Persuasion lesson from Orange is the New Black: speech to convince inmates "donate" panties...

7 replies
Warning - this may come as outrages to you, but I found it very amusing and, why not, inspiring.

Bellow, I will quote a dialogue from this Netflix production, where an inmate convinces her colleagues to give her their used panties so she can start a business of selling used lingerie to perverts.

How about that:

________________

"Inmates: - Ramen flavor packets? You're the one who bought out the commissary.

Chapman: - Yes, I did. But I'm willing to share... if you accept my proposal. Nay... my invitation... to join me on a... miraculous adventure.

Inmates: - What are you talking about?

Chapman: - I need your panties.

Inmates: - Whaaaat?

Chapman: - Well, I will give you the panties, but I need you to wear them. I need your vag sweat. And maybe some, um, colourless discharge. I'm starting a business selling stinky panties to perverts.

Inmates: - That's the miraculous adventure?

Chapman: - It's easy. I give you flavour packets, and you give me something you're, uh... you're already giving away for free.

Inmates: - And then you get to keep the money.

Chapman: - And you are supporting a local business, keeping jobs right here at home. I'm like American Apparel, with less implied statutory rape.

Inmates: - It's disgusting.

Chapman: - I understand. I, too, was once embarrassed and squeamish by my personal... eau de parfum. But then I thought, "Why should I be ashamed?

Isn't that a part of the self-hatred that has been bred into me by the patriarchy? And are those same men that would shame me not the same men that would wear my panties on their faces, inhaling deeply?"

Ladies, now is the time to be bold. For when these men smell your panties, they are smelling your character. Let them smell daring and courage. Let them smell women who are unabashed and un-self-conscious.

And let them say that Litchfield... Litchfield is a place where women love their bodies and have love to spare.

Sisters, we may be incarcerated, but our panties will travel the world. And in that way... long after we are gone... our smell... our smell will linger... in some... gas station in Toronto, in some office cubicle in Tokyo.

And in that way, we are known. And in that way, we are remembered. Do you want to be remembered?

Inmates: - Yeah.

Chapman: - Then sweat profusely, and fart with abandon, and make a reek. - Make a reek, my sisters! Make a reek to last 1,000 years!"
#black #convince #donate #inmates #lesson #orange #panties #persuasion #speech
  • Profile picture of the author angiecolee
    All you've done here is quote. What is the lesson you promised in your title?
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    • Profile picture of the author Adelaina
      Originally Posted by angiecolee View Post

      All you've done here is quote. What is the lesson you promised in your title?
      Well Angie,

      I thought the text speaks for itself and it is a lesson for anyone who has the eyes to read between the lines.

      Nevertheless, you are probably right; I should take a few moments and underline what made me appreciate this speech.

      First, the "business proposal", taken independently will make anyone think what splitTest just said: "Disgusting".

      However, she managed to argument the willing to give away panties by referring to:
      • The hypocrisy of men who publicly condemn such immoral things only to delve into it in their personal lives;
      • The idea of letting a part of them (no matter how ridiculous or disgusting that part is) go far beyond the prison's walls - a twisted idea of partial freedom;
      • The idea of making themselves remembered (even though by a couple of, again, disgusting, perhaps even mentally disrupted individuals) - another twisted idea, this time connected to the deep human need of meaning something, being remembered.

      I agree, the arguments could be labeled as shitty. But these arguments appeal to emotions, desires, and reasons (the 3 piles of persuasion identified by Aristotle) of a couple of incarcerated women.

      This girl appeals to:
      • Reciprocity (she is trying to force the girls give her something in exchange of the flavored Ramen packs, which make the horrible prison food a little tastier)
      • Social proof (she is trying to convince them that this fetish is actually quite popular out there in the world)
      • Rarity (she tries to convince them that this is their chance to be bold, to escape, in a way, from prison, and to be remembered)

      -which are 3 of the 6 piles of persuasion identified by Robert Cialdini in his Psychology of Persuasion book, a book included by Forbes in their Top 75 Smartest Business Books.

      Don't you find interesting that she managed to persuade inmates to do such a disgusting thing with one speech? A speech that, if you look into its mechanism, not "disgusting" words, doesn't sound that bad anymore?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10182658].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author angiecolee
        Originally Posted by Adelaina View Post

        Well Angie,

        I thought the text speaks for itself and it is a lesson for anyone who has the eyes to read between the lines.

