Great creativity was displayed by subs and would-be subs across Britain’s regional media with more than two dozen entries in a Holdthefrontpage headline competition.
The mini challenge was set in Wednesday’s Dyson at Large blog which reviewed the Northants Evening Telegraph and wondered if readers could better the headline for a syndicate of 12 bus drivers who scooped £38 million in the Euro Millions draw.
Offering £10 to the winner, entries quickly took the blog to the top of the ‘most comments’ board with 21 postings, some containing up to four attempts at the headline.
And today, blogger Steve Dyson announced that the winning entry was Jon from Newcastle with ‘BUSMEN’S LOLLY DAY.
Steve said: “It was fun to watch the entries roll in, and at several points I thought we had the winner with entries like ‘Just the ticket’ from LensMan, ‘Lucky Bus’tards’ from Ian Mat of Wells, and ‘Wheels of fortune’ from Arun Arora of Wolverhampton.
“But in the end it was hats off to Jon who scoops a crumpled but usable tenner for ‘Busman’s Lollyday’, a two-word headline that rolls off the tongue and instantly describes the tale.”
To claim his £10 prize, Jon needs to email [email protected] with his home address.
All entries can be viewed here.
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I hope he shares it with Ben Ashford or whomever wrote the very same headline for the Sun on 17th March 2010….
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2895810/Bus-driver-wins-over-2million-on-lottery-day-after-divorce.html
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haha! GOTCHA!
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Blimey, BC – that’s some memory you have. Can honestly say I’ve not seen that headline though, so won’t be sharing!
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Just goes to show what a good headline writer we’ve got in the regions! Jon still gets his prize. Judges decision final and all that! (Ya, boo sucks to The Sun, who blatantly exploit content from the regionals).
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Jon – good on you – just be aware of the tax implications of the prize money!
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A greater story would have been bus drivers win ten quid, and philanthropic Mr D gives £38 million for best headline. Just saying
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