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My First MillionPsychological Tricks I Used To Sell $1 Billion in Products Online - Craig Clemens
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CHAPTERS
- 0:00 – 6:49
Setting Up the Masterclass and Bernays's Consumerism
Shaan Puri introduces Craig Clemens and the masterclass format built around his Seven Human Hijacks. Craig opens by showing that marketers created everyday behaviors, and introduces Edward Bernays, Freud's nephew, as the man who created consumerism.
- •Craig has sold over a billion dollars of products online and built a company with no outside investors
- •The masterclass format lets one person teach for about 30 minutes
- •Craig says marketers created behaviors like brushing teeth, using elevators and wearing sneakers
- •Edward Bernays, Freud's nephew, pushed clothing as self-expression to sell more of it
- •The seven hijacks target the limbic system of the brain
- 6:49 – 11:53
Pepsodent: Making Toothpaste About the Customer
Craig tells how Claude Hopkins turned toothpaste into a daily habit with the movie star smile and a tongue-on-teeth film demonstration. He lists the hijacks used and Shaan connects it to Mario-style benefit selling.
- •Only about 5% of people brushed daily in the 1920s; within a decade it was 85%
- •The ad had people feel the film on their teeth, promising a movie star smile behind it
- •Competitors copied the ad but lost repeat orders until they copied the minty tingle
- •Hopkins sold the dream, used a demonstration, and made it about the user
- •Shaan's Mario analogy: sell the user becoming big Mario, not the fire flower
- 11:53 – 15:47
Otis and P.T. Barnum: The Power of a Demonstration
Craig explains how Otis sold almost no elevators until P.T. Barnum staged the 'All safe here' demonstration. He draws out the lessons of demonstration, event, unquestionable proof, and addressing the customer's fear.
- •Otis sold three elevators in year one and seven in year two
- •The Crystal Palace demonstration had the cord cut with Otis standing on the elevator
- •Turning advertising into an event draws a crowd, since nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd
- •Putting his own body on the elevator was unquestionable proof
- •Otis addressed the fear of elevator safety rather than showing off the braking system
- 15:47 – 23:52
Modern Demonstrations: Mini Katana, Dr. Oz, Elon, and Power Balance
Shaan and Craig discuss modern demonstrations, from Mini Katana's bullet-cutting swords and dirty-water filters to Dr. Oz's balloon-popping garcinia cambogia segments. They also cover Cybertruck stunts and the Power Balance bracelet trick, noting where the technique turns unethical.
- •Mini Katana sells swords by showing them cut through a bullet and a steak
- •Craig describes Dr. Oz's balloon-and-pin demo for garcinia cambogia and the scammy auto-ship sellers that followed
- •Shaan says analytical founders need to use the dramatic, visual side of their brain
- •Craig maps Dr. Oz's show onto the hijacks: event, demonstration, proof, and making it about them
- •Power Balance's balance test was an effective but unethical trick
- 23:52 – 28:38
Lucky Strike and Torches of Freedom: Help Them Rebel
Craig tells how Bernays got women smoking by staging a parade float of socialites lighting cigarettes as 'torches of freedom.' He introduces the hijack of helping people rebel or feel superior.
- •It was illegal and considered unladylike for women to smoke in public in the 1930s
- •Bernays used the Easter Parade, socialites, and reporters to frame smoking as a women's rights statement
- •Shaan points to the combination of event, newsjacking, and copywriting
- •Craig introduces the hijack of helping people rebel or feel superior
- 28:38 – 34:25
The Green Ball and Rebellion Today
Bernays made green fashionable with a Green Ball so women would choose Lucky Strike's green package. Shaan asks about prominent people, and the pair discuss modern rebellion, from teens avoiding emojis to Snapchat and TikTok.
- •Green went from ugliest to most fashionable color within a year thanks to the Gala Green Ball
- •Craig files people of prominence under unquestionable proof
- •Teenagers avoid emojis because adults use them
- •Snapchat was deliberately hard for older people to use
- •Craig sees a rebellion against alcohol in his community
- 34:25 – 36:46
The Great American Breakfast: Doctors and Bacon
Craig explains how Bernays turned bacon into a breakfast food by having Beech-Nut's doctor survey 5,000 doctors. He ties it to the hijacks already covered.
