The Ginsu knife school of irresistible offers

Do you remember those Ginsu knife commercials from the 1970s? They were brilliant. Watch the video below to refresh your memory. This is the original TV commercial.

Yeah, people have made fun of them over the years. But there’s a lot of great technique to be learned here no matter what medium you work in, especially in the way the offer is presented. It sells you on the idea of the knife then adds bonus after bonus until you can’t help but want to order. Today’s television ads may be a little slicker, but most direct marketers still use essentially the same formula.

I’m in the process of collecting videos related to direct marketing and advertising. So if you find one, let me know. What I have so far is mostly just fun stuff.

Comments

2 Responses to “The Ginsu knife school of irresistible offers”

Masa on November 5th, 2007 5:36 pm

Hi,
Here’s a funny indie commercial that was just done in NYC. Great for a Forex commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK8WSNtCIN4

Cheers,
Masa
Dean Rieck on November 5th, 2007 5:56 pm

Interesting, though it’s not related to direct marketing. It’s a corporate ad.

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