LAST WEEK'S PROBLEM: You're a major New York City newspaper with a special advertising section about the New York Marathon. A brochure aimed at potential advertisers will be received by all kinds of companies, many located outside the area. The brochure's banner headline should position the Marathon as one of the city's biggest, most popular events (which it is), something that's uniquely New York, but of major interest to out-of-towners. Headline is ... ?

FOR THE HEADLINE, CLICK IN THE SPACE BELOW.

FOR NEXT TIME: You're selling low-calorie dog food and dogs can't tell it from the regular stuff. Cute headlines like "How to avoid the dog pound" are off-target. Research has shown that many people won't admit that their pet is overweight and turn away. (You've got something aimed at these people, involving their veterinarians, but this task isn't it.) Other pet owners don't know how to recognize a weight problem. You've tested educational approaches, but knowledgeable or not, owners just don't like to disappoint their pets. This is an emotional area. The headline needs to get to the emotional core of the problem. I'll post a solution next week, or as soon after as possible! Highly overstated legal statement, disclaimer and general tush-covering: For clients' protection, none of this is recent, and there is no current need. Please do NOT send me your own headlines! This was just one of many possible solutions. Any unsolicited submission will become my property without acknowledgement, consideration, obligation or so much as a thank-you. The work shown here is my own, and any similarity to other work, past or present, is purely coincidental. Project may have been academic or speculative. Situation may be simplified or enlarged for illustrative purposes, and/or headline modified to remove marketer's name. Nothing here implies an endorsement of my services by the marketer, agency, or anyone else. The headlines shown here are chosen partly for entertainment value, and are not necessarily my first-choice recommendation to client. By the way, the capital of South Dakota is Pierre.