Years ago, I traveled to Jaipur, India.

My friends were getting married.

They call Jaipur “The Pink City” because almost every building is made of a signature pinkish-red brick. It’s beautiful. The whole city glows, like Mars.

One day, my host and I walked past a brick kiln.

We stopped and watched.

The workers were using donkeys to move the bricks from the ovens to the stockpile.

Our host said the donkeys are effective beasts of burden at dawn and dusk, when it’s dark and cool, comfortable. But in the heat of the day, the donkeys slow down.

So, to compel the ass forward, a worker literally dangled a carrot in front of its face.

This worked… until it didn’t. Until the donkey stopped caring about the carrot and dug its heels.

That’s when the worker produced a wooden rod.

“Chalo!” said the worker, striking it. “CHALO!”

“Getting hit always makes the donkey move,” said my host. “They don’t like pain.”

Fact is, people don’t like pain either.

And if given the choice between averting pain and attaining pleasure, we’d almost always choose the former.

Writing an ad? Need an angle?

Remember:

People will jog to pleasure — but we’ll sprint from pain.

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Eddie Shleyner 
VeryGoodCopy, founder

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