Had to share this wonderful example of the use of intrigue that I came across in today’s UK “Daily Telegraph”.

“The Sticky Toffee Pudding Mystery”

The article leads off…

“A leading British hotel is asking guests and kitchen staff to sign a secrecy clause after a couple tried to get hold of its secret sticky toffee pudding recipe and post it on the internet.”

Now, I found the original headline irresistible and had to read the article to discover what this was all about.  Believe me, I was hooked, because I did try and ignore it!  However, the curiosity factor was too much.

Of course “Secrets” are a standard headline template but you don’t see “Mystery” used as much.  That’s probably because in copywriting intrigue on its own is usually not enough.  The formula for success is to add benefits to intrigue and that usually results in an effective headline.

In this case, it doesn’t matter as much and there’s something of an implied benefit (anyone with a sweet tooth is highly likely to want to know what this is about!).

The story is quite interesting in its own right.  Other people besides Coca Cola have secret formulas kept locked up in safes!