NLP Hype in Advertising: Myths, Realities, and Professional Insights

“You can tell him a pack of lies, and do whatever you want with him.” This is the slogan of “advertising” NLP practitioners.

“Modern advertising is simply unimaginable without NLP”—this idea has long been hammered into the heads of gullible advertisers and marketers by NLP gurus of all stripes. Many are willing to pay for expensive NLP seminars and even pricier NLP services. The NLP bubble in advertising is growing by the hour. So where should a poor advertiser or marketer turn?

A few years ago, I came across an article where the head of an ad agency claimed he could easily boost the effectiveness of any ad. All you had to do (for a mere $3,000) was submit your ad for some kind of NLP analysis. Next to the article was an ad for this agency—a prime example of professional incompetence.

Later, I learned that the mysterious abbreviation NLP stands for “neuro-linguistic programming,” a concept introduced by mathematician Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder in their book “The Structure of Magic.”

I’ve always been a stickler for getting to the bottom of things, especially in advertising, to which I’ve devoted most of my life. And here, it turns out, is some “structural-magic” method that can supposedly boost ad effectiveness—and I’d never even heard of it! I was stunned.

I called the agency—what followed was a “meaningful” conversation between the deaf and the blind. I started digging online and reaching out to both Western and local NLP people with a simple question: can you provide evidence that NLP can increase advertising effectiveness? The result: zero. Recently, I posed this question to 20,000 members of the American Marketing Association worldwide. One response stood out:

I’ve seen a couple of students explore these data over the past 15 years, but I’ve never seen any convincing evidence that it has any merit. I’ve always thought of it more as being in the same category as Subliminal Advertising: mostly myth.
— Jef I. Richards, J.D., Ph.D., Professor of Advertising, The University of Texas at Austin

On my website and in my newsletters, I also asked people to share their thoughts on the matter. Here’s a response from Dnipro, Ukraine:

A couple of years ago, I was also searching. I thought those three letters could work miracles. I attended seminars, training courses, gathered information, but the more I learned, the more I realized that NLP is for psychotherapists—and should stay that way!
Sincerely,
Oleg Buts, Head of Advertising, VASIL

This article summarizes the results of my research. I want to clarify: I did not set out to evaluate NLP’s potential in all fields. I’m interested in a narrow professional topic—the effect of NLP in advertising. And on this, I have a clear opinion, reflected in the title of this article. I also have an opinion about the personal qualities of those promoting NLP in advertising.

NLP Claims in Advertising

In the chorus loudly singing the praises of NLP in advertising, you won’t find a single voice from a practicing advertiser—only claims from NLP practitioners themselves. While Western NLPers mention it in passing, our local ones go all out.

For example, “psychotherapist and psychoanalyst” N.N. Naritsyn makes a stunning claim: “Real, professionally made advertising should be perceived by viewers at the unconscious level (What is the conscious mind supposed to do then?) and work according to the principles of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). Practically all our advertising is built on NLP principles.” Reading this, I almost fell off my chair.

Not to be outdone, the NLP quartet of Andrey Shipilov, Tatyana Muzhitskaya, Anatoly Levenchuk, and Sergey Ogurtsov writes: “In business, NLP is applicable in many areas. Starting with advertising and ending with recruitment and negotiations.” For these authors, using NLP in advertising is self-evident and needs no proof.

In my article “Science and Pseudoscience in Advertising,” I discussed how pseudoscientists react to the word “evidence”—it gives them convulsions. This is especially true for NLPers. One NLP enthusiast from Ufa, Vladimir Kushnov, wrote to me: “I personally am not interested in the evidence side of things. In fact, I consider it ridiculous and a waste of time. Everyone uses what they like.” This “expert” works at the Ufa NLP, DHE, and “viria” (and who knows what else!) center Concillieri—a name that, for those who don’t know, means “advisor to a mafia godfather.” If you have strong nerves and aren’t afraid of catching some “psychoviruses,” you can check out their ominous website (just not before bed!).

