This may sound dorky…
… but one of my favorite ways to “unwind” is watching old cartoons on YouTube.
And recently I came across one of my childhood favorites — “Commander McBragg.”
I get such a kick out of this dude.
His show starts with an image of a revolving globe and the title “The World of Commander McBragg.” And each time, the Commander is hanging in his gentleman’s club with a friend (who always tries to make an excuse to leave), points to a country on the globe with his pipe, and says something like:
… and then tells some cockamamie story about busting the Chicago mafia or becoming the all-time rodeo champion, or bringing down 5 enemy planes single handed in the War, etc.
You can actually learn a LOT about story-telling from The Commander.
But at the same time, he’s also an example of how NOT to sell.
In fact, he reminds me of some of the ads submitted for my recent “Mob Critique.”
Nothing but brag brag brag brag brag.
“Me! Me! Me!”
“I am the best!”
“Look at all the stuff I have!”
“I’m like a little money-making god!”
I won’t say this never works.
But I learned this the hard way a few years ago when one of the world’s highest-paid copywriters gave me an ad critique.
It was written in the product creator’s “voice” and started out talking about all the money he had, his boats, his cars, all the golf he plays, etc etc etc.
The copywriter read a few lines, and threw it back to me:
He was soooo right, too.
I was basically “Copywriter McBragg” — pointing at a photo of all my client’s cars and toys and money saying:
Dumb.
Anyway, since then I now do regular “brag checks” on my ads.
And I highly suggest you do, too.
Just ask:
Is this ad talking about solving someone’s problem?
Or is it just yammering on about how wonderful I am?
You might be surprised how much difference this makes.
Ben Settle
P.S. By the way…
If you want to learn more about selling without resorting to empty bragging, check out my “Copywriting Grab Bag” book.
It covers over 122 ways to write powerful, “blockbuster” sales letters without bragging or sounding like an arrogant, chest-pounding jerk.
You can jump on the notification list for when it’s ready at:
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Hey Ben, I assume you’re referring to all those IM “gurus” who just love to brag about their new houses and cars (“paid for with cash”). But they swear up and down that it works – even if its a bald faced lie most of the time. Is it because they’re trying to shake the last $50 out of desperate people?
Hey Rick,
Let me put it this way…
One of the most frightening things I ever heard (really, my stomach dropped when I heard this) was when I heard CD#10 of Ken McCarthy’s “Advanced Copywriting For Serious Info Marketers” course.
If you want to know just how depraved the direct marketing (as well as political, legal and any other field where people who can persuade are held up almost to demigod status) world can be, then Ken’s course will make it crystal clear.
He told me the room went cold when he taught that section.
And after listening to it, I can see why…
Ben
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