One of the many things I stress in my business seminars is this ironclad rule of advertising.

When logic and emotion come into conflict — Emotion always wins.

We are emotional human beings and we don’t always think logically but we always think emotionally.

Emotions Direct Our Lives

If you don’t believe my ironclad rule, then you can take me down to the grocery store and show me the dead mouse or dead bird cat food.

Wouldn’t that be logical? I mean my cat brings both in the house all the time to the shrieking of my wife for me to do something about it.

Unfortunately, the cat just doesn’t seem to get it.

We make decisions on how those decisions make us feel. You need no other proof than the recent testimony on Capitol Hill to decide the next Supreme Court Justice.

If we “feel” the individual party’s testimony is credible then we embrace that position. It’s our gut feeling that directs us. Not the logic of their words.

We see and feel delivery not the spoken points.

Why Negative Campaign Ads Work

Many Americans fail to appreciate the freedom we have to enter a ballot box and decide who our local, state, and national leaders will be.

What makes us go to that box is not issues but how we feel about those issues. It’s much easier to go to the polls if you’re angry than if things are just peachy keen.

Negative ads are designed make us dislike the candidate or initiative and we react based on how that candidate or initiative makes us feel.

The more we dislike the person or issue that more likely it will be that we show up to make our voice heard.

A negative will spread much further and faster than a positive.

I’m guilty of this myself. I did not vote for Donald J. Trump. I voted against Hillary Clinton.

She could have been running against George of the Jungle and George would have received my enthusiastic support.

Some Final Thoughts

Right now, we’re in the beginnings of the baseball playoffs. If our team wins we’re pumped; if they lose than we may not sleep well that night.

Does that sound logical to you? Losing sleep over a baseball game? Yet people do react that way.

How many people paint their faces or bodies and attend games? Logical?

When you hear or see an ad stop and think about what’s being presented. Is it a logical argument or an emotional one?

In what direction are you being pushed — and why? Who benefits from your vote?

Try to put at least a little logic in your upcoming emotional vote. You’ll feel a lot better if you do.