If you’re a student of pop culture and an ad watcher like I am (that is to say, enjoying the Super Bowl ads as much as the football game), or even if you’re all about business and want to increase the notice given your press releases, be sure to catch Joanne Kaufman’s article in today’s edition of the New York Times online. Her article: “Need Press? Repeat: ‘Green,’ ‘Sex,’ ‘Cancer,’ ‘Secret,’ ‘Fat’”

It’s all about strategic word selection, and it’s a trick worth noting before you okay your next press release or plan your next promotion.

As Ms. Kaufman writes, “Strategic word selection can catapult an announcement about a study, a product or a “breakthrough” onto the evening news instead of to its usual destination — the spam folder or circular file.” Moreover, part of the effort these days is to get the material picked up by search engines. Every word in a headline matters.

Some of the hottest words are industry-specific, to be sure, but suggesting, when appropriate, that something is unique or that it is the first or most is likely to get attention. A focus on green issues is very much of the moment.

However, if you proudly reference your cutting edge designs, chances are you’ll just get a yawn. In this case, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Did my headline using terms suggested in the article cause you to read this post? Food for thought.

JCK