“I’m HIV positive the movie starts at 9:00,” she said as we were en route to the theater last night.
Oh come on.
Admit it… that’s funny.
A little dark, maybe.
(Like a joke from the movie “Pulp Fiction”).
But, I couldn’t help but snicker when she said it.
And, I bet a lot of people reading this email chuckled at it, too — albeit maybe feeling bad about being entertained in such a way. Just as during other times when I go out of my way to make jokes that are a little… politically incorrect… in my emails — not only to this BenSettle.com list, but other lists I write for, as well.
But you know what?
Lots of profitable emails contain “dark” entertainment.
Will make some kind of statement about the human condition.
And, yes, be uncomfortably funny.
But they can also make you sales, too.
(Assuming you do them right, I can already see a bunch of goo-roo fanboys now writing some idiotic pornographic joke to their list thinking they’re being funny… then getting a horde of unsubscribes and complaining what I teach “doesn’t work!”…)
But anyway, don’t fear dark entertainment.
As my boy, the legendary Johnny Carson, said:
“Lay any joke open you will find
something unpleasant underneath”
True ‘dat.
He joked about all kinds of taboo subjects.
Like divorce.
Death.
Infidelity.
Obesity.
Even (gasp!) mocking Mr. Rogers.
And you know what?
He made millions laugh. Brought a little joy to their dreary day. And, was beloved by America (as a whole, obviously he had his haters, and you will too if you do it right) for it.
Anyway, don’t let mush cookies censor you.
Otherwise your emails are doomed to be limp.
Boring.
And, dry as a horse’s skull on the desert.
To learn my email system check out:
Ben Settle
