A Simple Mom Hack That’s Used in Legendary Ads

I almost can’t wait to tell you how a single skill will level up your marketing skills and even perhaps help you create legendary ads.

But first can I tell you a story?

I first heard Dean Jackson share it on his More Cheese, Less Whiskers podcast years ago and it has stuck with me to this day.

The story started with a mother telling her three-year-old son to take a bath.

“No,” he shouted, gearing up for a battle.

“Oh, okay,” said the mother, not skipping a beat. “You want to go splash in the tub?”

“Yay!” the boy cheered, and he began running to the bathroom straightaway.

What the mother did here didn’t require a high IQ, but it was absolutely brilliant nonetheless.

What exactly did she do though?

She reframed what she wanted her son to do, presenting it in a different and more useful way.

This is one of the most useful life skills you can acquire.

I was recently reminded of the above story, and the value of reframing something, while reading How to Make a Few Billion Dollars.

In it, Brad Jacobs—who’s made a few billion already—talks about regularly eating lunch with Ludwig Jesselson before he passed away in 1993.

Jacobs was young at the time, and one day talked about how one problem after another was bothering him.

Jesselson was much older then, and head of the largest commodity trading company in the world. 

Anyway, he took it all in, waited for Jacobs at long last to finish, then set down his fork, and said:

“Look, Brad, if you want to make money in the business world, you need to get used to problems, because that’s what business is. It’s actually about finding problems, embracing and even enjoying them—because each problem is an opportunity to remove an obstacle and get closer to success.”

Now that is not the kind of thing you hear every day, but, as was the case with the mother above, it’s brilliant. 

It’s the type of outlook that puts you on the path to riches—maybe even billions.

And in the meantime?

Being able to reframe problems like this takes a lot of the stress out of our daily lives, it takes the sting out of setbacks, it keeps us in control and gives us a bias for action.

In a word, it’s invaluable.

The skill is also responsible for creating legendary ads.

Consider one such ad for the 2CV, an economy car produced by the French company Citroen from 1948 all the way through 1990.

Its design was similar to a Volkswagen Beetle. 

But one of its ads was unparalleled—it was, in fact, a masterclass in reframing. 

The ad…

• starts by saying in bold letters, “Faster than a Ferrari,” and then notes underneath it, “Traveling flat out at 71.5 mph, the Citreon 2CVwill easily overtake the Ferrari Mondial travelling at 65 mph.”
• continues by saying in bold letters, “As many wheels as a Rolls Royce,” and then notes underneath it, “The £55,240 Rolls-Royce. How many wheels? Four. The £2,674 Citreon 2CV. How many wheels? Exactly the same.”
• continues by saying in bold letters, “More room than a Porsche,” and then notes underneath it, “With a possible 30 ft. boot space there’s no need for one of those plastic luggage racks on our little runabout.”
• ends by stating its name and price in bold letters, “The £2,674 Citreon 2CV,” and then notes underneath it, “All you’ll ever need in a car.”

A lot of this is humorous—as is often the case when you’re looking at something in a different, more creative way.

Notice, though, how the ad reframes everything so that this car seems to not only be standing on its own with the best of the best, but even outpacing them…and for a far cheaper price.

By selectively reframing what this car has or can do, and then comparing that to what other cars have or can do when it’s advantageous, the ad makes the 2CV seem perfect.

Or at least, as the ad says, all you’ll ever need in a car.

But the skill isn’t about fooling anyone.

When you reframe something, people aren’t suddenly oblivious to what they noticed before; they just don’t focus on it as much and focus on a different aspect of that thing instead.

This is actually what creates the “aha” moment or the humor or the desire.

In short, the Citreon 2CV ad almost certainly did not convince someone in the market for a Ferrari to buy it instead.

The ad did, however, lead to a lot of people buying new 2CV’s—and feeling extra happy with them.

Sure, it wasn’t as prestigious as those other cars, but it could sometimes go faster than the fastest, had just as many wheels as the most luxurious, and even had more luggage space than some of the most expensive!

Do you see how useful this skill is yet?

Whether you’re marketing or advertising, trying to raise a few children or make a few billion dollars, being able to reframe whatever it is you’re dealing with can be a game-changer.

Will it suddenly make you great at any of these things?

No, it takes time to see things in different ways, to find which ways are both true and useful, to express that new view in an engaging way.

What it can do, though, is put you on the right track so that, over time, you’re either getting better and better at whatever it is you’re working to improve or closer and closer to whatever it is you want to have.

Speaking of which:

Are you looking to advertise what your company offers in a more engaging way, a way that leads to more awareness, more sales, and more fans?

Are you wanting to implement a series of marketing sprints or create engaging video content like this?

Well, as it happens, you’re almost at the right place.

All you have to do is click here to contact us. That done, we can start talking about how to create a campaign for you that does all of the above, and more.