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Writer's picture: John BrandtJohn Brandt

(Dewey Cox died…)


Welcome back my humble reader to another installment of John’s Zany Daily Emails.


I was sick as a dog yesterday, so I spent most of my day in bed watching movies.


And I rewatched one of my favorite “hidden gems,” Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.


It boasts a strong 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. But it’s effing hilarious, at least to my sense of humor.


And there’s one reason in particular its humor works so well, which directly relates to emails, copywriting, and persuasion, so it does.


But whether there’s bidness lessons or not, I recommend you check this movie out if’n you’re looking for a good comedy. You can stream it on Hulu.


Okay, let’s dive in:


This movie is about the hilarious life of Dewey Cox, a famous rock-n-roll musician, from a child to his death, which happened 3 minutes after winning the lifetime achievement award.


Now, this movie is slapstick comedy. Dewey Cox finds himself in an endless amount of absurd situations. It reminds me of Airplane in many ways.


In truth, Dewey walks a fine line between rolling-on-the-floor laughter and downright corniness.


But there’s one aspect to this movie that makes it all work… and if’n you apply this to your emails and copywriting, I suspect you’ll make more sales than you thought possible.


What’s this aspect?


Contrast.


Let’s dive into a few examples of the amazing contrast in this story:


1. Walk Hard


The title of both the movie and Dewey’s first #1 hit song, Walk Hard is like a case study in contrast. Walking is easy, not hard. That’s why “Walk Hard” demands your brain’s undivided attention.


2. Dewey’s wife’s support of him.


In the first act, Dewey (played by John C. Reilly) plays a high school talent show. And immediately after decides to leave home to follow his dreams of becoming a star.


When he’s leaving, his girlfriend at the time (who ends up becoming his wife and mother of his children) tells him that she’ll always support him and his dreams—no matter what.


Well… about 5 minutes later in the movie, she cries to him about getting a “real job” to support their family and how he never cared about her dreams.


It’s this type of contrast that makes this movie so mf funny.


3. In the studio…


Dewey plays a song and gets the attention of some music industry pros. So, they invited him into the studio to record a track.


In the studio, he starts singing a version of “That’s Amore” and the main engineer is appalled to the point that he tells Dewey he sucks. And that nothing he could do in his life could change his mind that Dewey doesn’t have what it takes to be a successful musician. He rambles on about this for a good while before finally giving Dewey 15 more seconds to change his mind.


As soon as Dewey plays the first chord of his second song, everyone in the studio jumps and dances in an absurd fashion. Dewey played them “Walk Hard,” he got signed, and that track became the #1 hit just 35 seconds later in the movie.


4. About his love for his wife.


After “Walk Hard” blows up, Dewey becomes the stereotypical star.


He doesn’t give a damn about his growing family — which now includes his wife and several children. When his wife nags him about how he’s never around, Dewey tells her that it’s outrageous to expect him to be at every birthday and every birth of his children.


3 minutes later, he’s on a late night show singing about how much he loves and misses his wife.


5. On duets.


As Dewey’s career progresses, he needs a suitable female candidate for a duet. This is when he meets Darlene, played by Pam from The Office.


After they sing their duet, she grabs him by the face then kisses him. Immediately after, she slaps him 3 or 4 times across the face and tells him that she’s not that *kind* of gurl (even though she initiated it.)


He went on to marry Darlene soon after. (And no, he didn’t divorce his first wife… at least not yet, which creates another hilarious situation.)


6. On shyness.


After he divorces his first wife, Darlene comes back into his life after a hiatus.


And they’re finally “getting in the mood.”


It starts as the most shy, timid, and innocent kissing session. They both seem as prude as your first girlfriend in middle school.


Well, this doesn’t last.


Within 30 seconds it blossoms into “kick-you-in-the-cajones-multiple-times” type of rough sex.


And there are many more of these absurd contrast examples peppered throughout this movie that had me rolling on my bed laughing.


Which brings me to the rub…


Contrast transformed this movie from borderline corny into borderline genius. (Kinda like the movie Twins, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.)


And it can do the same for your business.


Contrast is one of the most powerful forces in copywriting. It creates an “itch” in readers’ minds that they must scratch. It gets your emails opened, ads clicked on, and products purchased.


Plus, it adds a bit of flair to the usually dry, stuffy, and PC world of biz.


Do with that what thou wilt.


If’n you need help adding contrast to your emails to add more rupees to your bank account, book a call with me here.


If you have a proven offer and list, let’s dump some kerosene on your biz.


Everyone else?


Refer a new client to me, and I’ll “refer” 50% of my first month with them to you if you join my email list.


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