If you have a few hundred spare dollars burning a hole in your pocket, they’ll offer you mind-blowing seminars on psychoviruses and amazing books that will turn you into a copywriter—or a magician, or whatever you want—in just a couple of days.

That’s how NLP folks are! Take, for example, computer programmer Anatoly Levenchuk. He once visited the NLP crowd and—surprise!—recognized familiar faces. “I really liked the totally programmer-like approach of my new colleagues.” Our programmer quickly adapted his own binary-primitive version of NLP theory—kick out all the psychologists, NLP should be run by us software guys! We’ll work miracles in minutes. Got phobias? No problem. Those pitiful psychologists take weeks; we, the cool programmers, fix them instantly. And that’s not all! “Any NLP specialist has a ready-made set of standard techniques for all sorts of life situations. Afraid of cockroaches? Here’s a behavior model where cockroaches don’t exist; want to succeed in business? Here’s a model for success.” I looked for a price list—how much for cockroaches, and how much for business success? Maybe that’ll be in the next NLP revelation.

Our programmer gets carried away: “In NLP, they talk about well-formed outcomes (I haven’t noticed! But I have noticed they talk a lot!)… Psychologists are good at rapport (contact with the client), but bad at programming. Computer programmers are good at programming, but bad at rapport. And without rapport, NLP doesn’t work, no complaints accepted.” This, in principle, excludes the use of NLP in advertising. But, realizing that no one wants to miss out on the lucrative advertising market (where rapport doesn’t and can’t exist), our software guy immediately starts promoting NLP in advertising—without the very results he praises! Unbelievable.

For dessert, I saved the amusing St. Petersburg NLPer Viktor Savitsky. In his eagerness, he even wrote an article, “Implement NLP in Advertising.” Although, by his own admission, he’s never created an ad and couldn’t provide a single example, he confidently asserts:

“Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), a leader in the field of superiority strategies (Does anyone know what that is?), is now being systematically applied in advertising… (I must have missed that ‘systematic’ moment!) How does this technology work in advertising? NLP provides essential functional resources for five main processes: advertising management, creative design, modeling and design, evaluation of advertising messages, typological analysis of the audience and media, and communication training for staff. (I didn’t understand any of that, but it sounds cool!) For each of these processes, NLP offers a general set of assumptions, knowledge, and skills, as well as specialized tools for effective solutions in the given context… No wonder, given the vast potential of this social-psychological method, many have rushed to use it in advertising… (The author couldn’t introduce me to a single one of these ‘rushers’!) Based on expert evaluation (Who are these experts?), NLP allows only justified (Where’s the justification?) decisions in advertising, characterized by purposefulness (Directed where?), definiteness (What does that mean?), and controllability (Who, how, and what should be controlled?).”

I asked this NLP-advertising-implementer to show me, in broad strokes, how he would use NLP to advertise, say, building materials. Here’s his answer:

1. Study the characteristics of the contacts and organization you’re working with (using NLP solutions).
2. Define goals and describe the desired outcome (using NLP solutions).
3. Determine criteria (constraints) for advertising in this context (client-audience-manufacturer (product)-media-budget, etc.) (using NLP solutions).
4. Identify methodological resources (NLP techniques, templates, methods) to use accordingly.
5. Describe and develop the advertising project: ad message options and delivery strategies (using NLP solutions).
6. Get feedback from the client, focus group, referees (again, with NLP).
7. Select the best option and refine it based on feedback (again, with NLP).
8. Approve and launch, controlling the process (again, with NLP).

When I received this “recipe,” I was speechless.

First, to the question of how you would advertise using NLP, I got the answer: using NLP. Second, you can’t analyze this from a marketing or practical advertising perspective because there’s no marketing or advertising here. Third, no marketer or copywriter would understand this text. I could go on, but the point is this: it’s astonishing that someone who has never worked in advertising, never studied this complex multidisciplinary craft, never created an ad, and doesn’t know a single example of NLP in advertising, confidently writes an article urging the use of their beloved NLP in advertising and offers a “methodology” that would make a veteran like Ogilvy burst out laughing. And not just Ogilvy—any thinking person would.

