Day 6 | Influence Lesson 2
Eliciting Emotional Responses
Emotion drives attention drives action drives sales.
WARNING: This post contains spoilers for a movie that was just released. Please watch the movie prior to reading this lesson!!! You have been warned, so I'm not an a**hole!
Did anyone go see Furious 7 over the weekend?
I did, and holy shit did I get more than I bargained for!
Had I known the movie would make me cry like a baby...
twice... in a theater packed full of dudes and their girlfriends, I probably would've waited for the dvd.
Seriously, I don't think that's ever happened to me before, so I spent a lot of time thinking about it. Then I went online and discovered I wasn't the only one. Apparently it had the same effect on dudes everywhere.
The more I thought about it the clearer it became. The effect
was intentional though not unethical. The entire movie was carefully calculated to draw these responses from start to finish, and it worked like a charm, resulting in a theater full of standing, clapping, crying customers, wondering if/when the next movie would launch.
If you're not aware, Paul Walker, one of the main actors for this film series, was killed in a car accident in 2013, prior to this film's completion. He will be missed.
So, I was thinking about the specific actions that led to my emotional response, and also about their purpose aside from creating an epic memorial for Paul. That's when I remembered something else.
My wife sat next to me the whole time and didn't shed a tear.
WTF?!
It simply didn't make sense! My world was flipped upside down! Wtf was going on?!?!?!
Well things started to connect the next day, when I remembered my youth was very different than hers.
I got my first car around the time the first movie came out, and after watching it, became so identified with the ideology of the
street racer that I started driving moronically fast ALL the time, buying parts for my car, and even sold, crashed, and bought numerous new cars, all stick-shift, and mostly Mitsubishi Eclipses for the sheer
experience.
This trend continued for years, even after I joined the military and went to Germany. Just imagine pretending you're a street racer on the autobahn. Lol I've got lots of fun stories about that.
The point is, the original movies had a MAJOR impact on my youth.
And that's exactly why men everywhere were out-crying their wives and girlfriends!
None of this was by chance. These movies target a specific audience, and the producers know how to give us what we want. And, they knew that what we wanted this time was a movie that did justice for the series, and showed respect for someone we've come to know as a
brother for more than a decade.
But how did they do it? You're about to learn...
1. Specific Outcomes
Make no mistake, the producers knew exactly what they had to do. Their outcome was to give their target audience an epic, action-packed film,
and deliver countless highs & lows, to memorialize this film, the series, and the legend in the hearts & minds of viewers everywhere.
If they screwed it up they would lose millions of fans over night.
2. Influence from the Start
One of the reasons setting specified outcomes is so powerful is that it allows us to work our way backwards through the steps to get to that point. We can ask,
"What specific steps do I have to take in order to make that happen?"
Once we know the steps, then we realize that influence doesn't happen by utilizing a single tactic or technique. Instead, it's a combination of processes that moves the prospect toward the outcome in a specific series of steps. That process has to start somewhere, and it MUST start at the very beginning of the engagement, or all other steps are likely to fail.
It works in movies. It works in copy. It works in life.
Here's how they did it in the movie.
The very first scene starts with a funeral for Han, the Asian guy killed by Jason Statham at the end of the last movie. During this scene the characters mention not wanting to see any more funerals.
Brian says "Just one more."
He's referring to Statham's character, but because
he said it, the idea of a funeral is
associated with him. Even those who didn't grow up with this series can appreciate the impact of this effect,
(assuming they knew about Paul's passing before watching the movie).
All of this sets very subtle undertones that we're reminded of throughout the film.
3. Foreshadowing
Some questions people have going into this film include,
"How will they handle Brian's death? Will he be killed? Will it be early so they can continue without him? Will he live on?"
We don't know these answers, so it's easy for the movie to toy with our emotions. Early on a bomb explodes at Dom's house and slams Brian against his minivan. His face hits the glass, hard, and we wonder,
is this it? It turns out it's not, but it does grab our emotions by the throat, and hint at what might come later.
Note: This is the second time they've tapped into our unconscious emotions regarding Paul's death. Each time they do this, they move us a little bit closer to the end
goal.
4. Our Desire for Action + Highs & Lows
Anyone who's kept up with the series knows they've really stepped up the action. To
over-deliver from the last movie, they had to implement some
really extreme ideas. Not only that, but they had to do it in a way that draws us in, and keeps us on the edge of our seat.
Luckily, Furious 7 delivers so much over-the-top action that we don't really have time to think about what's going on under our psychological hoods.
At one point my wife eased my hand off her leg because I was grabbing it so tight. I didn't even know it was happening. There's just something about watching the most powerful supercar in the world leap between skyscrapers that makes you hold your breath!
The movie used a shit ton of scenes like this, and also tossed in emotional low points like when Letty leaves Dom at the beginning.
All of these impacts hit us in the most extreme ways possible. They set us up.
They prime us. By the end of the movie we're experiencing so much emotional turmoil that if one more explosion happens, we'll kick in a door and combat roll from the room!
