Ad-diction


The first time I saw this, I was in school. That was the first time I realized the power of words. The power these words had on me.

They made me feel powerful.

And they weren’t written by an acclaimed writer. They were written by someone not known for writing. They were from a world-champion boxing legend – Mohammad Ali. And no, he didn’t pen these for Adidas.

Those were times of finding myself. I was enrolled into science, with plans to be an engineer. I had been writing for as long as I could remember. A release of poetry once in a while. An occasional practiced short-story.

The day I saw these words, I wanted to pen something similar. Something this powerful.

On closer analysis I realized, it was the thought behind the poster, said in simple words of raw energy, that made the line so impactful.

It was superhuman. It was human. It was eye-opening. It was embarrassing. It was inspiring. It was irrefutable.

But it didn’t make me want to buy Adidas. It didn’t make me dream of sports all day. It made me want to become that man behind the words with which millions would find resonance.

It was the start of something new in me. Four years later, I dropped out of engineering to become a copywriter.

And that’s where my Ad-iction began.

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