Marketing Lessons From Horny Man-bats and Two-legged Beavers

Imagine pouring your first cup of coffee, grabbing the morning paper, and reading the news:

There’s life on the moon. 

So it went on this day (August 25) in 1835 for readers of the New York Sun. 

In a series of six articles published over one week, the paper reported that English astronomer John Herschel built a giant telescope, lugged it to the horn of Africa, and saw extraordinary things when he pointed the ‘scope at the lunar surface…

Giant amethyst crystals, massive rocks covered with red flowers, rushing rivers, 38 species of trees, 

…and fantastic beasts. Lots of fantastic beasts. Five species of “ovipara” (egg-laying animals). Nine species of mammals – including bison, unicorns, two-legged beavers, and a human-like thing dubbed “vespertilio-homo or man-bat” 

The beavers carried their young in their arms, lived in well-constructed huts, and had mastered fire. 

The man-bats were “covered, except on the face, with short and glossy copper-colored hair, and had wings composed of a thin membrane, without hair, lying snugly upon their backs.” 

Herschel reportedly witnessed the man-bats having “animated conversations,” proving they were “rational creatures.” 

But that didn’t make them well-mannered. 

These horny, little man-bats were…ahem…engaging in amorous congress out in the open. 

(Egads! Is there no shame on the moon?!?)

Here’s an artist rendering from the newspaper.

Warning: Before you dish out big bucks to ride with Jeff Bezos or Richard Branson on their rockets…

….so you can peep at man-bat whoopee…

…you need to know…

It was all a hoax.

Herschel was a real astronomer. But he didn’t know until weeks later that The Sun made him the star of this wild tale.

A Sun reporter named Richard Adams Locke reportedly wrote it. 

Why did he do it? Satire. 

Locke seemed to be mocking Natural Theologians who argued – in excruciating detail – that God created a universe full of life. 

Thomas Dick was among the famous Natural Theologians in the early 1800s. He “calculated” that the solar system contained 21,894,974,404,480 inhabitants…

…including 4,200,000,000 on the moon. 

Dick and his writings were very popular in the USA. Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of his fans. 

But Locke wasn’t buying it. 

So, apparently, he cooked up the hoax to poke fun at Dick and his ilk. 

But…

No one got the joke!

Joe Q. Public and others who read The Sun thought the reports were true. 

A group of scientists from Yale even bought it. They traveled to New York, hoping to review the astronomer’s reports. But The Sun sent the Yalies home without a peek. 

The Sun didn’t fess up until mid-September – three weeks after they published the first report. 

Which makes me wonder…

How did The Sun persuade thousands of New Yorkers that horny man-bats and two-legged beavers inhabited the moon (even if the newspaper’s intended it as a joke)? 

At least three reasons I can fathom: 

1) The audience desired to believe it. Even today, many of us want to believe there’s intelligent life out there. In 1835, many believed it or wanted to believe it. The Sun filled in the details. 

2) Specificity. Nine species of mammals. Thirty-eight species of trees. Nine species of “ovipara.” And detailed descriptions of the animals, down to their mating habits. The more specific the description, the more believable it is. 

3) Proof. The Sun reported that future articles would include certificates from “several Episcopal, Wesleyan, and other ministers, who, in the month of March last, were permitted, under stipulation of temporary secrecy, to visit the observatory, and become eye-witnesses of the wonders which they were requested to attest.”

We’re not in the hoax business. But all of us who market products and services are in the persuasion business.

And there’s plenty to learn from those three reasons above. 

We don’t create desire. We tap it.

Understand what your audience desires and fulfill that desire. That’s a powerful formula for product development. That’s a powerful formula for persuasive marketing. 

Specificity sells.

Stay tuned. You’ll get an email next week about the persuasive power of specificity. 

Proof sells.

Remember…Thomas Dick told us that 21,894,974,404,480 inhabitants in the solar system is part of God’s plan. Natural Theology.

So, when The Sun told us about unicorns on the moon, it was the perfect touch to promise some certified testimonials from God’s people – Episcopal, Wesleyan, and other ministers. 

Tap desire. Make specific claims. Support them with authoritative proof. 

That works to pull off an all-time great hoax. 

That also works if you want to sell honest, valuable products and services.