Lesson 2 of 10 · Module 1: Writing for the Ear
The Hook Line
Write 10 alternate opening lines for your practice product, each 8 words or fewer, read each one aloud on a timer, and identify the 3 that land in under 3 seconds while creating curiosity or stakes.
ALL BIG GAME ADS 2026, Best of Super Bowl Commercials
three real, current commercials played in sequence, each with a distinct cold open. Not pre-cut to exactly 3 seconds, but the first few seconds of each spot are easy to isolate on playback, and it is real footage rather than a lecture about hooks.
10 Famous Funny Commercials
a compilation of famous, real commercials (Old Spice, VW “The Force,” Budweiser “Whassup”) played in full, useful as a backup set of openings if the Super Bowl reel above feels too current-events heavy for the drill.
Objective
Why This Matters
A viewer decides whether to keep watching in the first two to three seconds, whether that’s a literal skip button or the split-second choice to keep looking at the screen instead of their phone. Most weak commercial scripts spend those seconds on throat-clearing: the company name, a category statement, a warm-up sentence. By the time the actual hook arrives, the viewer is gone. The first 3 seconds on paper are not an introduction, they’re the whole sale.
The Technique
A hook is a question, a contradiction, a relatable pain, or a visual promise, never a thesis statement. It creates a gap the viewer wants closed.
Never open with your own name. “At [Company], we believe...” is a guaranteed skip. Withhold the product for the first several seconds; the tension of not knowing yet is what keeps someone watching into second four.
Working techniques: cold open on a problem the viewer already has (“your flight got cancelled again”), a surprising claim, direct second-person address (“you”), or dropping the viewer into the middle of an action already happening.
Read every hook aloud with a stopwatch running. Eight words at conversational pace lands around 2.5 to 3 seconds; if a hook is longer than that on the clock, it’s not a hook, it’s a paragraph.
Watch For This
Good
- The hook creates a specific gap or stake a viewer wants resolved.
- It’s short, punchy, and speaks to the viewer directly.
- It could not be mistaken for a category statement or a slogan.
Classic Failure
- Opens with the brand name or a tagline.
- Opens with a full sentence explaining the category (“in today’s fast-paced world...”).
- The hook is generic enough to sit in front of any product’s spot without changing a word.
Your Drill
Using your Lesson 1 product, write 10 hook lines, 8 words maximum each, with the product name withheld from every one. Read each aloud on a stopwatch and log the time. Circle the 3 fastest hooks that still create a real question or stake, not just the 3 shortest.
Done? Paste what you made into the AI coach below for notes against this lesson's pass checklist.
Pass Checklist
Lesson complete
Criterion met: At least 3 of the 10 hooks read under 3 seconds aloud and create an open question, a stake, or a relatable problem, with the product withheld entirely.
Next: Lesson 3: One-Message DisciplineHow solid did that feel?
Noted.
Coach Note
If you can lift your hook and drop it in front of a competitor’s commercial without changing a word, it’s not a hook, it’s furniture. Test every one against that swap before you circle a winner.
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Resurfaces In
Lesson 4 (The 30-Second Spot Structure), Lesson 10 (Capstone).