting a gun to their heads.
Your copy isn’t so powerful that they’re going to buy …

In learning the art of copywriting, the thing that will make the difference is practice. Write a ton of little catalog description type ads. Read everything you can about copywriting and how to influence people on an emotional level through writing advertising.
Let’s say you’re trying to sell posters. What can you possibly say about a poster? And what if you have several different posters on your website? Not much to say, is there?
You can’t simply say each poster is the best one. That’s not really that emotional, any way. That’s …