Recently, on social media, an NLP Practitioner asked a question about a client who reported having a phobia, and with whom he used the NLP Fast Phobia Cure, which may have partly worked, but it came back a few days later?
Story of Bungled Hypnotic Advertising
If you're near me, you probably listen to Mix95 radio on occasion. There's a popular morning show with DJ's Rick & Lisa. Good show, for a small town, by the way. 
On today's morning show, about 30 minutes ago, I heard a commercial for local car dealership "Hamilton Nissan" that (whether intended OR NOT...) demonstrated an incredibly bad/poor example of advertising techniques that can be described by any NLP Practitioner or Hypnotherapist as "hypnotic" advertising. Note this does NOT mean they necessarily used hypnosis or hypnotic writing, but it means their radio ad was a great example of BAD hypnotic advertising.
So let's explore the ad in more detail, in NLP & Ericksonian Hypnosis terms:
(And, keep in mind this is not a verbatim script -- this is my memory of what I heard, knowing what I know, and knowing how to listen for this. The actual recording may have been slightly differently worded -- but not significantly so).
It started out OK with the first couple of phrases, using "Pacing & Leading" for Rapport-building & influence. It started out sounding like facts, but all too quickly became an ad. "Well it seems there are signs the economy is picking back up; the big 3 car manufacturers all seem to be doing well." Then it immediately became an ad for Hamilton Nissan. This was inelegant and likely created an instant emotional experience for most listeners (whether mild or strong), of "Bait & Switch." Your loss, Hamilton Nissan.
Then, the crowning example of bungled hypnotic advertising was...
wait for it...
The horribly badly delivered 'embedded command', for "BUY NOW!" I couldn't stop laughing for about 5 minutes when I heard it.
It was combined with an incomplete sentence. Sentence fragments are an Ericksonian Hypnotherapy technique for putting people partly on hold; it creates less resistance in listeners. What they didn't tell you, Hamilton Nissan, is that that only works when everything else you're doing at the same time is increasing acceptance of your suggestions.
So here's how they did it: "Well I know you're thinking... BUY NOW... all the vehicles over at Hamilton Nissan..." then they left that sentence incomplete... and moved on to other topics. Using incomplete sentences and "embedded commands" such as "BUY NOW" are well-known NLP/Ericksonian hypnosis technique.
Their PRESUMED intent was for you to consciously hear ALL of the above, but unconsciously hear and respond to just a portion of the incomplete sentence: "BUY NOW... all the vehicles over at Hamilton Nissan..."
In fact, the use of "Buy Now" as a casual phrase in advertising is SO ubiquitous these days, it's seen/heard as cheesy in hypnosis/NLP circles now. My opinion: No *effective* marketer in their right mind would use it anymore.
If you think I'm making this up, google "embedded commands buy now" and explore. By the way, though, about half of those articles that show up in google use what I would describe as less-than-elegant phrasing. I'm an authority on this specific language pattern, both in terms of phrasing, and tonal delivery, and I think a lot of people don't quite get it fully. So I'm not saying everyone writing articles about this subject are worth reading; I'm pointing out that there's a LOT of material on this stuff out there.
Never mind that the advertiser's delivery of "BUY NOW" in terms of tonality and pausing was incredibly ineffective. I mean, if they were actually going to use that embedded command, they probably should have learned more competent tonal techniques. If you knew what I know, you'd have been cringing while listening.
If it was intended (99.9% likely in my opinion), then it was very badly delivered. I'd use that radio commercial as an ideal example of what never to do, and how not to do it.
If it wasn't intended (I acknowledge the limited possibility of pure ignorance here), then the "interviewee" (read: Advertising guy at Hamilton Nissan) happened to stumble accidentally on what I believe is one of the worst possible ways to turn off their potential customers. Because whether the radio listeners have the self-awareness and/or vocabulary for it or not... many are likely feeling a mild, weird sense that something's *not quite right* about what they just heard, and who they heard it from/about.
They MAY have just succeeded in doing exactly the opposite of what they'd intended. They MAY have just created distrust for/of their dealership.
Inbox Insights
- Knowledge Engineering (& Belief Craft) have evolved, into GeniusMapping™
- As of September 2020, we're in the process of moving from Tampa, Florida, to the Youngstown Ohio area. Currently, during the Coronavirus era, we're mostly focusing on Zoom-based Coaching, and aligning resources to run online courses.
