I love watching Desperate Housewives.

And since it finished airing a week or so ago, I’ve been getting withdrawal symptoms.

Seriously, it’s the only show my wife and I actually enjoyed watching together.

She seems to like all of these sit-coms… and I just don’t find their quirky humour all that funny.

Everyone is different, I guess.

Anyway, let me attempt to dissect what makes Desperate Housewives a winning formula.

One word: evil.

It’s true.

Everyone appears nice. But underneath we all have a dark side.

I do. You do. We all do.

Now I am not talking about a super dark side like going crazy and beating others up or whatever.

I’m referring to something else we can all relate to.

It might be jealousy. It might be the desire for revenge. It might be the reality that we like to see our enemies slip up from time to time. It might be that we like to get “one up” on our mates. It might be that your “in-laws” drive you crazy and you do subtle things to annoy them. It might be competitiveness.

Whatever it is – if you admit it – they are there (along with all the positive, loving parts of you of course).

It’s just a part of human nature.

Whether you act on it or not… we’ve all felt these urges from time to time.

I was hearing a story the other day from when there were floods in the affluent suburbs of Sydney years ago and all the roofs were caving in.

Well, apparently the fight for tarps was on.

And the primal part of this normally very civil crowd came out. They were fighting over tarps to protect their family.

I’ve heard John Carlton talk about the fact the best way to understand human nature is to go to the zoo and watch chimpanzees and monkeys.

Because… as he puts it… underneath all our 21st century good manners and etiquette, we are still ruled by our primal urges.

To win the man or woman
To be the king of the jungle
To get one up on our friends
To protect our property

So what does Desperate Housewives have to do with this?

It taps into this part of our psyche and shows how it plays out on a day to day street and shows us what’s really going on underneath the beautiful veneer.

It allows us to peak into not only our own mind, but the mind of our friends, family, colleagues and enemies… the entire human nature.

And because we can relate, we enjoy watching it. (well, a lot of people do anyway!)

So what has this got to do with the advertising of your business.

Well, let’s take a look at a snippet of copy from one of John Carlton’s golf sales letters so you can see what I mean…

If you, too, can simply put your doubts aside for a short time, you can see for yourself just what it’s like to hit drives 50 yards farther than you ever dreamed possible… treat 150-yards like a chip shot… and slice strokes off your game so fast your friends will be afraid to play with you anymore!

Now the last part of that paragraph could have just read…

“and slice plenty of strokes off your game”

… but it doesn’t have the same power does it?

In fact, you could easily read that paragraph without noticing those last few words.

But on a subtle level these words say a lot… you’ll look great… your mates will be shaking their heads wondering how you do it… everyone will be talking about you at the club afterwards… etc.

And it’s these little things which create great copy.

You’ll find plenty of other ideas for writing great copy at http://www.copywritingthatsells.com.au/cashflow but even if you never get this program
make a commitment to notice things about human nature other people miss.

Not only will it make life more interesting, it will make you far better at communication and selling.