You just got bamboozled

Tim Schreiber
March 05, 2025

It’s 2019.

Avengers: Endgame is about to become the most successful Marvel movie of all time.

Fans are storming the theaters in legions.

And … they’re about to get bamboozled in the most spectacular way.

Let me explain.

At the end of Infinity War, Thanos snapped his fingers and wiped out half of the universe in a blink.

And now … people expected an epic Space Odyssey where the remaining Avengers hunt Thanos across the cosmos and ultimately restore the universe.

But fifteen minutes into Endgame…

The Avengers find Thanos on some random planet, weakened, alone, and completely defenseless.

And then?

Thor chops his head off like he’s prepping vegetables for a stew.

And now what?

The villain they built up over 10+ years? Dead in the first act.

Wasn’t this supposed to be the whole movie? Wasn’t Thanos supposed to defend himself or something?

Nope. None of that.

What Marvel pulled off here is called a “misdirect.”

It’s where you break your readers’ expectations to keep them engaged.

Let me show you.

Please answer this very simple question for me:

What is the #1 goal of great copy?

You might have guessed:

But all this is WRONG!

(See that? A misdirect 😉)

The PRIMARY goal of great copy is to get the reader to actually READ the damn thing in the first place.

If they don’t read … nothing else matters.

And that’s why misdirects work so well.

They break patterns. They snap people out of autopilot. And they force curiosity.

Another example: Read this legendary ad by Joseph Sugarman, titled “Magic Baloney.”

Instead of talking about the product’s features, benefits, or why it’s useful … he started the ad by listing its flaws.

Why on earth would someone do that?!

Because it’s unexpected and keeps the reader hooked.

So how can you implement this?

It’s simple:

If your audience expects a hard sell, start with a bizarre story. If they expect fluffy, overhyped promises … hit them with cold, brutal honesty.

If you’d like to learn how to use misdirects & other techniques to break your sales records as did Avengers: Endgame…

…oh boyyy, you shall call yourself lucky.

I’m thinking of doing some copy critiques for my audience soon.

At first, they’d be FREE – under one condition:

I can upload them on my YouTube so others can learn from them too.

Reply with “copy” if you’d be interested.

Tim <3

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