What is this, folks? Delusion, madness, brainwashing, charlatanism? Explain it to me. As Ogilvy once said about a more innocent matter: “The lunatics have taken over the asylum!” What would he say about this clinical case?

Advertising 101 for NLPers

The General Secretary of the International Association for Neuro-Linguistic Programming (IANLP), Swiss Ueli Frischknecht, rightly believes that “if someone is weak in advertising, studying NLP won’t make them more qualified in advertising.” Our NLP folks would surely disagree. Another quote from the IANLP Secretary General fits them perfectly: “Many people, after attending a couple of NLP seminars, declare themselves the best in any professional field.” And here we’re talking about something as basic as advertising!

The gap between NLPers’ self-confidence in their advertising abilities and their actual qualifications in this complex field is staggering. Analyzing my correspondence with NLPers and samples of NLP advertising, the conclusion is clear: these folks are not just ignorant about advertising—they are militantly ignorant.

This little primer is not so much for NLPers aspiring to work in advertising—they’re unlikely to be convinced—but for advertisers considering whether to spend money and time on NLP consultants.

Salesperson vs. Advertiser

Let’s start with the fact that NLPers don’t understand the difference between a salesperson and an advertiser. Both aim to persuade the client to make a purchase, and each decision is unique—any experienced salesperson will tell you that. Sometimes, several people are involved in the decision (complex sales), each with their own interests and personalities. Both salespeople and advertisers know and account for this.

However, a salesperson works face-to-face with the client, while advertising tries to influence the client indirectly, through print or screen, without direct contact. That’s why NLP co-founder John Grinder rightly believes that using NLP in advertising is impossible in principle. But NLPers (especially ours) go to great lengths to claim (without proof) the opposite.

The Average Client

NLP works with individuals, while advertising deals with the “average” client. Advertising, aimed at thousands or millions, must “sell” to people with different archetypes, temperaments, education levels, prejudices, and language perceptions. Thus, the NLP-favored division of people by preferred information channels (audio, visual, tactile) is meaningless in advertising. So are their attempts to influence the unconscious of thousands at once with the same words—everyone reacts differently, has a different vocabulary, and a different unconscious.

What About Consciousness?

To NLPers, a person is an amorphous being living solely in the unconscious and subconscious. This being consists only of emotions and archetypes, easily falls into a trance—supposedly just by using a certain word (and NLP magicians know exactly which one) or rearranging a sentence. This being is devoid of logic and reason. Grinder himself believes that NLP can’t be used in advertising until “people making ads develop ways to test unconscious responses… that the message should be aimed more at the unconscious than the conscious.” So, according to NLPers, you make all your purchasing decisions in a completely unconscious, thoughtless state. That’s also how you solve all your work, scientific, and everyday problems.

But how does it really work? People have unconscious and subconscious elements, but consciousness plays the dominant role. This is best described in Vita Tsenyov’s book “Psychology of Advertising: Advertising, NLP, and the 25th Frame.” See also my article “The Myth of the 25th Frame. The Russian Chapter.”

Rational and Emotional

NLPers try to influence only emotions. But every decision involves both rational and emotional elements. In “Passion and Reason” (1994), Richard and Bernice Lazarus debunk many myths about emotions. One myth is that emotions are supposedly irrational and independent of thought and logic. Not true—emotions and reason go hand in hand. Emotions always depend on their cause and the individual’s assessment of meaning. Without meaning, without evaluation, emotions don’t arise. If an ad evokes emotions but gives no reason to buy, the advertiser can kiss their money goodbye.

Psychologist Carol Mugh: “Strictly emotional behavior is typical only for small children and adults with serious cognitive impairments. (For some reason, I thought of NLPers here.) Realistic, rational evaluation is present to some degree in all decision-making, regardless of the strength of emotions, loyalty, or the product’s appeal.”

