Monday morning at school, the teacher lined up all the students to present their weekend homework assignment:
"Sell something, and explain your sales strategy."
Sally went first.
"I sold Girl Scout cookies and made $30," she said proudly.
"My approach was appealing to people's sense of community and supporting local troops."
"Excellent, Sally," said the teacher.
Next up was Jenny.
"I sold magazines and made $45," she said.
"I told people it would keep them up to date on world events."
"Very good, Jenny," the teacher nodded.
Then came Little Johnny, lugging a giant cardboard box that he plopped on the teacher's desk.
Out spilled a mountain of cash.
The teacher blinked. "Johnny… how much did you make?"
"Two thousand, one hundred sixty-seven dollars."
The class gasped. "What were you selling?"
"Toothbrushes."
The teacher blinked again. "Toothbrushes?! How on earth did you sell that many?"
Johnny grinned. "At first, I couldn't sell a single one. Nobody cared about toothbrushes. So I changed my strategy."
"I set up a free chips and dip stand downtown during the lunch rush. Everyone who came by tried the dip."
He paused. "And every single person said the same thing"
"Ew! This tastes like dog crap!"
Johnny nodded. "'It is, I told them. Now… would you like to buy a toothbrush?'"
The class erupted in laughter.
The teacher, barely keeping a straight face, said, "Johnny… that's disgusting! But… oddly impressive. What do you call that sales strategy?"
Johnny shrugged. "The government method: give people something crappy for free, then make them pay to fix it."
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