Today we celebrate one of the oldest federal holidays in our countries history, Christopher Columbus day.
In School we learn about this brave hero. Even though everyone believed the world was flat and he would fall off the world, he fearlessly ventured out in 1492, sailing the ocean blue, and discovered America.
Well depending on your definition of “discovered” there is a small portion of that story that is correct.
The American’s had actually been visited 200 years earlier vikings and, of course, was named after Amerigo Vespucci 7 years later. Using the latin version of his name “America”.
The europeans did awful things the the natives.
What we teach our kids in school and celebrate every October is a great story about freedom, hope, and opportunity. But with a small amount of research you find that it was really a horrific story oppression, degradation and genocide.
Also another funny little lie is that at that time explorers knew that the world was round… but why let some facts get in the way of a good story.
But what can Internet Marketers take away from this?
Nothing is ever as it appears – One of the hardest things to get through companies heads is that nobody buys your product for what it actually does.. But rather they story they tell themselves it does.
Sell the results never the “features” – The Christians and in particular the group known as the knights of columbus petitioned hard and eventually got the president to recognize Columbus day as a federal holiday. “It is a symbol of our way of life we have now. Fearless discovery”. Thats a pretty good result =P… even if its not really true.
If a small part of the story is true you can fudge the rest – Christopher Columbus made aware to Europeans that there was more out there. Thats basically it… Yet he gets credit for one of the most celebrated discovery in the history of man kind. He thought the world was flat? nope..
I am pumped for the up coming elections. I love watching how politicians create stories of what them getting elected will do for you… Course once elected most of those don’t ever happen.
Anyway just got me thinking today.