Ever wonder why we spend billions on mouthwash every year?

It's because Listerine pulled off one of the most brilliant psychological marketing tricks of the 20th century.

Here's how they manufactured a "medical condition" to sell a product nobody needed. 🧵 Listerine was created in 1879 by Dr. Joseph Lawrence, but here's the crazy part…

It wasn't originally a mouthwash.

It was first sold as a surgical antiseptic, then marketed as a floor cleaner, treatment for gonorrhea and even a cure for dandruff.

The most powerful word in marketing isn't "free," "new," or "you."

It's "BECAUSE."

The power of this simple 7-letter word shocked scientists in a the now famous 1978 experiment called the “Copy Machine Study”.

Here's how saying “because” hacks the brain 🧵 In 1978, Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer ran the now famous "Copy Machine Study."

She tested 3 different requests when people were waiting in line to use a copier:

Most people have no idea that:

📜 Ancient Egypt had advertisements
📺 The first TV ad cost only $9
🖱️ Banner ads once had 44% CTR

Here's a thread on 9 advertising innovations that literally changed how billions of people think and behave 🧵 1. One of the earliest known advertisements was found in ancient Egypt.

Merchants would create notices on papyrus that combined commercial messages about their shops with public announcements and rewards.

This is early evidence that marketing has been with us for millennia.

The ancient Egyptians understood the power of public messaging just like we do today.

99% of job ads suck because they are generic, boring and follow the same template used by everyone else...

Here’s 7 ads from the 1% 🧵

1. Sociowash just won the pattern interrupt game with this ad.

✅ Visual misdirection with a kidnapped "Jobs" (Steve) tied to chair
✅ Double entendre where "We have Jobs" works on two levels
✅ Humor that signals company culture instantly

This uses the Von Restorff Effect + Elaboration Likelihood Model perfectly.

Your brain can't help but engage with the unexpected narrative twist. 2. McCann Bristol's ad is pure minimalist genius.

✅ Triple-layered visual metaphor where the pen resembles knife + is chewed + is blue (creative industry color)
✅ Self-selecting filter that works on Cialdini's Principle of Scarcity
✅ Text placement creates cognitive tension through negative space

The brilliance is just as much what they DIDN'T include: no requirements, no corporate speak and no salary range.

This ad also uses the Picture Superiority Effect (we remember pictures more than words) to make their message significantly more memorable.

The biggest marketing secret I know...

❌ Isn't about ads
❌ Isn't about funnels
❌ Isn't about copy

It's about understanding the science behind why people actually buy things.

These 13 books changed how I approach marketing forever.

They'll do the same for you.

A thread 🧵 1. The Molecule of More By Daniel Z. Lieberman & Michael E. Long

This book completely changed my whole understanding of marketing and my own day to day decision making process.

It shows how one tiny brain chemical (dopamine) controls nearly everything your customers do.

Most marketing fails because it doesn't understand the difference between wanting something and enjoying something.

Once you understand this, you'll never look at marketing the same way.

Here's an easy hack for increasing AOV that supermarkets and retailers like WalMart love doing...

Put a limit on how many units each person can buy.

By saying "Due to popular demand there is a limit of 5 per household" you can increase CVR and AOV.

Here's why this works 🧵 The magic is in the psychology. When you see "limit 5 per customer" your brain instantly thinks:

🤔 This must be in high demand
🤔 Other people know something I don't
🤔 I better stock up while I can

"Your price is insane. No one will pay $99 for supplements."

AG1's response?

Double their prices.

Now they're worth over $1.2B!

Here's the marketing playbook they used to go from $0 to $600M+ a year in sales 🧵 In 2010 Chris Ashenden launched Athletic Greens with a simple pitch:

"One scoop replaces 9 health products."

The initial growth was terrible.

Why?

Because during the first few years they focused exclusively on:

❌ Clinical studies
❌ Product formulation
❌ Scientific validation

And almost nothing on marketing.

Want to know what really separates the world's best advertisers from the 99%?

I promise you it's not knowing some secret insider hacks...

They simply understand how the brain works and leverage cognitive biases.

Here are 7 of my favorites you can use to level up your ads 🧵 The Von Restorff Effect

When something stands out from its surroundings, it's more likely to be remembered.

Samsung used this perfectly in their "Growing Up" campaign showing an iPhone user through the years, but making their customer stand out by choosing Galaxy.

The ad got 50M+ views and drove record sales.

How to use it: Pattern interrupt your first 2-3 seconds. Make your ad different from everything else in the feed.

The Hidden Psychology Behind Apple's Most Successful Ad Campaign Ever…

Between 2006-2009 Apple ran 66 "Get a Mac" ads that brilliantly used 3 powerful psychological triggers to dominate the PC market 🧵 First they used what behavioral economists call "social proof through personification."

Instead of comparing specs, they created two characters that represented the brands:

✅ Cool, relaxed Mac (Justin Long)
✅ Stuffy, awkward PC (John Hodgman)

Your brain automatically wanted to identify with Mac.

Last year, McDonald's rolled out an initiative that showed their mastery of pricing psychology...

They digitized their menus and ran a massive pricing psychology experiment.

The results were crazy and completely changed how they display prices on their menus around the world 🧵 First, let's nerd out a bit on the research.

Studies in Neural Computing proved that seeing currency symbols (ex. $) in front of numbers activates the same areas in your brain as physical pain!

This is why luxury restaurants don't use them and show a "14" instead of "$14".

Just got done reading Alchemy by @rorysutherland for the third time.

Most marketing books are mediocre (at best), but this one completely changed how I look at advertising.

Every marketer spending even $1 on ads needs to understand these psychological principles 🧵 First, understand what actually matters in marketing:

Most marketers obsess over metrics and data, but Rory proved something fascinating...

Small psychological changes often outperform massive logical improvements.

Example: Adding a simple mirror near an elevator reduced complaints about wait times by 50%.

In 2013, Dove created the most viewed ad in history...

And made over $4.5B by using ONE simple psychological insight:

➡️ People are terrible at evaluating their own appearance.

The brain hack they used was pure genius.

Here's how they did it 🧵 First, they brought in Gil Zamora, an FBI-trained forensic artist who never saw the participants.

He drew two sketches of each woman:

✅ One based on her own description
✅ One based on a stranger's description

The difference between the sketches was shocking!

Here's a legendary marketing book that's made us millions in our ad accounts over the years...

Most people have never read it (costs $125-$449+ to buy).

But Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz contains the most powerful framework I've ever seen.

Here's what I mean 👇 Let me share something fascinating about your market...

It falls into 1 of 5 stages based on how many similar offers people have seen.

Most marketers and brands get this completely wrong.

And it's killing their conversion rates.

Just finished rereading one of my favorite psychology books, "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman and I can't believe how much I missed the first time.

This book will completely change how you approach marketing, sales & business.

Here are the craziest insights 🧵 First, you need to understand your brain operates in 2 modes:

System 1: Fast, instinctive & emotional

System 2: Slow, logical & deliberate
Here's the crazy part...

Your brain is incredibly lazy and defaults to System 1 for 98% of decisions to save energy.

This is why we make so many bad choices.