I think most people would agree... The Onion proves absurdity is just one inch from the truth that lives in the back of our minds. In less than seven words a headline forces us to laugh right past the hulking taboos of sex, politics and religion. Absurdity seems reasonable when you read the Onion. The real news seems just absurd.
The man on the street rarely seems to share my views, but I always know where an Onion news character is coming from. Always.
Please, feel free to laugh out loud if you are in a public place. These Onion headlines are my personal favorites:
"God Makes Surprise Visit to Local Church"
Can you just imagine the "big-guy" showing up to this church and saying, hey, don't worry about me...I'll just take a seat in the back...just pretend I'm not here...
Or how about:
"U.N. Acquires its Own Nuclear Weapon"
So, what's stopping the U.N. from getting together and simply deciding that they want to be on the wining side? Peace is hard, man. And if they all chipped in...
Going for ultra absurd:
"Headless Man in Topless Bar"
Actually, that's a headline from the New York Post published in the mid 1980s. How could a headline be so matter of fact, yet so implausible?
What are these headlines really capable of beyond the initial knee-slapping laugh?
The hilariousness is a Trojan horse, one that has stolen its way into the kingdom of your unconscious mind. There, an authentic story about religion, politics and sex is alive and genuflecting.
Using humor, a volcanic layer of unassailable authenticity about very controversial subjects bubbles to the surface--like molten lava transformed into to a glass of lip tickling, giggle inducing, sparkling wine. Absurdity shares a seat in the Trojan Horse too. Crouched in the corner and hiding, is the deep thinking that has gone into making each headline an ironic window into a deeper issue. Behind these headlines are some very real convictions. Compare these supposedly trivial headlines to the web site copy written for most company web sites. How many times have you read (or refused to read) about a company's claim that they are honest or leaders in their field...
Go ahead. Nobody is looking. Psychoanalyze those claims.
Unconsciously, are they afraid you--the reader--might think something else?
Where's the deeper story about why you came to visit that site in the first place?
I've written my own short piece for the Onion about the words many companies choose for their critical web copy:
Company Owners Stunned to Learn:
Bragging About Having 'Reliability', 'Service' and 'Integrity' makes their web copy just plain suck.
Please, feel free to laugh out loud if you are in a public place. These Onion headlines are my personal favorites:
"God Makes Surprise Visit to Local Church"
Can you just imagine the "big-guy" showing up to this church and saying, hey, don't worry about me...I'll just take a seat in the back...just pretend I'm not here...
Or how about:
"U.N. Acquires its Own Nuclear Weapon"
So, what's stopping the U.N. from getting together and simply deciding that they want to be on the wining side? Peace is hard, man. And if they all chipped in...
Going for ultra absurd:
"Headless Man in Topless Bar"
Actually, that's a headline from the New York Post published in the mid 1980s. How could a headline be so matter of fact, yet so implausible?
What are these headlines really capable of beyond the initial knee-slapping laugh?
The hilariousness is a Trojan horse, one that has stolen its way into the kingdom of your unconscious mind. There, an authentic story about religion, politics and sex is alive and genuflecting.
Using humor, a volcanic layer of unassailable authenticity about very controversial subjects bubbles to the surface--like molten lava transformed into to a glass of lip tickling, giggle inducing, sparkling wine. Absurdity shares a seat in the Trojan Horse too. Crouched in the corner and hiding, is the deep thinking that has gone into making each headline an ironic window into a deeper issue. Behind these headlines are some very real convictions. Compare these supposedly trivial headlines to the web site copy written for most company web sites. How many times have you read (or refused to read) about a company's claim that they are honest or leaders in their field...
Go ahead. Nobody is looking. Psychoanalyze those claims.
Unconsciously, are they afraid you--the reader--might think something else?
Where's the deeper story about why you came to visit that site in the first place?
I've written my own short piece for the Onion about the words many companies choose for their critical web copy:
Company Owners Stunned to Learn:
Bragging About Having 'Reliability', 'Service' and 'Integrity' makes their web copy just plain suck.
"We thought using these cliched platitudes in our messaging would actually lead to people buying from us," said fictional CEO Bobby Bojangles. "But we found out that everyone is reliable, has great service and has integrity. Now what?" he asked, flummoxed.
The 'now what' is to imagine the staff of the Onion showing up at your company to write a lambasting, fictitious article about your industry--or your company.
When everyone finished wiping the the pie off their faces, a hilarious--albeit absurd and truthful--story would uncover the true grit about what people really think about your industry or company.
You'd get some major laughs. Best, you'd wind up with some marketing gold. No posturing about being a leader, no fixating on being numero uno. That fictitious Onion headline, having poked fun about your company would open a gateway to authenticity and marketing power.
Question: What would the Onion write about YOUR company, or your industry?
