Three Marketing Lesson from “Dr. Strangelove”
(~500 words)
By Ellis Booker
“Dr Strangelove,” Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 black comedy, is my favorite movie. I’ve probably watched it 30 times in as many years, and never miss recommending it to the uninitiated.
A sharp satire about power, politics and the folly of war (“nuclear combat toe to toe with the Roosskies”), the movie has held up astonishingly well; it’s as relevant today as it was 50 years ago, at the height of the Cold War.
But “Strangelove” also contains these three lessons for marketers. (Note: Spoiler alert.)
Scene: In the austere war room, General "Buck" Turgidson (George C. Scott) patiently explains to U.S. President Merkin Muffley (Peter Sellers) that the American bombers, now on their way to attack Russia, cannot be recalled because they’ve switched on a device that filters out radio messages unless preceded by a three-letter code.
Turgidson: But since there are over 17,000 permutations...it's going to take us about two-and-a-half days to transmit them all.
Muffley: How soon did you say our planes will be entering Russian radar cover?
Turgidson: About 18 minutes from now, sir.
Lesson: Before embarking on any marketing analytics project, stop and ask: Will we be able to use these insights to make timely business decisions?
Scene 1: Aboard one of the bombers, Major T. J. “King” Kong ( Slim Pickens) reads the contents of the crew’s survival kits. Along with a gun, two boxes of ammunition and rations, the kit contains a miniature pharmacy, a “combination Russian phrase book and Bible,” and one hundred dollars in rubles and gold.
Major Kong: (reading to the end of the list): ..nine packs of chewing gum; one issue of prophylactics; three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings. Shoot, a fella' could have a pretty good weekend in Vegas with all that stuff.
Scene 2: Brig. Gen. Jack Ripper (Sterling Hayden) explains to Group Captain Mandrake (Peter Sellers, again) why he drinks “only distilled water, or rainwater, and only pure-grain alcohol.”
Ripper: Do you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous Communist plot we have ever had to face?
Lesson: Consumers may perceive your products, positively or negatively, in ways you’ve never anticipated. Never stop looking for better ways to understand what they think about them, and about your brand.
Scene: Back in the war room, a wheelchair-bound Dr. Strangelove (Peter Sellers, again) explains the elegance of the Soviet Union’s “Doomsday” device, which will plunge the world into a nuclear nightmare if a single warhead hits the USSR. The device is entirely automated and unstoppable.
President Merkin Muffley: How is it possible for this thing to be triggered automatically and at the same time impossible to untrigger?
Dr. Strangelove: Mr. President, it is not only possible, it is essential. That is the whole idea of this machine, you know. Deterrence is the art of producing in the mind of the enemy... the FEAR to attack. And so, because of the automated and irrevocable decision-making process which rules out human meddling, the Doomsday machine is terrifying and simple to understand... and completely credible and convincing.
Lesson: Are each of your marketing messages simple to understand, completely credible and convincing? If not, it’s time to fix them.
But first, pour yourself a tall glass of rainwater or grain alcohol and go watch “Strangelove” with someone who’s never seen it.
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