Hi Bea,
Here's what the "Rich Jerk" is trying to do...
Remember the popular advertising formula -
AIDA
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
I think that the "Rich Jerk" is trying to use "controversy" to get the "Attention" part of the formula. Eg. all the foul suggestions, suggestions a prominent figure is dead, etc. etc. - it's all to get your attention so you keep reading.
The actual sales message is at the very end - where there's a promise of a lot of cash, coupled with a strong use of "scarcity" - get it now, or it's gone forever...
Whether it's effective or not, I don't know. Such a message would turn
me off (the manipulation is so obvious, in my opinion)... On the other hand, Dan Kennedy thinks if you haven't offended somebody by noon, then your marketing is not "ballsy" enough!
Dan Kennedy is a smart guy - but sometimes he's full of crapola. Joe Sugarman is certainly there among the "top league" of marketers - yet I don't think any of his marketing campaigns or ads are offensive at all, that I can remember. He uses curiosity to get your attention, with some humor thrown in - rather than offensiveness.
My take. The "offensive" approach probably works (with the right audience) - because it gets attention - but I don't think you
need to do it to succeed...
- Dien
P.S. Dan Kennedy has a point - I'm just pointing out it's not "gospel"...