Sit down with a cup of coffee. Make some serious fun of your company or what you do. Or how you do it. Do it brutally. Honestly. Without Integrity. Be prepared for a major guffaw.
Write it with a friend who 'gets it', and share the laughs. Let the laughs roll. Have some fun. (Seriously, many great sales letters have been written this way.)
Imagine this:
Your company sells big printer equipment for signage companies in your state. There are a thousand of these companies selling the same thing. Your headline? (hint: it's about something that causes deep--and unspoken--sales tension in your industry)
9 Billionth Company in the USA Continues to Sell Yet Another 'Me Too' Product!
"Wow!" exclaims a nearby elderly man watering his lawn in shorts and black tubesocks. "How will they do it?"
The article could go on to talk about how the company owners are so excited to have nothing that special to offer, really, just big printers like a lot of other competitors. The article would continue with the absurd proclamation that this company enjoys enacting the same business model as every other vendor because it gives them a chance to actually feel like they fit in. After years in the business, the pressure to be different was only 'making them feel like braggart outcasts, and that's not nice'...
"Yeah, we hate all the pressure to differentiate," one of the owners could say. An intervening customer's quote: "But they actually have better prices and they offer the best professional help I have ever encountered in the industry."
Aw, who quoted my mom for this story? the owner would ask. And so on. That would be funny article to read.
94 percent of all companies would scream bloody murder if somebody attempted this idea...the company brand for most companies is just is too sacred.
One has to ask: to whom is the brand sacred? To the CEO, or the buyers? That's the question.
--For the other six percent, an absurd and comedic article like this would actually stand the chance of getting read.
--If you wrote an absurd and self-deprecating article about your company, you obviously don't have to publish it to everyone. Such an article could become a great sales letter addressed to some very savvy clients.
--Writing an absurd sales letter performs a healthy 'absurdity inquiry' about your company offering. It's a doorway to new marketing exploration.
--Your customers will consider you an authority; only very secure and successful people can produce revenue generating marketing that champions hidden truths and escapes the doldrums of corporatespeak.
The 'now what' is to imagine the staff of the Onion showing up at your company to write a lambasting, fictitious article about your industry--or your company.
When everyone finished wiping the the pie off their faces, a hilarious--albeit absurd and truthful--story would uncover the true grit about what people really think about your industry or company.
You'd get some major laughs. Best, you'd wind up with some marketing gold. No posturing about being a leader, no fixating on being numero uno. That fictitious Onion headline, having poked fun about your company would open a gateway to authenticity and marketing power.
Question: What would the Onion write about YOUR company, or your industry?
Sit down with a cup of coffee. Make some serious fun of your company or what you do. Or how you do it. Do it brutally. Honestly. Without Integrity. Be prepared for a major guffaw.
Write it with a friend who 'gets it', and share the laughs. Let the laughs roll. Have some fun. (Seriously, many great sales letters have been written this way.)
Imagine this:
Your company sells big printer equipment for signage companies in your state. There are a thousand of these companies selling the same thing. Your headline? (hint: it's about something that causes deep--and unspoken--sales tension in your industry)
9 Billionth Company in the USA Continues to Sell Yet Another 'Me Too' Product!
"Wow!" exclaims a nearby elderly man watering his lawn in shorts and black tubesocks. "How will they do it?"
The article could go on to talk about how the company owners are so excited to have nothing that special to offer, really, just big printers like a lot of other competitors. The article would continue with the absurd proclamation that this company enjoys enacting the same business model as every other vendor because it gives them a chance to actually feel like they fit in. After years in the business, the pressure to be different was only 'making them feel like braggart outcasts, and that's not nice'...
"Yeah, we hate all the pressure to differentiate," one of the owners could say. An intervening customer's quote: "But they actually have better prices and they offer the best professional help I have ever encountered in the industry."
Aw, who quoted my mom for this story? the owner would ask. And so on. That would be funny article to read.
94 percent of all companies would scream bloody murder if somebody attempted this idea...the company brand for most companies is just is too sacred.
One has to ask: to whom is the brand sacred? To the CEO, or the buyers? That's the question.
--For the other six percent, an absurd and comedic article like this would actually stand the chance of getting read.
--If you wrote an absurd and self-deprecating article about your company, you obviously don't have to publish it to everyone. Such an article could become a great sales letter addressed to some very savvy clients.
--Writing an absurd sales letter performs a healthy 'absurdity inquiry' about your company offering. It's a doorway to new marketing exploration.
--Your customers will consider you an authority; only very secure and successful people can produce revenue generating marketing that champions hidden truths and escapes the doldrums of corporatespeak.
"Headless Body in Topless Bar" is the best headline ever.
Beats "Man Bites Dog" hands down.
In related news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still Dead!
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2b/NYPost.jpg
-jord