Our magic industry is governed by the magic dealers. Imagine a (magic) world without our dealers. It would be drearily and boring. Only half the fun.
But also, with the dealers came the trade-specific copy. They developed it almost into an art form of deceiving the prospective customer. A special way of describing products in order to drag the customer into buying it. Most of that copy is knowingly misleading and accentuates unimportant facts whilst hiding important facts.
Surely you are more or less familiar with the “dealer speak” by now. But it takes years to learn it. In these learning years, you pay your tribute and learn by trial and error. It usually takes a long time and costs a lot of money.
Here is my personal hack for that, and one that really shortens the way. Simply imagine being in a music shop. Then imagine further you want to buy a guitar. Then apply the usual “magic dealer speak” to it:
“Never before seen!”
“Secret for first time ever revealed!”
“Play it within a few minutes!”
“No skill required! Self-playing!”
“Unpack and play it!”
“No strings, no corpus, no hidden sounds.”
“No tuning necessary!”
“Can be played anywhere, anytime!”
“Can play in any tune!”
“Easy to reset!”
“Spectators will be astonished when they hear you with it!”
“Perfect for kid shows, trade shows, in fact, any audience!”
“Ideal closer for any act!”
“Packs small, plays big!”
Would you really buy that guitar? Or would you just simply ask different and more important questions about it?
I stopped believing the magic dealer’s advertising and copy. No matter how hard they try and how devious the copy is.
I don’t believe anything anymore.
Period.
