Why The Ordinary’s anti-copywriting stance is good copywriting

The Ordinary and Uncommon have taken the maxim that ‘good copywriting is more about what you leave out’ to the extreme. And we’re here for it.

Effective copywriting is good copywriting. The copy needs to serve a purpose, and this will vary from brand to brand.

The Ordinary’s USP is all about minimalism, transparency, functionality and educating consumers. Basically, they’re the antithesis of the day-glow, ‘mad gainz’ protein powder advertising that proliferated your local gym-bro store in the early 2000s.

The Ordinary is a brand whose ingredients always struck me as carefully considered, and its decision to label its products with the generic chemical name came off as honest and no nonsense in an industry all too keen to dish out baloney like a butcher on retirement day.

I was also drawn to the bottles, which have a trustworthy, medicinal, ‘anti-sales’ sort of vibe that made me scoff at the skinny-legged-massive-chested dudes in the other aisle.

Its latest advert is perfectly pitched then, basking in its ‘purer than thou’ brand image, which even claims to eschew the need for good copywriting: while simultaneously presenting us with some of the best copywriting design we’ve seen in a while.

We take our facemasks off then, to the evolution of The Ordinary brand. Even if its prices have gotten a little steeper of late.