“In Japan, the hand can be used as a knife. But this method doesn’t work with a tomato…”
— Original Ginsu knife commercial, cca. 1980
In copywriting, there’s something called the “false close.”
A perfect example of this is from the famous Ginsu knife TV commercial.
After showing you how the Ginsu cuts paper-thin slices of bread, how it’s sharp enough to saw through a tin can, and how it can even be used to chop wood, the narrator asks:
“How much would you pay for a knife like this?”
That’s the setup for the false close. You might expect that the pitch is coming soon. Instead, the narrator continues:
“Before you answer, listen…”
And then he tells you about all the incedible bonuses you get if you order your Ginsu knife right now.
A matching carving fork. A versatile 6-in-1 kitchen tool. A set of 6 precision steak knives. And a spiral potato slicer.
It’s only then, once you’ve been wowed with the craziness of the entire offer, do you get to hear the price. In other words, that’s when you finally get to the real close.
So should you use a false close in your selling?
It certainly seems so.
Not only does it work for TV commercials, but you can find examples of false closes in copy from some of the world’s best copywriters, including Mark Ford and Parris Lampropoulos.
And yet, other persuasion experts strongly warn against the false close.
For example, Jim Camp.
Camp was a master negotiator, who coached corporate executives in billion-dollar deals.
According to Camp, if you ever try a false close, you’ll get kicked out of the boardroom. At best, you’ll blow the deal and you won’t be invited back.
So how to square this with the Ginsu knife commercial?
It’s simply a matter of knowing your audience and your medium.
Yes, there are fundamentals of persuasion that work in just about any situation.
But convincing people to buy a $9.99 set of precision steak knives is going to take a different approach to closing a complex, year-long, corporate sale.
This might seem obvious.
But this basic principle — know what works for your audience — is violated a lot. Particularly when people try to Frankenstein copy from one market to another.
Anyways, this is one reason why it makes sense to specialize.
And that’s why, while I do write for different markets, I’m specializing more and more in writing health copy.
And if you want some of the best insights I’ve gained about writing for the health market (including writing winning sales emails for an 8-figure supplement business), you might like my upcoming book. For more info or to sign up for a free copy: