[lit-ideas] Persuasion Redux
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:41:23 +0900
Professional persuaders must always be mindful of the context in which their
words appear. They must never be trapped in the illusion that the words in
themselves say what they want them to say. Here is one of my favorite
examples, from "The Gospel According to Tsuchiya Koichi" in The Copy Bible
(Newest Testament). The following is my still rough translation from the
Japanese.
-----------
Talking about Minobe-san* may seem a bit old-fashioned. But something I saw
in the newspaper during his election was interesting, so I'd like to talk
about it here.
While the election was underway, the newspaper company posed questions to
the candidates. They asked, "Please list three things of which Tokyo can be
proud." The conservative candidate, who was seen as the likely winner,
replied, "The Imperial Palace, the subways, the expressways."
In contrast, Minobe-san answered, "The moat near Hanzomon, soba noodles with
eel, and the beautiful young women."
The editors of the society-news pages were reported to have said, "Ah, that
won it for him."
As I read this article, I felt myself shiver. What power did these few words
have that they could determine an election? "These words are the real
thing," I thought to myself.
It wasn't, of course, just these words that determined the outcome of the
election. But the fact of the matter is that Minobe-san did win. Looking
back on why he won, we can discover all sorts of reasons. His looks, for
example; he was tall and had a great smile. Along with those words, there
were also these factors.
Still, I'd like to take another look at his answer. The words themselves are
not at all new. There is nothing remarkable about them. They are perfectly
ordinary words, of the sort that everyone says. "Soba noodles and eel"; they
look like the kind of words you would see once and forget.
But wait a moment.
While the words are not new, the way in which he used them was magnificent.
The opposition candidate said, "The Imperial Palace." Minobe said, "The moat
near Hanzomon."** When someone says, "The Imperial Palace," no picture
postcard comes to mind. You can't understand at a glance what the speaker is
talking about.
In contrast, "The moat near Hanzomon" conjures a vivid image. In my mind I
can see the flowers and trees changing with the seasons. The colors are
bright in my mind's eye. I see the picture postcard; the difference is
clear.
Even though "The Imperial Palace" and "the moat near Hanzomon" talk about
the same thing, the perspective they bring to the topic is totally
different.
Seeing the moat from over there versus seeing the moat from where we are
standing; the gap [literally "the ditch"] between these two answers is
huge.
When I'm asked what it is to be a copywriter, I always talk about
Minobe-san's words. Our job is to produce words like these, words that make
people say, "Ah, that's a winner."
There is no greater pleasure than discovering winning words when products or
brands are competing. The role of the copywriter is to produce that joy.
*Ryokichi Minobe, socialist Governor of Tokyo elected in 1967
**"The moat" refers to the moat around the Imperial Palace
-------
Happy Holidays to all.
John
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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