        Nevertheless, you are probably right; I should take a few moments and underline what made me appreciate this speech.

        First, the “business proposal”, taken independently will make anyone think what splitTest just said: “Disgusting”.

        However, she managed to argument the willing to give away panties by referring to:
        • The hypocrisy of men who publicly condemn such immoral things only to delve into it in their personal lives;
        • The idea of letting a part of them (no matter how ridiculous or disgusting that part is) go far beyond the prison’s walls – a twisted idea of partial freedom;
        • The idea of making themselves remembered (even though by a couple of, again, disgusting, perhaps even mentally disrupted individuals) – another twisted idea, this time connected to the deep human need of meaning something, being remembered.

        I agree, the arguments could be labeled as shitty. But these arguments appeal to emotions, desires, and reasons (the 3 piles of persuasion identified by Aristotle) of a couple of incarcerated women.

        This girl appeals to:
        • Reciprocity (she is trying to force the girls give her something in exchange of the flavored Ramen packs, which make the horrible prison food a little tastier)
        • Social proof (she is trying to convince them that this fetish is actually quite popular out there in the world)
        • Rarity (she tries to convince them that this is their chance to be bold, to escape, in a way, from prison, and to be remembered)

        -which are 3 of the 6 piles of persuasion identified by Robert Cialdini in his Psychology of Persuasion book, a book included by Forbes in their Top 75 Smartest Business Books.

        Don’t you find interesting that she managed to persuade inmates to do such a disgusting thing with one speech? A speech that, if you look into its mechanism, not “disgusting” words, doesn’t sound that bad anymore?
        As a copywriter, you shouldn't assume your audience is reading between the lines. That's for someone who writes literature, fiction, poetry, etc.

        A copywriter's job is to make it CLEAR. To make it COMPELLING. To make it INTERESTING. To PERSUADE.

        Quoting just doesn't do that. It's kinda like a math teacher putting a problem up on the wall and telling kids, it just speaks for itself, without walking them through it.

        So if you say there's a lesson to be learned as an explicit statement in the subject line that gets people to click, most people expect there to be just as explicit an explanation of said lesson.

        Gordon broke it down rather nicely, as did you in your reply to me.

        FYI - I'm a fan of the show. I've seen this season - boyfriend and I watched all the new episodes in like 2 or 3 days. My point was purely about making YOUR message pay off, not assuming the message speaks for itself.
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        Aspiring copywriters: if you need 1:1 advice from an experienced copy chief, head over to my Phone a Friend page.

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  • Profile picture of the author splitTest
    "Disgusting" is the word. This thread should be deleted.
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  • Profile picture of the author gjabiz
    The Marc Anthony speech in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is regarded as one of the finest examples of persuasive rhetoric ever.

    You can tell the writer's of Orange, know their Shakespeare. This speech to the ladies follow the same format.

    Lessons for a copywriter? Absolutely.

    Take a disinterested mob and turn them into buyers...of the idea. Haven't seen this season yet, but I do keep Bill Shakes nearby...so I'll use him mostly and refer to the OP.

    In Orange, she apparently swooped up all the Ramen, and is using that as leverage to get their attention. She wants something, they want what she has...she's created a demand.

    The headline. The attention catcher. Panties. WTF???!

    Then the deck copy, interest. And then the reasons why. Turns the crowd into buyers of her idea. Tested and proven market, she isn't inventing, just tapping into existing markets.

    I think Marc Anthony does a better job simply because he's facing a mob that could easily kill him, if he says the wrong words. The inmates in Orange don't pose that kind of a threat.

    But Anthony stands in front of the crowd and explains his view. His opening is sympathetic with most of the crowd. He has to win over a few of the conspirators.

    I've often referred new copywriters to both Rhetoric, both the actual spoken speeches...and those speeches found in fiction. And to Oratory.

    Also, movies are a good place to learn copywriting. I like Music Man and Elmer Gantry as examples of powerful persuasion techniques.

    So, I see the lessons, don't find it disgusting and it will probably get nuked anyhow.

    Rhetoric and speech making, we'll have a lot to see in this presidential election.

    gjabiz



    Originally Posted by Adelaina View Post

    Warning - this may come as outrages to you, but I found it very amusing and, why not, inspiring.