For example, we choose a car not only by analyzing “nuts and bolts,” but also by considering prestige, aesthetics, driving pleasure, and other emotional aspects. We evaluate everything together! When working with a specific product, I describe it for myself and/or the client using a scheme that ensures we consider both rational and emotional selling points:

• Each product is represented by two squares (one left, one right). The left square’s area shows the rational (reason) contribution, the right—the emotional (irrational). White squares mean emotions dominate (jewelry, etc.); gray squares—rational dominates (industrial equipment, etc.). Shaded squares are intermediate cases.

Sometimes, advertisers try to gain extra points by shifting the focus. For example, traditionally “emotional” mascara ads now include “rational” numbers—like the percentage increase in lash volume. I’ve seen computer ads using the name of a famous designer who created the case as a selling point.

Some products (industrial equipment, military tech) are advertised almost 100% with rational selling points. Some effective ads are all emotion.

Form and Content

Generations of top copywriters have proven that in advertising, content (selling points, evidence, etc.) is a hundred times more important than form (language, formatting, design). Yet our NLPers try to “program” consumers only through form, linguistically. For those interested in advertising language, see my articles. Here, I’ll just note: advertising benefits a bit from polished language, but even the best language can’t save an ad with poor marketing content. The main goal of editing in advertising is to express maximum content with minimum words. NLPers’ ad texts, on the other hand, are the opposite—minimal content, maximum (often meaningless) words.

Content should prevail not only in utilitarian things like advertising, but in any text, even fiction. As Pushkin said: “Precision and brevity are the first virtues of prose, and prose requires thoughts and thoughts—without them, brilliant expressions are useless.” When I read NLP ad copy and letters, I kept thinking of the phrase “verbal diarrhea, constipation of thought.” NLP copywriting outdoes even the pseudo-literary copywriting that existed in England a couple of generations ago. Ogilvy was grateful to Claude Hopkins—a brilliant “salesman” in advertising—for curing him of that pseudo-literary nonsense. Have NLPers read Hopkins? Unlikely. They dismiss all pre-NLP advertising as orthodox. Now, only they are the true wizards of advertising. (One of them, “psychovirologist” Viktor Orlov from Ufa, was even called “the best advertiser of Runet” by a copywriting website—imagine that!)

Simplicity

Much has been written about simplicity, “precision and brevity,” but NLPers haven’t read it. They fill ad copy with empty babble and impenetrable wordiness (see example below). Any professional copywriter knows that an ad has a chance to be noticed and read by an indifferent reader only if it’s simple. Some pros recommend testing ad copy on 12-year-olds. Every letter and dot in an ad should work. But NLP consultants in advertising have a different opinion.

Advertising Is Multidisciplinary

A professional ad creator must know marketing, sales, consumer behavior, the advertising environment, visual perception, readability, and more. Anyone from another field who wants to be useful in advertising must also know these things. Otherwise, their narrow recommendations may conflict with other disciplines. NLPers don’t get this. They remind me of the American joke: if all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. (See above for Mr. Savitsky’s “hammer” view of advertising.)

Examples of NLP Advertising

For months, I tried to get NLP “gurus” to show me any ads created using their teachings. They resisted fiercely. With great difficulty, I found a few examples on the website of a “psychotechnology maestro.” Another NLPer sent me a couple more.

As I said, the hard-won experience of generations of advertising practitioners doesn’t interest NLP advertisers. They don’t know, for example, that “vampires” kill ads (so they might suggest putting a half-naked woman next to the product), that blind headlines don’t work (almost all their headlines are blind!), that a bored, uninterested reader is just looking for a reason to skip the ad—and will do so with 100% certainty if they see, for example, this NLP masterpiece:

