A couple of weeks ago, a festive satanic statue was placed inside the Illinois statehouse.
It’s the holiday season, after all, and all religious organizations that wanted to could be represented.
Predictably, this led to outrage by conservative groups.
Shocked coverage on news outlets across the world.
And a jump in applications to join the Temple of Satan, the body behind the statue.
So what is it that these satanists are promoting? What evil, filthy, depraved trick are they hoping to play on the rest of the world?
Well, the statue itself has the inscription, “Knowledge is the greatest gift,” and it shows a hand, holding an apple, with a snake coiled around it.
And here are some tenets of the satanist faith, taken from their website (I’m cherrypicking):
– Compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason
– Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world
– The freedoms of others should be respected
It seems these satanists want compassion, reason, empathy, a solid scientific education, and respect for others.
In other words, the Temple of Satan sounds like it’s a cross between the Public Library Association and Amnesty International.
Pretty, pretty boring.
Well intentioned, yes.
But not inspiring or viral at all.
And yet, here we are, reading and talking about them, all because it’s under the satanist umbrella.
Which, of course, is a very good lesson to learn. It’s something that expert copywriter and direct marketer, Joe Sugarman, who made millions selling tech gadgets and blue-blocking sunglasses, called “concept selling.”
Concepts sell better than products.
The Temple of Satan gets attention and new applications to join.
Compassion and empathy — not so much.
So if you’re selling a good, solid, healthy product or service, then it might be time to think of a concept like “satanism” to sell more of it.
Of course, it doesn’t have to be satanism itself. But with a bit of work, you too can come up with a dramatic, attention-grabbing concept, without offending too many religious groups in the process.
If you want a few case studies of how I’ve done this for my own products and for clients, sign up below, and get a free copy of my ebook on email marketing for the health space (ETA February 2019):