    Bellow, I will quote a dialogue from this Netflix production, where an inmate convinces her colleagues to give her their used panties so she can start a business of selling used lingerie to perverts.

    How about that:

    ________________

    "Inmates: - Ramen flavor packets? You're the one who bought out the commissary.

    Chapman: - Yes, I did. But I'm willing to share... if you accept my proposal. Nay... my invitation... to join me on a... miraculous adventure.

    Inmates: - What are you talking about?

    Chapman: - I need your panties.

    Inmates: - Whaaaat?

    Chapman: - Well, I will give you the panties, but I need you to wear them. I need your vag sweat. And maybe some, um, colourless discharge. I'm starting a business selling stinky panties to perverts.

    Inmates: - That's the miraculous adventure?

    Chapman: - It's easy. I give you flavour packets, and you give me something you're, uh... you're already giving away for free.

    Inmates: - And then you get to keep the money.

    Chapman: - And you are supporting a local business, keeping jobs right here at home. I'm like American Apparel, with less implied statutory rape.

    Inmates: - It's disgusting.

    Chapman: - I understand. I, too, was once embarrassed and squeamish by my personal... eau de parfum. But then I thought, "Why should I be ashamed?

    Isn't that a part of the self-hatred that has been bred into me by the patriarchy? And are those same men that would shame me not the same men that would wear my panties on their faces, inhaling deeply?"

    Ladies, now is the time to be bold. For when these men smell your panties, they are smelling your character. Let them smell daring and courage. Let them smell women who are unabashed and un-self-conscious.

    And let them say that Litchfield... Litchfield is a place where women love their bodies and have love to spare.

    Sisters, we may be incarcerated, but our panties will travel the world. And in that way... long after we are gone... our smell... our smell will linger... in some... gas station in Toronto, in some office cubicle in Tokyo.

    And in that way, we are known. And in that way, we are remembered. Do you want to be remembered?

    Inmates: - Yeah.

    Chapman: - Then sweat profusely, and fart with abandon, and make a reek. - Make a reek, my sisters! Make a reek to last 1,000 years!"
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10181976].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Adelaina
      Originally Posted by gjabiz View Post

      The Marc Anthony speech in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is regarded as one of the finest examples of persuasive rhetoric ever.

      You can tell the writer's of Orange, know their Shakespeare. This speech to the ladies follow the same format.

      Lessons for a copywriter? Absolutely.

      Take a disinterested mob and turn them into buyers...of the idea. Haven't seen this season yet, but I do keep Bill Shakes nearby...so I'll use him mostly and refer to the OP.

      In Orange, she apparently swooped up all the Ramen, and is using that as leverage to get their attention. She wants something, they want what she has...she's created a demand.

      The headline. The attention catcher. Panties. WTF???!

      Then the deck copy, interest. And then the reasons why. Turns the crowd into buyers of her idea. Tested and proven market, she isn't inventing, just tapping into existing markets.

      I think Marc Anthony does a better job simply because he's facing a mob that could easily kill him, if he says the wrong words. The inmates in Orange don't pose that kind of a threat.

      But Anthony stands in front of the crowd and explains his view. His opening is sympathetic with most of the crowd. He has to win over a few of the conspirators.

      I've often referred new copywriters to both Rhetoric, both the actual spoken speeches...and those speeches found in fiction. And to Oratory.

      Also, movies are a good place to learn copywriting. I like Music Man and Elmer Gantry as examples of powerful persuasion techniques.

      So, I see the lessons, don't find it disgusting and it will probably get nuked anyhow.

      Rhetoric and speech making, we'll have a lot to see in this presidential election.

      gjabiz
      Gjabiz, you got it right. Of course, Chapman is no match for Julius Caesar and their situations are totally different.

      Her speech is more of a mockery (or it would be, to normal people) but for a bunch of inmates, who spend their days between shitty walls, she knew exactly what buttons to press to make them click.

      Isn't copywriting about that? Adjusting to the product you sell and to the market you tap?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10182664].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author The Copy Nazi
    Banned
    I stopped at "Outrages". Learn to write proper English. And again - just a bunch of crap that has NOTHING to do with copywriting.

    HELLO Moderators. Do your frigging job.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[10183571].message }}

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