How would you like your lemon sir?

Straight up or twisted?

Straight up has its advantages. It looks right, uncrushed, slowly leaking out into the surrounding liquid inside its natural lemony case. The problem is, it doesn't do anything. Why use a lemon at all why not a yellow ice cube. The whole point is the juice inside right?

The same comes in advertising. Playing the straight man has its advantages. Its easy, looks nice, and its what's expected. However, its the twist we all want. The pow after the expected. Most ads are the straight man.

Here's my product, here's a look, what it does, where to get it, thank you. This is the way its been since people started selling hand made clubs to fellow cavemen, and hell it works, a lot of shitty jewelry goes out the door of QVC that way.

The best brands have that twist. Its the twist that we buy what we buy. There are very few products that we need. The twist is what makes us switch to apple, buy at Banana Republic, try Axe deodarant, order a Stoly and coke. The twist.

So how do you create a twist?

Hit them where they don't expect it. That doesn't mean putting your message on urinal cakes or write them in the sky. Its usually the company that says something first, that shocks, angers, excites, or shames you that you reach for at your stores. Our homes are filled with them. The apples. The targets. The ESPN's. We fill our lives with the twists and glean out the straight ups.

Now if I only knew how to do it time after time. Suggestions?