5. The First Trigger
We've just come out of a super-powered adrenaline-filled scene and we're preparing for the final showdown. Our heart still pounds. We're still on the edge of our seat. Now they pull the first trigger.
Brian calls Mia to let her know shit's about to go down. Then he let's her know he might not make it home. There's a lot of symbolism here, and most of us
assume we know what it means.
Now Mia gets emotional. Her emotions impact us because the tone changes so fast we don't have time to think about it.
Then she pulls the trigger by letting Brian know she's pregnant again.
Now we experience the full power of hardcore raw emotions of grief, loss, and suffering as our minds are forced to think about everything Brian (and in real life, Paul) is about to lose / has lost, and how it affects everyone around him.
This trigger was so powerful I cried instantly. I literally couldn't believe I was crying, because until that point I hadn't felt any kind of grief emotions at all.
Some circles refer to this as the
Kansas City Shuffle. They keep our attention focused in
the opposite direction (with action) then they blindside us
with grief when we least expect it.
6. The Second Trigger
For a few minutes we have time to catch our breath, and dab our eyes. Then we enter another insanely action-packed scene. Before we know it, we're in a spiraling mess of chaos & fun, and we're back on the edge of our seats!
Think about it...can you imagine anything more badass than a street fight between Vin Diesel & Jason Statham?
No, because it doesn't exist!
But the scene eventually ends, and Statham meets his fate, (for now).
That's when we're set up for the second trigger. The very next scene takes us to a beach, where Brian & Mia are playing with their kid in the sand near the water. They're away from the others who are sitting around having a good time, but clearly
thinking about things.
Dom starts talking about how Brian's life is good, and we come to realize he won't die in this movie.
This is an extremely powerful technique on multiple levels as we acknowledge the underlying message which is:
"He lives on in our hearts & minds"
While we understand the character Brian Spilner is about to embark on a new path with his family, we also
feel grief and loss again.
Then Dom gets up to leave and one of the others asks if he's going to say goodbye.
He says
, "No, it's never really goodbye." and walks away.
This is trigger 2.
This is where everyone loses it the second time.
I swear to god, there's literally no way you can not cry if you've watched the other movies, and understand the underlying messages.
...My wife must be one
bad motherf*****.
7. Drive it Home.
Remember, the original outcome wasn't just to give us an action-packed film, or to pay homage to Paul Walker. It was to
memorialize this film in our hearts and minds forever, and what better way to do that than with an actual memorial.
As Dom drives away in his old muscle car, he comes to a stop sign and Brian pulls up next to him in a white supra, looks over, and smiles. This triggers a flood of memories going all the way back to the first movie where Brian had to build a white junkyard supra from the ground up, and Dom had to overcome his fear of the muscle car.
Now the emotional flood gates of hell are opened when a song called,
See You Again plays, and images from all the other films are flashed on the screen while Dom talks about the good times they had.
This is a super F*cking powerful emotional anchor that solidifies this film as the most epic shit since sliced bread.
Now we have a memory.
A link established between Paul Walker's death, the film franchise, & our emotions, and triggered anytime we hear the song.
Finally, the screen returns to the two cars as they drive off together, but come to a fork in the road. The shot pans out and follows Brian off on his new path before the screen turns white and closes with the words,
"For Paul".
There are two purposes for this final shot:
1. To finalize the memorial.
2. To give us closure on Brian so we won't hate the movies when they make the next film without him.
Conclusion...
This has to be the most emotionally-packed movie I've ever experienced.
In fact, I'm literally fighting back tears as I write this.
The point I want to make is that I'll
never, EVER forget this, and it's all because
the movie influenced me, and everyone else by tapping into our deepest hidden emotions.
When we tap into emotion we aren't just using some tactic that may or may not work.
We're messing with people's whole F*cking lives...
That's how powerful it is.
That's why everything you read about copy tells you to tap into their emotions.
When you understand other people's emotions, then you unlock the secret to one of the most powerful tools of influence.
Then you have the power to write copy that sells.
Note: There were so many powerful tools of influence implemented in this movie, I didn't do more than breach the surface here. You seriously have to watch and experience it for yourself to understand. Just note that pretty much all are transferable to your copy. It's just a matter of your creative mind finding ways to implement them.
Day 6 Challenge
1. Help someone in some way without asking anything in return.
2. Choose a product and write a sales letter for it. Before you start, prepare a specific outcome for your letter.
3. Write the headline for the letter to MAKE THEM STOP & have an emotional impact.
4. Weave techniques of influence into the body to carry that emotional impact throughout the letter.
5. Finalize the letter by driving your prospect with emotion to take some action.
(Click Here, Join Now, etc.)
6. Take some action that you've been too scared to take.
You've reached the end of the Day 6 Lesson on Influence.
I hope you enjoyed this one. It was tough to write.
Always remember to write for impact and
influence. When you're ready, move
forward to Day 7 - Mindset
Lesson
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