When Barrack Obama was running for President, a journalist asked a bit of a “gotcha” question. He asked candidate Obama whether he’d ever smoked m*rijuana. And instead of trying to hide a mistake that might’ve cost him the race, he admitted to it. Obama said, “When I was a kid, I inhaled. That was the point.” Not only did this admission seem to make Obama more likeable, but it also positioned him against his main rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton. Her husband, President Bill Clinton, had famously said, “I didn’t inhale” when asked if he’d used c*nnabis in the past. Because Obama was already seen as a likeable, smart and competent guy something called the Pratfall Effect kicked in, and made him even more likeable, because now he didn’t seem “too perfect.” 👉 And it turns out that’s what’s true for presidential candidates can also be true for regular people, celebrities, and consumer brands, too. Join me today as we examine how the Pratfall Effect can help make people and brands more likeable. Just by acknowledging an imperfection or two.
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