According to the Law of Attraction, you get what you think about (Watch the Michael Losier video below).

So if you say to someone “don’t slam the door”, they will slam the door. But if you ask them to “close the door quietly” they will close the door quietly.

The premise is, think more about what you DO want and less about what you DON’T.

I thought it would be interesting to look at how this law of attraction rule would affect advertising campaigns, which tell us what NOT to do.

Would they work if they told us what TO do instead?

Let’s take a look at this anti binge drinking advert as an example…

The strapline in the advert includes the term “Don’t Be A Drinkhead”. Going by the previous example this would be a akin to the “don’t slam the door” approach rather than “close the door quietly”.

If the main text

“Every night, binge drinkers put themselves at risk getting into illegal taxis”

was rewritten concentrating on the positive, i.e. how the government DOES want us to act, it could read somthing like this…

“Drink safely. Call for a licensed taxi to get home”

But surely by the law of attraction, Drink safely would encourage people to drink.

“Enjoy yourself. Call for a licensed taxi to get home.” would be another option which encourages enjoyment, and safety, without mentioning alcohol.

Basically there would be more focus on what IS wanted (to keep safe) and less on the behaviour that ISN’T (to put yourself at risk).

Government organisations seem to resort to advertising from the negative. Do “Don’t Drink and Drive” and “Stop Smoking” ads really work, or do they actually glamourise and create more drink drivers and smokers?