- How "Civil Engineering" totally reframes the word "Stress," redefines the phrase "Stress Management," and leads us to embrace Stress!
- Many NLP Practitioners are more sloppy with their thinking patterns, than they'd like to admit, or... would even notice.
- Watch NLP Co-Founder Richard Bandler use NLP to eliminate Michael Strahan's phobic response to snakes -- in minutes (with Kelly Ripa bringing over a BIG snake at the end to test Michael's response). Spoiler alert: It worked ridiculously well.
- No matter what skill you want to learn, no matter what fears or concerns or hesitation you may have, there are and will always be a wide range of approaches, to learning that skill. It's important to keep that in mind when making learning choices.
- Many more famous people have been trained in Ericksonian (indirect) Hypnosis and NLP than you might guess. There are certainly far more who have strong interests here than have publically admitted so.
- On January 1, 2015, Jonathan Altfeld and 20 other co-authors released a digital book entitled "Creating Business Growth."
- What are the Four Stages of Learning?
- Alex AkselrodBought Audio : Finding Your Irresistible Voice
As a certified hypnotherapist, I can tell you that I will use these techniques in all of my future hypnosis work, both with clients & on tape, as well as any inductions I record for free distribution. Jonathan demonstrated these techniques as he taught them, & each time, I had a high level of response to them. He is a very dynamic speaker, & forced me to really pay attention & understand the communication at all levels.
2001 - David GouldBristol Hypnotherapy, Bristol, UKAttended Course : Knowledge Engineering
(written in 1998:) Jonathan has not been doing NLP all that long, & yet his skills already surpass almost all the other trainers. Most of you will probably be wondering how he does it. Luckily, Jonathan has decided to teach us in a special 3-day training he calls "Knowledge Engineering & NLP". Because of the original nature of the material being taught & because of Jonathan's mastery of teaching at many levels simultaneously, the training suits all levels of NLP ability. He is also very good at tailoring the training to the participants: most of what we did was made up as we went along & yet, because it all went so well, I assumed it had been planned! Jonathan is quite happy teaching something completely irrelevant to the material if he thinks it's useful to the trainees. I found this particularly refreshing. I confidently recommend this course to everyone, especially those who want to progress a lot faster with NLP.
http://www.deep-trance.com1998 - Andrew JoyPrincipal French Horn, Cologne Radio Orchestra, Cologne, GermanyBought Audio : Finding Your Irresistible Voice
Your CDs arrived safe and sound. I've listened to the first two and worked on the exercises. I'm a 55 year young, professional principal french horn player and have been working in a top German symphony orchestra for the past 30 years. I listened to the bonus telephone interview today. I am blown away. The results, applying your voice exercises to my playing (and to my students) are phenomenal. Resonance plays a huge role in performing on a brass instrument and very few poeple understand much about it. I've picked up useful and practical information, from singers and voice coaches, that I've been able to adapt to brass playing. Explaining resonance is now easy using your nose, mouth, throat etc, approach. The killer though, is using double resonance. I have free at present and don't have to perform in the orchestra (and the hall) until the beginning of Febuary. However, I am itching to hear how my changed sound is in our hall. It has to be amazing. Your material has added wonderfully valuable understandings to my comprehension of what constitutes excellent quality brass player and has beautifully simplified my means of effectively communicating it to my students. There has been a lot of belly laughter, stunned ears and broad smiles in my teaching studio this week. I'm teaching a course to amateur wind and brass players next year and am looking forward to applying your teachings to this particular situation for the benefit of the people attending. Thanks a million. This is one of the few times in my life where I've been gladly reeling and with a huge smile on my face.
http://www.andrewjoy.com2007 - UstahiKosovoBought Audio : Knowledge Engineering
My life is really getting even more interesting, just now I finished listening one more piece of puzzle I've been missing - how to track beliefs. My belief about beliefs is that they're life itself. So why not learn everything about them? If you want a precise model of how to do it and get to know people's circuits then Knowledge Engineering is the course to study and put in immediate use. I'm soon going to become Telecoms/Computers engineer and Jonathans experience as AI expert really got me in a new world of possibilites. I'm thinking about how to use it in all the directions in my life. As a guaranteed side benefit from the course is also opening your ears and listening to what people tell you. I'm really finding this a true must skill one should have. I'd like to thank Jonathan for his way of putting the model and for his genuine interest in his customers.