A Truly WINTER Essay…
The obvious truth—it’s winter… The recent slush has turned into sparkling ice crystals, as if some desperate artist with a single brushstroke replaced the gloomy off-season with something brighter and more impressive… People have perked up: the occasional frosts keep things interesting… But who knows what’s next, if you believe the ever-present weather forecasters and the sour predictions of Mr. Nostradamus…
Winter 2000 promises to be cold…
And if adults are somehow warmed by their daily worries and busy routines, it’s harder with kids… They need not only to be kept warm, but also cheered up!
The most forward-thinking moms and dads are already scratching their heads, pondering the eternal question: “How can I best protect my child from the upcoming flu epidemics that always cause so much trouble?” And the most creative add: “How can I combine this protection with the upcoming New Year’s holidays?”
Holiday and protection… Isn’t that a bit much for us?
You could buy all winter’s worth of hyped imported remedies, sold on every corner… Stock up on a hundred mustard plasters and a couple of kilos of raspberry jam… Maybe even buy a couple dozen disposable syringes for all those chronic bronchitis and pneumonia shots…
But that’s hardly a luxurious gift from Santa Claus… Kids don’t care about antibiotics and don’t like it when their loving parents drag them for shots… Would you like it? We doubt it… Remember your childhood… The smell of the Christmas tree… The sparkling garlands and ornaments… Mom comes up… Kisses you and pulls a mysterious package from under the tree… Opens it and takes out…
Did your mom ever give you a box of “Coldrex” and a new plastic syringe for New Year’s?
No, because your mom wasn’t crazy…
So why not just dress your child warmer? And cuter…
Want a secret? Here comes a little ad for a charming, cozy little store…
You guessed it?
Right! “Children’s Fashion!”
We don’t like advertising either, but how else can we, parents, be directed to something truly good? So good, it’s worth just looking at?
Look, and you’ll instantly feel the comfort and warmth from all these wonderful, unique, and charming hats, sweaters, coats…
We don’t want you to rush out and buy something special for your kids—unless you realize that time, alas, waits for no one, and anything can happen in this strange and unpredictable country…
Let’s just ask ourselves: “Is my child dear enough to me that I want to give them SOMETHING?”
Let’s make this simple truth our gentle and caring motto: “My child will definitely get their gift! And they’ll be happy…”
Or are we not real parents?
Aren’t we?
V.Z. (Truly Caring Dad…)

(I wonder if anyone read to the end?)

As you can guess, after reading this NLP babble, parents rushed to buy everything in the store—after all, they were given so many selling arguments! And in a big city, this store is surely unique!

(There are more examples of NLP-style ad babble about furniture, textiles, paint, spas, pubs.)

As a great NLP “wisdom” in advertising, Mr. Niesov gave me these examples:

• “Why X is the #1 shampoo in the world…”
• “By choosing X, you…”
• “Did you know that…”
• “Choosing X1 or X2…”

This NLPer clearly doesn’t know that professional salespeople and copywriters have known these little tricks since time immemorial. Any good sales textbook is full of them. For example:

• “When should we deliver the copier, morning or afternoon?”
• “Where will you put the computer?”

But seasoned pros also know that such tricks won’t save a failed (content-wise) ad or a failed (content-wise) sales presentation. Both salespeople and copywriters find it amusing to see these little things elevated to the level of theory and made the foundation of all NLP influence in advertising.

By the way, I’d love to see an NLP guru try to sell building materials, computers, pumps, and other prosaic goods. One NLP lady imagines a paint salesperson like this: “A good salesperson will talk about ‘the beauty of the ceiling, which will be as smooth as an egg and never crack,’ and ‘You’ll wake up and look at this ceiling and be glad you did the renovation.’” — You can really feel the sales experience!

People with an NLP “Touch”

When I started interacting with NLPers, I had no idea what I was in for. Requests for proof and results are routine in physics, biology, and other sciences. Here, I expected simple, calm answers: results exist, see these sources; or—I have no results, but I’ll let you know if I get any, etc. That’s how scientists or just intelligent people communicate. But not in NLP. I don’t even know how to describe this “communication.”

A few episodes:

I made a typo in the surname of one of our “top NLPers,” calling him Niyazov. In response, I was immediately scolded: “Mixing up a surname is basic rudeness and unprofessionalism.” I tried to continue the dialogue. Of course, there was no data. Instead, I got a flood of aggression, distortions, stupidity, and insults. When I dared to respond, I was told: “Strange—you’re a pro, but you fell for a simple technological provocation—a challenge.”

