Barnardo's posters - D&AD Award winners

Done by BBH, they're great examples of arresting headlines that grab attention.

http://www1.barnardos.org.uk/believe/campaign.jsp

The Copy Book (more of a bible really)

The Copy Book
How 32 of the World's Best Advertising Writers Write Their Advertising

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Copy-Book-U-K-Alastair-Crompton/dp/2880465931

An oldie but a goody. A real inspiration. Borrow it, buy it, ask Santa for it. Just read it. It features some of the world’s greatest-ever writers and gives a unique insight into their approach to writing, the techniques they use and features some of their best work (one shown below). It’s packed with ideas we can all use. A real insight into the craft of copywriting.

Stephen Fry - master of words

He's a genius, let's face it.
And this post on his blog looks at his attitude to language.
Definitely worth a read.
http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/#more-64

For me, it is a cause of some upset that more Anglophones don’t enjoy language. Music is enjoyable it seems, so are dance and other, athletic forms of movement. People seem to be able to find sensual and sensuous pleasure in almost anything but words these days. Words, it seems belong to other people, anyone who expresses themselves with originality, delight and verbal freshness is more likely to be mocked, distrusted or disliked than welcomed. The free and happy use of words appears to be considered elitist or pretentious. Sadly, desperately sadly, the only people who seem to bother with language in public today bother with it in quite the wrong way. They write letters to broadcasters and newspapers in which they are rude and haughty about other people’s usage and in which they show off their own superior ‘knowledge’ of how language should be. I hate that, and I particularly hate the fact that so many of these pedants assume that I’m on their side. When asked to join in a “let’s persuade this supermarket chain to get rid of their ‘five items or less’ sign” I never join in.