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- 16-JAN-2026 | Excerpts from Nike’s “Forget What Tennis Used To Be” Ad
16-JAN-2026 | Excerpts from Nike’s “Forget What Tennis Used To Be” Ad


The Vault from Copywork365

The swipe file is dead.
Literally, and maybe figuratively as well.
When I first started working on this project, I gave it the working title, Toolbox. The simple tagline was: the swipe file on roids.
But the more I worked on it, the more it became clear that this wasn’t just a box of tools. Calling it a swipe file wasn’t accurate, either. Roided up, or otherwise.
Because at its core, the swipe file is merely a collection of pictures or text. A pile, in other words.
This thing behaves more like a navigable map.
And no matter how much stuff you hoard into a swipe file, its contents are inert.
This, on the other hand, grows deeper over time. Its contents are living.
So, henceforth, this will be known as…

(This is just a placeholder, made with the help of AI.
So hit me up if you can make this more human & prettier!)
The Vault is an atomic copywriting database. As far as I know it’s the first of its kind, so that’s what I’m calling it.
It’s a database of world-class excerpts just like the ones we cover right here on the daily. Spanning ad copy, webpage copy, and literature.
Each excerpt is x-rayed and dissected to reveal what makes everything tick, how it works — on the most granular level. (Hence, atomic.)
It covers all the tools, techniques, and psychology we touch on here, but in their full depth. Making it easy to master these “devices” and then apply them to your own persuasive writing. You can even filter by author or brand to steal the secret sauce from your very favorite writers, copywriters, and brands.
Same as before, I’ve still got a forever deal for you.
If you join the waitlist below, you get exclusive lifetime access for an ultra-low flat fee when The Vault launches. (It’s looking like Q1 or Q2 of 2026.)
After all, a sweetheart deal is the least I can do to thank you for your support.
And as I’ve mentioned before, yes, I really do mean lifetime.
Even if the internet ceases to exist. I’ll toil day and night to make sure you receive a physical copy. With however many thousands of excerpts this accumulates over its lifetime.
Pinky promise.

Excerpts from Nike’s “Forget What Tennis Used To Be” Ad

Forget what tennis used to be.
It’s changed.
The Nike Air Ace is a tennis shoe for players who want to change with it.
It features Nike Air in both the rearfoot and forefoot. The same cushioning that’s redefined the performance criteria for running, cross-training and a myriad of other sports. And the cushioning benefits of the Air Ace are accompanied by something most tennis players simply can’t get enough of.
It’s called stability.
…
Of course, as you may have noticed, the Nike Air Ace tends to part with tradition in not-so-subtle fashion. Which, in all likelihood, means you’ll probably be shaking a few people up out there.
Maybe they could use it. 🏁

Hook: command your reader, while raising a question. “Ok sure, but where is this going?…”
Longer sentences for illustration, punchy sentences for punctuation. Complete ideas > complete sentences.
Identity: “tennis shoe for players who want to change with it.”
“Something most tennis players can’t get enough of…” Note how the negative gets labeled with “they” instead of “you.” Your reader will make the connection to themselves (which they will weight more heavily since it’s their own idea) and you do without offending them. Win-win.
The presumptive imaginative close: “means you’ll probably be shaking a few people up out there.” It’s getting you to imagine the end impact the shoes will have.
Momentum conservation words to start sentences off: “And,” “of course,” “which” etc…
And of course: written in “you.”