By the way, “provocation” is highly respected among NLPers. Here’s one of their joyful exclamations: “How amazing, sir! It really got to you. Shook you up properly. A smart person wouldn’t have reacted… And an advertiser who’s read Ogilvy and Rubicam—even more so (What does Ogilvy have to do with it?)… So it touched a nerve… So it’s true… (What, exactly, is true?)”

It’s impossible to communicate with NLPers. If you ask about one thing, they answer about something else. To a simple question, you might hear, “You’re wrong.” And it’s useless to explain that the questioner can’t be wrong—only someone making a claim can be right or wrong. Strangely, adult NLPers don’t understand that using something and proving its effectiveness are two completely different things. Many are pathologically foolish.

(I was speechless when the author of numerous NLP articles, including on NLP in advertising, said: “Show me in our correspondence where I said I was a supporter or follower of NLP. I’ve never been an NLP adherent.” — Unbelievable!)

It’s pointless to talk to this crowd about scientific honesty, social responsibility, or decency. I was pleasantly surprised by IANLP’s attempt to bring some civility to the NLP craft. In its bulletin, the Association urges members to speak to non-specialists in plain language, “openly describe the nature of results and methods,” “make only such claims about their services as are true and accurate to the best of their knowledge,” and “not make unjustified claims containing false information about their services.” Nevertheless, it took an effort for Secretary General Ueli Frischknecht, in correspondence with me, to finally admit that NLP doesn’t work in advertising.

As I interacted with NLPers, I began to suspect—and eventually became convinced—that I was dealing with the insane… or outright charlatans!

Ueli Frischknecht authoritatively states: “In NLP, you’ll meet all kinds of people. From truly serious professionals to charlatans.” Maybe there are serious professionals in NLP, but I haven’t met any.

The correspondence with members of the Russian NLP community should be shown to a psychiatrist. I think they’d confirm psychologist V.P. Gudkov’s observations about the mental health of pseudoscientists: paranoia, sluggish paranoid schizophrenia, induced delusions, histrionics.

Interesting is the opinion of Professor Pavel Vedenin of Kuban University, who tries to explain NLP oddities online. He writes:

“People processed by NLP techniques have a specific behavior. They have fanatically burning eyes, wide elbows, a fast, sharp gait. They are usually intolerant, unable to compromise. They are tough in achieving goals, often straightforward… They are cruel and vindictive. Ruthless, two-faced, and deceitful. Their flattery is a maneuver with very specific selfish goals.” — You can tell he’s had enough.

Now, I can fully agree with another of the professor’s statements:

“The NLP movement is very aggressive in nature and doesn’t shy away from the crudest forms of disinformation and distortion. For example, NLPers often present their material in such a way that an inexperienced reader may get the illusion that their technologies are also used by other psychological schools.”

“A Bunch of Troublemakers”

Confirming Vedenin’s description, psychologist and NLPer Michael Watson writes in his article “NLP: Narrow Linguistic Programming”: “Today, NLP seems like a bunch of troublemakers who don’t respect each other and are constantly fighting for status (and authority) in the consumer community.” You feel this immediately when you start talking to NLPers. Here are a couple of examples:

Niesov: “I don’t like NLP trainers. I think most of them can’t teach and don’t know how to use what they talk about in real life. That’s why I started running NLP trainings myself.”

The manners of “foreign” NLPers aren’t much better than ours. For example, Italian NLP guru Gianni Fortunato says, with the politeness typical of this “science”: “I consider the entire European Association of Neuro-Linguistic Psychotherapy to be idiots.”

And to top it all off, the two NLP founders fought over rights and glory, resulting in one slamming the door and creating a new “science,” DHE (Design Human Engineering), wisely trademarking the ridiculous name.

Now you can imagine how the NLP pack attacks anyone who doubts their “magical” talents. What I had to listen to from them can’t be printed. And it’s all so pathetic and lowbrow! Often, my only motivation to continue corresponding with another raging NLP “sage” was curiosity—just how far into madness could they go?

ARTICLE TOO LONG, CONTINUED HERE.