Image by Reinante El Pintor de Fuego
Let me just say that of all the run-of-the-mill human afflictions, the monstrosity that goes under the unassuming name of “stomach virus” is the worst by far. After spending untold agonizing hours (okay, maybe 10) shuddering and cursing into a bucket, wishing someone would deliver me from my suffering with a single silver bullet, I spent the next week eyeing food with extreme suspicion and wondering why it took so much effort to blink.
I was too tired to read, so I spent a great deal of time sitting slack-jawed in front of DVDs (playing them, not just staring at the discs). That reminded me of a disappointing encounter with what was supposed to be an epic motion picture that holds a cautionary tale about both filming on location and marketing.
The opportunity for an unforgettable experience
In 1985, the film Out of Africa won seven Academy Awards. I didn’t see it on the big screen, so I was glad to stumble across it on television several years later. It didn’t matter that the movie had already started, I just wanted to finally see this famous film.
The scene was a conversation between Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. He was peeling an orange while they talked, the camera switching between their closeups.
Image by Image Editor
About a week ago, a Minnesota astronomer named Parke Kunkle unwittingly started a hurricane. He did an interview with a local newspaper about the earth’s changing position in relation to the constellations above us.
To astronomers, this isn’t news. They knew about our planetary wobble way back in 130 BC. The issue, as you may already know, is the dates of astrological signs don’t match up with what astronomers know about where things are in the sky.
For some inexplicable reason, the story suddenly went viral. Kunkle’s phone started ringing off the hook and the Internet erupted.
The reaction can teach you a few valuable lessons about the way your customers think.
Image by Jason Hollinger
There’s an email in circulation. One of those slightly shrill messages that proclaim, “This is a true story!”
Usually they’re not true, and usually they contain a punch line with any combination of multiple exclamation marks, all caps, or a massive increase in point size, as if the emphasis makes up for the poor writing (not that I have an opinion or anything).
Often those emails are nothing but urban legends. This time, though, the story is true. The original version won a Pulitzer prize for Feature Writing, written by Gene Weingarten and published in the Washington Post (click here to read the full story). It was published almost four years ago, but since it’s making the rounds—and since the email got my hackles up—it’s worth a look from a marketing perspective.