- •Breakfast before this was coffee and a roll or oatmeal
- •4,500 of 5,000 doctors agreed a hearty breakfast with bacon was best
- •The result was shared with newspapers rather than run as an ad
- •The campaign sold the dream of energy, made it about them, and gave unquestionable proof and superiority
- 36:46 – 42:10
Sunkist Orange Juice and Changing Daily Behavior
Craig describes how Albert Lasker created Sunkist and orange juice habits with a cheap juicer and a mail-in offer. This introduces the hijack of changing daily behavior, illustrated by bulletproof coffee and The Miracle Morning.
- •Lasker united competing California growers under the Sunkist brand
- •A cheap juicer device and a proof-of-purchase offer made orange juice mainstream
- •Changing daily behavior is a new hijack
- •Bulletproof coffee changed an existing behavior by intercepting people's coffee
- •People talk about habits they do daily, as Hal Elrod told Craig about The Miracle Morning
- 42:10 – 48:14
NIKE, Prefontaine, and Rebelling Against the Incumbent
Craig explains how Steve Prefontaine put NIKE on the map and made running and athletic shoes cool. Shaan and Craig extend rebellion to barefoot shoes, Apple's 1984 ad, and Volkswagen's Think Small.
- •Prefontaine wearing NIKE shoes was unquestionable proof, and running became cool
- •Athletic shoes became everyday wear as a rebellion against dad's shoes
- •NIKE's Jordan campaign sold the dream of flying like Mike
- •Shaan describes barefoot shoe brands rebelling against NIKE
- •Apple's 1984 ad and VW's Think Small were rebellions against the status quo
- 48:14 – 52:24
Trump, Obama, and Verbal Kill Shots
Craig shows a Trump ad that rallies people against elites and discusses how soundbites like Yes We Can work. Shaan relays Scott Adams's idea of Trump's verbal kill shots.
- •The Trump ad uses a rebellion against elites and the status quo
- •Craig says the best politicians speak in soundbites; Obama initially resisted Yes We Can
- •Craig thinks Trump's ad success is a mix of his own soundbites and marketers
- •Shaan cites Scott Adams: phrases like Low Energy Jeb brand opponents in one shot
- 52:24 – 56:37
Drunk Driving Campaign, Physics, and Demonstrations That Stick
Craig covers the Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk campaign and Shaan recalls 'This is your brain on drugs.' They discuss why demonstrations stick, with Craig linking it to how humans learn physics from birth, and Shaan describes an ASMR-style ad.
- •The drunk driving campaign gave three simple actions and cut drunk driving by an estimated 40 to 50%
- •The fried egg demonstration still sticks decades later
- •Craig argues demonstrations work because they are like physics lessons, which humans learn from age zero
- •Shaan used an oddly satisfying marble-bottle video to hook viewers into his product ad
- 56:37 – 1:03:13
Creating the Probiotics Category with Key Biotics
Craig tells how in 2010 his brother introduced him to probiotics, and how he built an educational presentation around sugar, sweeteners, and the microbiome. The video reached over 100 million views and created the biggest probiotic brand at the time.
- •Craig's research into hidden sugars and artificial sweeteners led to his probiotics presentation
- •He describes the aspartame studies where scientists hid tumors in lab animals
- •The video was seen by over 100 million people in about four months, and Joe Rogan tweeted it
- •Google Trends data shows spikes tied to Key Biotics and later Dr. Gundry campaigns
- •Craig says the company taught more people than anyone about the microbiome
- 1:03:13 – 1:09:12
Three Stages of Market Awareness and the Seven Hijacks Recap
Craig describes the clueless, curious, and saturated stages of a product market using probiotics. Shaan then recaps the seven hijacks and reflects on the value of learning from a practitioner.
- •Clueless markets need a marketing wave starting with something people care about
- •Curious markets allowed the 'throw your probiotics in the trash' headline in 2018
- •The probiotics market is now saturated and commoditized
- •The seven hijacks: make it about them, event, powerful demonstration, unquestionable proof, change daily behavior, sell the dream, help them rebel or feel superior
- •Shaan says even one hijack could change a company's trajectory
