Don't Be Afraid of Negative Language

Much has been written about the importance of being positive all the time. Rubbish.

Not to get too scientific about a largely subjective industry, but basically our brains are huge prediction machines. We have big brains so that we can recognize patterns (such as people's expressions) and be able to predict how things are likely to affect us. To see patterns, we need contrast. To see black, we need white, and vice versa. Studies have shown that people who strike a purely positive or negative attitude regardless of the actual circumstances are doomed to make bad decisions.

Yet when it comes to marketing language, I've seen my own pattern for over 10 years: "We can't be negative." Don't get me wrong. If that's a response to someone proposing a tagline of "We're not as bad as our competitors," I understand. But it's gotten to the point where people are unwilling to even use the word "don't" in their copy or taglines. This is not helpful.

I did a little research and found some of the more famous taglines that incorporate so-called "negative" language. See if you can remember the company represented by each tagline:

We don't make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.
It's not just shipping. It's ________.
Don't leave home without it.
It's not just for breakfast anymore.
Never let 'em see you sweat.
Don't get mad. Get ____.
The uncola.

Do these taglines strike you as negative, or do they provide clarity? Obviously, I think the latter. (Although I've never understood the first tagline. If you don't make products I buy, then why do I need to know who you are?)

Go back to a fundamental truism of marketing: People are busy. You can't waste their time. That means you need to tell them what you do. And to do that, you sometimes also need to tell them what you don't do. In fact, you can almost feel the relief in the air when someone says, "No, we don't do that." I've reached a point where I don't trust anyone who can't tell me what they don't do, or what they're not good at. Kudos to Domino's Pizza for using real negative consumer feedback in their newest ad campaign. It made me trust them, and it made we want to try their pizza again for the first time in years.

If contrast is your friend, then "negative language" is at least your drinking buddy. If you want the yin, you have to have the yang, because "positive" and "negative" can't be defined except in contrast to each other. In considering what you or your company does, start with what you don't do, as well as what "negative" problem you solve. After all, you can't have a Band-aid without an owy. You can't have a firefighter without fire. And you can't have a pain reliever without pain.

Don't you not disagree?