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Have you watched the Netflix TV series House of Cards?
Remember the opening scene of season 1?
In the first minute of House of Cards, Frank Underwood kills his neighbor's dog after being hit by a car.
Frank calmly strangles the poor doggo, and suddenly locks eyes with us, the audience.
Then he says, "Moments like this require someone who will act. Do the unpleasant thing, the necessary thing.”
This is a an old screenwriting technique called the fourth wall.
Theatre productions created it in the 18th century, but today films and TV shows use it a lot.
So what is the fourth wall?
Think of it as an imaginary wall that separates the actors (the story) from the audience (the real world).
To keep the illusion, you're not supposed to let the characters or the audience become aware the wall exists.
But if you do want them to know it exists, this is called breaking the fourth wall.
House of Cards became a cult show because Frank Underwood breaks the fourth wall over and over again.
Frank often pauses to talk directly to us. He's funny, brutally honest and god damn psychotic.
Yes, Frank’s behavior is questionable. But you just can't stop watching the show (at least until Season 4, then it went downhill).
Because if feels like it’s just you and Frank.
The problem with a lot of advertising and website copy is that it doesn't break the fourth wall.
And that's because most copy isn't directly talking to the reader. It doesn't feel like a conversation. If anything it talks AT you. It sounds like it's in lecturing mode. It’s like it wants to tell you something, but it's not really expecting a real response.
Which is weird, because that’s a terrible way of persuading people.
Takeaways for your business:
1. When you're writing copy, try to break the fourth wall. Imagine a specific person sitting in front of you at a party. Write to that person, not to abstract concepts like "target audience" or "website visitors".
When David Abbott (one of advertising's greatest copywriters) was alive he used to break the fourth wall often. Here are two of his most memorable ads that broke the wall:
Volvo 'If the welding isn't strong enough...'ad (1983) (See the ad here)
Here, David took breaking the wall to the extreme. To prove a point that the Volvo 740 is safe "just like the Volvos of yore", he put his "body where his mouth is". Yes, that's David right there beneath the car in the ad.
Chivas Regal 'Father's Day' ad (1980) (See the print ad here)
This ad was a Father’s day message from David himself to his father. The message is deeply moving because it talks about David, his dad, but also about David's kids and his wife. It's personable, and because of that it magically ends becoming universally appealing.
2. Another way to break the wall is to make the copy talk about the reader's experience of reading your copy.
Here’s a terrific ad campaign from The British Heart Foundation (2017) that illustrates what I mean: (See the print ad here)
3. Never make it about you, you, you. Remember, copywriting isn't a lecture. Copywriting is a conversation that puts the consumer first. So when you're writing copy, use this ration: aim for at least three "you"s to every "We"s or "I"s you write. This lil trick will make your copy sound more personable and persuasive.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed reading this story, you'll also enjoy my newsletter. It's called Creative Samba and every week I share stories like this. Always packed with actionable insights about copywriting, marketing and how the human mind works.
Remember the opening scene of season 1?
In the first minute of House of Cards, Frank Underwood kills his neighbor's dog after being hit by a car.
Frank calmly strangles the poor doggo, and suddenly locks eyes with us, the audience.
Then he says, "Moments like this require someone who will act. Do the unpleasant thing, the necessary thing.”
This is a an old screenwriting technique called the fourth wall.
Theatre productions created it in the 18th century, but today films and TV shows use it a lot.
So what is the fourth wall?
Think of it as an imaginary wall that separates the actors (the story) from the audience (the real world).
To keep the illusion, you're not supposed to let the characters or the audience become aware the wall exists.
But if you do want them to know it exists, this is called breaking the fourth wall.
House of Cards became a cult show because Frank Underwood breaks the fourth wall over and over again.
Frank often pauses to talk directly to us. He's funny, brutally honest and god damn psychotic.
Yes, Frank’s behavior is questionable. But you just can't stop watching the show (at least until Season 4, then it went downhill).
Because if feels like it’s just you and Frank.
The problem with a lot of advertising and website copy is that it doesn't break the fourth wall.
And that's because most copy isn't directly talking to the reader. It doesn't feel like a conversation. If anything it talks AT you. It sounds like it's in lecturing mode. It’s like it wants to tell you something, but it's not really expecting a real response.
Which is weird, because that’s a terrible way of persuading people.
Takeaways for your business:
1. When you're writing copy, try to break the fourth wall. Imagine a specific person sitting in front of you at a party. Write to that person, not to abstract concepts like "target audience" or "website visitors".
When David Abbott (one of advertising's greatest copywriters) was alive he used to break the fourth wall often. Here are two of his most memorable ads that broke the wall:
Volvo 'If the welding isn't strong enough...'ad (1983) (See the ad here)
Here, David took breaking the wall to the extreme. To prove a point that the Volvo 740 is safe "just like the Volvos of yore", he put his "body where his mouth is". Yes, that's David right there beneath the car in the ad.
Chivas Regal 'Father's Day' ad (1980) (See the print ad here)
This ad was a Father’s day message from David himself to his father. The message is deeply moving because it talks about David, his dad, but also about David's kids and his wife. It's personable, and because of that it magically ends becoming universally appealing.
2. Another way to break the wall is to make the copy talk about the reader's experience of reading your copy.
Here’s a terrific ad campaign from The British Heart Foundation (2017) that illustrates what I mean: (See the print ad here)
3. Never make it about you, you, you. Remember, copywriting isn't a lecture. Copywriting is a conversation that puts the consumer first. So when you're writing copy, use this ration: aim for at least three "you"s to every "We"s or "I"s you write. This lil trick will make your copy sound more personable and persuasive.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed reading this story, you'll also enjoy my newsletter. It's called Creative Samba and every week I share stories like this. Always packed with actionable insights about copywriting, marketing and how the human mind works.
