"They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano - But When I Started to Play!"
Quite possibly the most swiped advertisement ever, this historic masterpiece by John Caples is famous for a reason. Written almost a century ago, the ad became...View More
the premier example of how to sell people by tapping into their emotional desires, specifically through storytelling. As humans, we naturally seek admiration from within our social group (popularity) and have an inner desire to prove our naysayers wrong (revenge).
Caples hooks you in immediately by describing the snickering & put downs the man is enduring, instantly making you relate to a time when you felt belittled. Once you're in that down state, he spends the rest of the story lifting you up & relating those good feelings & results to the free book. By telling the story from this man's perspective & molding the man to seem like someone without natural talent, Caples encourages the reader that they too, can get results. In fact, it isn't until the very end that the ad's voice changes from the man's to the school's voice, essentially acting as a long testimonial. Because the book is free, it acts as a great lead generation tool. The school likely was even trying to sell instruments on the back-end as they ask on the order form if the person has an instrument.
As a final reminder to how emotionally-driven this pitch was, note this line in the close, "If you really want to gain happiness & increase your popularity...send at once".
