Do you have kids?
If you do, then you’ve probably already faced the age-old moral dilemma of what you tell your kids about Santa Claus.
In my experience, most parents choose to tell their kids that Santa Claus is real, and that he really does travel around the world in a sleigh pulled by reindeer delivering presents to all the good children.
And parents do their best to keep their kids believing.
They put gifts under the tree that say, “From Santa.” They have their kids leave milk and cookies out at bedtime — and then the parents eat the food themselves. Some even climb on their roofs to imitate the clattering of hooves.
Frankly, Santa Claus is one of the top 10 biggest lies ever perpetuated by an “intelligent” society.
But we do it because it’s all in good fun — and nobody gets hurt! At least that’s the idea.
I’ve chosen from the beginning to tell my kids that Santa Claus isn’t real. And what’s amazing is that in spite of my truth-telling, my daughter still wants to believe!
It’s part peer pressure, for sure. All of her little girl friends believe in Santa and are fairly outspoken about it. My daughter, being in the minority, wants to be a part of the group.
But it’s also partly because the story of Santa Claus is a story my daughter wants to believe in. And because she wants to believe in it, she’s more likely to ignore the “bah humbug” advice of her parents.
Which brings up a major selling strategy…
Tell Stories People Want to Believe In
If you’re going to tell a story in advertising, it’s not so much about telling a believable story as it is telling a story people want to believe in.
It may seem like I’m splitting hairs here, but the distinction is a big one. So let me say it again:
Instead of telling believable stories, tell stories people want to believe in.
I think this is a big reason why John Caples’ piano story resonated so strongly with consumers. They wanted desperately to believe that with minimal effort they could bowl people over with their newly-found musical talent.
Of course, telling TRUE stories people want to believe in is the best story-telling strategy of all. If the story John Caples had told was actually true, it would have been even more compelling.
But let’s get back to the theme of this post — LIES.
If you’re going to tell lies to your kids about Santa Claus, what’s to keep you from telling lies to your prospects, customers, and clients?
I mean it’s really not much of a stretch when you think about it. If you preach the gospel of Santa Claus, then maybe it’s okay to promise customers they’ll make $1 million dollars one minute after they buy your product.
When It’s Okay to Tell Stories in Your Ads
Obviously, just because a story is fiction doesn’t make it a lie. Good fiction stories always contain truths even though the stories themselves may be entirely made up or patched together from numerous life experiences.
That’s why stories are so powerful; because of the nuggets of truth buried in the story. The key is to simply make it clear that your fiction is indeed fiction.
Where we run into trouble is when we start representing a fictitious story as God’s honest truth. Now that is a lie.
Ben Settle left a comment here on this blog about the John Caples’ ad saying: “If you’re going to say a specific product gave someone who does not exist results, then be up front about it being a dramatized fictional story.”
Ben gave as an example an old Maxwell Sackheim ad. The headline “He Didn’t Even Kiss Me Goodnight!” was then followed by the subhead “A Dramatized Story About A Wife Who Worried About Her Husband.”
I think this is a great technique. Flag your ad as a dramatized story… or a parable… or whatever. This immediately clears up any misunderstandings — and may even take your credibility up a notch.
Just make it clear when you’re using a made-up story… and when you’re telling a true story. And never, ever represent a made-up story as being real. This way you can never be accused of lying or being dishonest in your advertising.
-Ryan M. Healy
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About Ryan M. Healy
Ryan Healy is a direct response copywriter. Since 2002, he has worked with scores of clients, including BoostCTR, Alex Mandossian, Terry Dean, and Pulte Homes. He writes a popular blog about copywriting, advertising, and business growth, has been featured in publications like Feed Front magazine, and is a regular contributor to WordStream.com, BoostCTR.com, and MarketingForSuccess.com.
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{ 17 comments }
Funny, we didn't tell our son about Santa either but he believed in him anyway. Don't forget to look up the “Yes Virginia” story when she wants an answer. It should be easy to find on the net; if not, I think I still have a copy on my hard drive.
