As the detective takes out the handcuffed con artist from the restaurant, a man passes by, running at full speed.
The running man knocks over a passerby but keeps running, all the way home.
His wife is dying. The doctor is there.
The man jumps onto his wife and tries to shake her alive. “Don’t die! We need you! Do something! Sing!”
But the woman doesn’t respond.
“Get up!” the man shouts. “Cook dinner!”
Sure enough, the woman struggles up and stumbles into the kitchen. She starts chopping onions. Meanwhile, a train passes by outside, signaling another story transition.
I’m rewatching a Japanese movie called Tampopo.
The entire movie is about food. There’s a cute central storyline about a woman’s quest to become a great ramen chef. But what really makes the movie sparkle are little vignettes like the dying woman’s last dinner.
There are about a dozen such vignettes throughout the movie, and they transition from one to the other with a light touch.
I think this makes for a good show. And that has something to do with copywriting.
A few days ago, I read an email by copywriter Donnie Bryant. Donnie has a problem with the phrase, “salesmanship in print,” which has been used for, oh, about a century to explain what good advertising is.
That time has passed, says Donnie. Advertising today, copywriting included, is no longer about salesmanship.
Rather, advertising has become “showmanship in print.”
Sure, you need to know the salesmanship basics, going all the way back to John E. Kennedy. But that’s not enough any more.
Instead, look at great films, books, TV shows. See how they engage people and how they tell stories. Start including elements of that showmanship in your own marketing and copy.
If you need a place to start, I recommend watching Tampopo. It might teach you something about storytelling, and you’ll never look at ramen the same way again.
But what if you don’t wanna watch movies with a critical eye? Well, another option is to sign up to my daily email newsletter. I watch lots of movies, and whenever I find a good lesson about storytelling, persuasion, or marketing, I make sure to share it with my readers.