Is this the most genius presentation trick of all time?
“The trick to any useful work is to give the critic something to chew on that isn’t your leg. ”
In his book, ‘Now Try Something Weirder,’ author Michael Johnson describes an ingenious creative presentation technique developed by an ad agency.
It’s called ‘the blue duck’.
In every carefully crafted client presentation, the agency included a small blue duck in the visuals.
When the feedback came, it was almost always the same:
“We love it, but can you remove the duck?”
The creatives would offer a token defence, then graciously concede.
The duck was cut, but the rest sailed through unchanged.
This tactic was repeated for years.
Why did it work?
For the simple reason that most people feel an urge to tweak something, however small, to leave their mark.
By giving clients a harmless detail to remove, the agency satisfied that impulse and protected the work that mattered.
Can you think of other examples where a ‘sacrificial duck’ was used to achieve a desired outcome?
