Peanut and I went to see Primus in Pittsburgh last night. As a bassist myself, watching Les Claypool’s virtuosity in person is how I’d imagine watching Ben Settle write an email would be. But way more fun.
If’n you’re unfamiliar with the avant-garde funk-metal band, they’re the band behind South Park’s theme song.
And if you’re confused by the subject line, you’re probably wondering why they suck—or why I’m dedicating an email about their sucking, and how it ties into business and copywriting.
Checky:
“Primus sucks” is the band’s slogan.
Why?
Well, despite Les Claypool being a virtuoso… At their first show, before they were about to start, a heckler in the crowd screamed: “Primus sucks!”
After that, Les came out and introduced the band by saying, “We’re Primus and we suck.”
This soon caught on across the fan base. Last night, there were a couple of crowd-wide chants of “Primus sucks.”
And there are several business and copywriting lessons embedded in this simple story:
For starters, don’t take yourself too seriously. Les is, in my biased and humble opinion, the best living bassist today. But his music isn’t too serious. And neither is he. If he took himself more seriously, he might’ve gotten butthurt at the complaint and would’ve sulked afterwards instead of taking it, bending it to his will, and creating one of the catchiest and funniest slogans a band has ever had.
Second, it makes the skeleton dances:
One of the most effective ways to build trust with your audience is by talking about the flaws of your product or service. Too many salesmen and copywriters try to hide behind their flaws instead of embracing them, and turning them into a reason to buy.
Les did this when he flipped the “Primus sucks” line into a slogan.
Third, to remind you of an important lesson the great Joshua Lisec repeats often:
“Bad reviews from bad people are good reviews.”
Instead of letting negative reviews get to you, if you see them for what they are, e.g. a good review, then you can use them in your copy and emails to bond more with your audience, add a dabble of authenticity, and even profit from them.
And finally, trolls can often be your most profitable source of revenue.
I don’t know how much making “Primus sucks” the band’s slogan attributed to their success, but I know it did. Tons of t-shirts with the phrase “Primus sucks” were sold. And it allows the band to embark in world building. In their world, “Primus sucks” is a good thing. In the outside world, anything else “sucking” ain’t good—unless it’s that one thang, winky face.
This world-building allows them to create an us vs them mentality too.
Anyway, if you want to turn your life into cashola like this email does, hit reply, and let’s chat.
John
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