Janet
So glad to see another post on this, Ryan. I'm sick to death of some copywriters snickering about how they'd never let the truth get in the way of good advertising.
And as you have proved time and time again, it's completely unnecessary!
Thanks again.
Nice: “A dramatized story . . .”
Let's see. How else could we phrase that?
You suggested, “A parable . . . “
How about, “A fable . . . “
“A fictional account . . .”
“A fictionalized account . . . “
Or . . . drop the subhead and simply begin your story: “I was thinking about how it could be for you if you bought _______ and your name was Jason. [If you're a woman, please replace Jason with Jennifer. . . .” –And then simply tell the story of Jason. . . .
???
Anita,
I do the same thing, actually. My parents had a book about the real St. Nick… and I'd love to recover it. Maybe time for an Amazon search. :-)
Ryan
John,
I like your ideas. Another idea:
Just start the ad with a literary construct that implies a fictitious story. For instance, “Once upon a time” or “In a galaxy far, far away”.
May not work in all cases, but could certainly work in some of them.
Ryan
You guys are all brilliant! What do you call it when a story is true, but the names have been changed AND the elements of the story come from different clients – a conglomerate story? You could say (this really happened…)
Clear and transparent communication, who knew? :)
Great post Ryan…and a solid lesson on how to write a story into your marketing materials.
When my youngest kids ask about Santa I remind them about St. Nicholas, who was a bishop in the early church and the original Santa Claus, and they find his story more interesting than the reindeer/elf/north pole thing. Yet they've had their moments when they wanted to believe Santa is real.
Years ago, I was lucky enough to interview the legendary Madeline L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle In Time and many other books. She talked at length about the need to distinguish between truth and fact: http://www.frugalfun.com/l%27engle.html
I've always believed and practiced the philosophy that the truth will get your further. Lies are too hard to remember and keep up with.
Great interview, Shel! I love this line from L'Engle:
“We live in a world where it's very difficult for people to understand that a story can be truthful and not factual.”
Ryan
Hi Ryan, I agree totally. I NEVER told my kids the Santa Claus myth. I figure if I lied about that, how would they trust me on other subjects? Not worth it. Plus they need to know that somebody (Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, etc.) has to work to earn the money to buy the things they want. If some bottomless pit of toys fulfilled their wishes, how would they learn the value of the things they want? Strangely, though, when my son was 2, we saw a fake Santa in a store window and he excitedly said “Santa!” How did he know???
Funny. My wife and I just discussed the same thing. We've been back and forth on the issue of Santa, although for more theological reasons. It doesn't help when the grandparents perpetuate the lie either. Thanks to John Piper's recent post, we've decided next year we'll be doing away with Santa!
I've read some really fascinating discussions about the similarity between Santa and God.
Both are represented with a flowing white beard; both are represented as being omnipresent and omniscient (have you been naughty or nice?); and both are represented as being the source of good gifts.
Yet what happens if you tell your children that both Santa and God are real? Later, when the child discovers Santa is NOT real, isn't he or she likely to question the reality of God as well?
And this is just scratching the surface…
Ryan
Jesus was the best at framing illustrative stories (parables) for instance:
“A certain man had two sons…”
As Zig Ziglar always say's, Jesus is the best salesman in history, and to study his stuff, get a red letter edition of the Bible (Jesus' words in Red) – because he asked a LOT of questions.
And, Zig would continue, while you are in there, read the black words too, for the answers!
Merry Christmas Ryan – (oh, and I ended up here because Terry Dean posted about this article.)
That's a great example of framing, Rick. Thanks for sharing it here — and thanks for retweeting this post. I really appreciate it!
Merry Christmas!
Ryan
That's a great example of framing, Rick. Thanks for sharing it here — and thanks for retweeting this post. I really appreciate it!
Merry Christmas!
Ryan
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