[lit-ideas] Re: Persuasion Redux
- From: wokshevs@xxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:49:11 -0330
A very interesting post. Were I running for (or from) political office, I'd sign
up for his seminars. (For a good physician possesses abilities to heal and to
kill --- Stephen Harper)
But could anybody provide an example of the significance of context to the
persuasiveness of philosophical claims and judgements?
How about to their rightness or truth?
Walter Okshevsky
Department of Professional Training and Experience
Callicles School of Knacks
Athens, QC
Canada
Quoting John McCreery <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>:
> 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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