2002 - Ted VanderNootCognitrix, London, UKAttended Course : Belief Craft MP3 Set
"Your presentation of AI & Knowledge Engineering & how computer software systems can learn & decide was quite interesting. But using these models to then explore modelling in the NLP context was mind-blowing! It was really cool how well we were tracking beliefs by only the second day. [...] Not only could we track beliefs & language patterns "on the fly" but we could unravel their interconnections & their interactions conversationally. I thoroughly recommend your course to anyone who wants to improve their skills at tracking language patterns & modelling."
http://www.cognitrix.com/2005 - Nick FortuneIT Consultant, London, UKAttended Course : Knowledge Engineering
"In three days time", he said, "you are all going to be better knowledge engineers than most of the people I've worked with." I blinked. That sounded like quite a claim! Of course, we needn't have worried. Mr. Altfeld conducts his seminars like a Grandmaster laying a trap for a particularly wiley opponent. The opening moves seem so innocuous & then, it all comes together, & by the time you realise you've learned something, it's too late...to do anything except have fun using your new understanding, that is! The real topic of the seminar is modeling. Modeling is arguably the heart of NLP &, until now, a subject that has been pretty much opaque to me. No longer. Jonathan melds techniques from the world of computing with meta-modeling to produce a solid methodical approach to the subject, which is uniquely his own. What can I say? We had a lot of fun, we learned a lot, & most important, what we learned was useful & obvious in its application. If you get a chance to attend one of these events, do it!
1998 - Rosie O'HaraNLP Trainer, NLP Highland, Edinburgh, ScotlanAttended Course : Linguistic Wizardry
I thoroughly enjoyed Jonathan's Linguistic Wizardry in November 2006 in Glasgow, Jonathan's humour and at times subtle directness is charming and enables great learning. I experienced these 3 days and his evening sessions both as a participant and sometimes from a trainer's perspective. The courses gave me more insight into myself (which NLP always does!), as well as more info, and exciting and useful NLP to bring to my own trainees, trainers and clients, as well as my own life. Jonathan's voice and careful testing of the waters in respect of humour are also delightful. And I met some great people. He's really worth the money, go for it, enjoy it and learn.
http://www.nlphighland.co.uk2006 - Marcus InoueSan Diego, CABought Audio : Finding Your Irresistible Voice
Jonathan Altfeld speaks the pleasant truth with his "Finding Your Irresistible Voice" CD set. To my enjoyment, the exercises have improved the quality of my voice. I practiced the techniques that I learned from Jonathan on my brother. In the past, it was difficult to keep his attention due to my monotone voice, but recently when I spoke with my brother, I had his complete attention.
2003 - Lyndell CareyFinancial Advisor, Coach/Facilitator,, Dynamic Mind, Port Charlotte, FLAttended Course : Speaking Ingeniously
"This course is the best integration & application of NLP techniques I have ever experienced. Jonathan is masterful in his ability to help you with your unique speaking & presenting problems. He essentially creates a custom "model" for each participant's presentation success based on your needs, style & goals. "
http://dynamicmind.net2007 - Michael DeBuskNLP Master Practitioner, MarylandAttended Course : NLP Skills-Builders (course)
Jonathan, I absolutely loved spending the weekend training with you in DC. As a Licensed Master Practitioner, I was delighted to find myself learning new ways to further refine my skills and discovering new parts of my brain. That fingertip exercise you demonstrated--the one that increases interhemispherical communication in the brain--I use it daily and am impressed with the results. And I'm noticing that I have an even greater ability with language patterns. My favorite part of the weekend, though, was watching the personal transformations made by other members of the class, specifically the skeptics. These folks went from "show me" to "show me more!" in an incredibly short period of time. You've helped them begin the process of dramatically improving their lives, and it was an honor to observe and take part in it. Thanks, too, for spending extra time with the class... running longer than scheduled so you could share "just one more cool thing" with us, even having meals with us "out in the real world." We all got much more than we paid for. I'm very glad I trained with you and Mastery InSight, and I'll very likely do so again in the future. Thanks again.
http://nlphilia.net/1998