I loved Anita's thread - "Books NOT About Copywriting That Help You With Copywriting"

So can we do the same thing with Movies?

And by the way what movies had a "copywriting" theme?

Steve

What was that tom hanks/Jackie Gleason flick?

Wasn't really about copywriting... (more about a father and son) but hanks was in advertising and there were a few scenes.

"Nothing In Common"

The movie that immediately comes to mind is 84 Charing Cross Road starring Anthony Hopkins. It is about an author in New York who exchanges letters with a bookseller in England during a 20 year period. It's a true story. The book is a delight, too, and one I should have mentioned in the Books NOT About Copywriting thread.

Law and Order: Criminal Intent (a television show, not a movie, but I hope it's close enough) isn't at all about copywriting but I like watching how Detective Goran gets suspects to lower their defenses and confide in him and how he shows empathy. He's also great at noticing every single detail about every single thing. He says his best tool as a detective is his library card.

The older I get the more I enjoy people-watching and shows, movies and novels give me another way to do that, and help me indirectly with copywriting.

--Anita

The Negotiator - Kevin Spacey & Samuel L. Jackson

Hostage negotiation...it's a stretch. You're selling the customer on the option to surrender themselves to the authorities.

Well the obvious ones for selling...

Boiler Room, Glengarry Glen Ross (Minute-for-minute, Alec Baldwin's best Big-Screen role) ... actually anything by David Mamet is great for nested loops and cliffhangers.

I also like "Two For The Money", with Pacino and McConaughey.

On Saturday mornings one of the local AM sports-talk stations has a bunch of Vegas Mooks pitching their betting services. Those guys can sell!

Love Mamet. And I agree about Baldwin. One of the few performances of his that was world class.

Baldwin also reprised the role on SNL a few years ago. He was one of Santa's helpers sent from the North Pole to get the elves moving at one of the toy factories.

Classic line: ABC... always be cobbling.

Can't remember who said it -- maybe Halbert or Sugarman -- something along the lines of "any movie that does over $100 million at the box office, that's a movie you want to see" -- cause that's who you're writing to.

I missed that SNL one. Nothing tops "Schwetty Balls", though, not even Canteen Boy.

Actually, speaking of SNL, "Tommy Boy" has some good sales lessons too. I had a sales manager who did an awesome training session based on this scene:

Quote:

Tommy: Hey, what's your name? Helen: Helen. Tommy: That's nice, you look like a Helen. Helen, we're both in sales. Let me tell you why I suck as a sales man. Let's say I go into a guy's office, let's say he's even remotely interested in buying something. Well then I get all excited. I'm like Jojo the idiot circus boy with a pretty new pet. Now the pet is my possible sale. Hello there pretty little pet, I love you. And then I stroke it, and I pet it, and I massage it. Hehe I love it, I love my little naughty pet, you're naughty. And then I take my naughty pet and I go [makes ripping noises as he tears apart the roll] Tommy: Uuuuuuh. I killed it. I killed my sale. And that's when I blow it. That's when people like us have gotta forge ahead, Helen. Am I right? Helen: God, you're sick