Marketing done the George Carlin way

By: Bo McDonald

You may think by the title of this article that I’m going to refer to the infamous “Seven Dirty Words” never to be broadcast.   An airing of George Carlin’s bit on a radio station went through FCC review and ended up with the Supreme Court. Sorry to disappoint. Although Carlin had a rough edge about some of his comedy, he had plenty of deep thoughts on life and business.

In another amusing skit, Carlin described the power of ”Vuja De.” Nope, not a typo. Vuja De is the opposite of Déjà vu. Many times, opportunities are right in front of us. Even more often they may involve objects or situations that are so familiar, so mundane, that we fail to pay any attention to them.

Vuja De was a term made up by Carlin, a comedic wordplay that put his own twist on the concept of déjà vu. It’s like Groundhog Day, living that odd feeling of being in a certain circumstance, sensing you’ve been there before. Picture the opposite of that:  you’re in a situation that is very familiar, something you’ve seen or done many times before, but you feel as if you’re experiencing something completely new. This is Vuja De as described by Carlin.

So what does the concept of Vuja De have to do with marketing? Enter George Carlin fan and fellow comedian Jerry Seinfeld, who himself uses Vuja De in many of his routines.

Seinfeld had this to say in an interview with Carlin’s daughter on his comedic approach: “I do a lot of material about the chair. I find the chair very funny. That excites me. No one’s really interested in that – but I’m going to get you interested!” Before Seinfeld can make us care about a chair, he must first make it interesting to himself, looking at it fresh, from a Vuja De perspective.

You should do the same with your marketing. Get excited about your brand, something many people aren’t familiar or fascinated with at this point. Make it interesting for yourself. Look at it with a fresh perspective, and then go share that with the world!

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