SURROUND YOUR NAME WITH THE SENSATIONAL AND SCANDALOUS

Drawattentionto

yourselfby creating

^an

unforgettable,

^evencontroversial

image.

^Courtscandal. Do

anything

^tomake

yourself

^seem

larger

^than

life

and shine more

brightly

than those aroundyou. ^Makeno distinction be- tweenkinds

ofattention—notoriety of

any^sortwill

bringyon power.

^Better

tobe slanderedandattacked than

ignored.

OBSERVANCE OFTHELAVV

P. T.

Barnum,

^America’s

premier nineteenth-century ^showman,

started his

career as an assistant totheowner ofacircus,Aaron Turner. In 1836 the circus

stopped

ⁱⁿ

Annapolis, Maryland,

^{for aseries of}

performances.

^On

the

morning

^of

opening day,

Barnum tookastroll

through

^town,

wearing

^a

new black suit.

People

^{started to} follow him. Someone in the

gathering

crowdshoutedoutthat hewasthe Reverend

Ephraim

^K.

Avery,

^infamous

as aman

acquitted

^{of the}

charge

of murder but stillbelieved

guilty by

^most

Americans. The angrymobtore off Bamum’ssuitandwas

ready

^to

lynch

him. After

desperate appeals,

^Barnum

finally

convinced them to follow himtothecircus,^wherehecould

verify

^his

identity.

Once

there,

^{oldTurnerconfirmedthat thiswasalla}

practical joke-—he

himself had

spread

^{the rumor} that Barnum was

Avery.

The crowd dis—

persed,

^but

^Barnum,

^{who had}

nearly

^been

killed,

^{was not amused. He} wantedtoknow what couldhave inducedhisbossto

play

^suchatrick.

“My

dear Mr.

Barnum,”

^Turner

replied,

^{“itwasall forour}

good. ^Remember,

^all

weneedtoensure successis

notoriety.”

^{And indeed}everyone^{in townwas}

talking

^aboutthe

joke,

^{andthecircuswas}

packed

^that

night

and every

night

it

stayed

ⁱⁿ

Annapolis.

^{Barnumhadlearneda}lesson he wouldnever

forget.

Bamum‘sfirst

big

^{ventureof hisown wasthe}American Museum——a collection of curiosities, ^located in New York. One

day

^a

beggar

ap-

proached

^{Bamuminthestreet. Instead of}

giving

^himmoney, ^Bamumde- cided to

employ

^him.

Taking

^{him back to themuseum,he} gavethe ^man livebricksandtold himtomakeaslowcircuitofseveralblocks.Atcertain

points

^{he was to}

lay

^{down abrick on the}

^sidewalk, always keeping

^one

brick in hand. Onthe return

journey

^hewasto

replace

^{eachbrickonthe}

streetwiththeonehe held. Meanwhile hewastoremainseriousofcounte- nance andto answer no

questions.

^{Once backatthe museum,he was to} enter, walk^around

inside,

^thenleave

through

^{theback door}and make the

same

bricklaying

^circuit

again.

On the man’s first walk

through

^{the streets, several hundred}

people

watched his

mysterious

^movements.

By

^{his fourth circuit, onlookers}

swarmed around

him, debating

^whathewas

doing. Every

^{timeheentered}

themuseumhewasfollowed

by people

^who

bought

^ticketsto

keep

^watch»

ing

^him.

Many

^{of themwere distracted}

by

^{themuseum’s}

collections,

^and

stayed

^inside.

By

the end of the first

day,

^{the brickmanhad drawnover a}

'll|l» \\"AS|' SVI) ‘l'|l|".

l*’ltI'\t,.‘li

A wasp named Pin Tail

waslongⁱⁿquestof

some(Iced that would makehimforever famous.^Sooneday^he entered theking's palace^andslung^the littleprince,^whowasin hell. Theprince^awoke with loud cries.The king^{and hiscoumers} rushed intoseewhat hadhappened.^The prince^wasyelling^as the warp stung^him again^andagain.^The cozmiers triedtocatch the warp,andeachin turnwasstung. The wholemyalh0u.s'1zhnld rushedin,thenews soonspread,^and peopleflocked^lothe palace.^Thecity^wasin

anuproar, all l)m'iue.\'.\‘

Sll.S'[l€N(l(.’d.^{Said the} wasp^toitself before^it expired from^itsefforts.

“Anamewithout/J1me islike/ire^wilhuul flame.^ThereisIwthirrg

likeattracting^{notzce at} any^cost."

INDIAN1-ABLE

LAW 6 ^I 45

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Creator,^"Vim Mumlvr

46

‘

thousand

people

^{intothemuseum.A few}

days

^laterthe

police

ordered him to cease and desistfromhis walks——thecrowdswere

blocking

traffic. The

bricklaying stopped

but thousands of New Yorkers had entered the mu- seum,and many of those had become P. T. Barnum^converts.

Barnum wouldput^{aband ofmusicianson a}

balcony overlooking

^the

street, beneath^a

huge

^banner

proclaiming

FREE MUSIC FOR THE MILLIONS.

What

generosity,

New Yorkers

thought,

^and

they

^flockedto hear the free concerts.But Barnum took

pains

^{tohire theworstmusicianshe could}

find,

andsoonafier the band struck up,

people

^would

hurry

^to

buy

^ticketstothe

museum, where

they

^{wouldbe outof earshotofthe band’snoise,and of}

the

booing

^ofthecrowd.

Oneofthe first oddities Barnum toured around the

country wasjoice Heth,

^{a womanheclaimedwas161}years

old,

^andwhomhe advertisedas a

slave who had ^once been

George Washington’s

^nurse. After several months the crowds

began

^to

dwindle,

^{soBarnumsentan}anonymous letter to the papers,

claiming

^{that Heth was a clever fraud.}

‘joice ^Heath,”

^he

wrote, ^{“is notahuman}

being

^butanautomaton, made up of

whalebone, indie-rubber,

and numberless

springs.”

^{Thosewho hadnotbotheredtosee}

her beforewere

immediately

^curious,and those who had

already

^seenher

paid

^toseeher

again,

^{to findoutwhethertherumorthatshewas arobot}

wastrue.

In

1842,

^Barnum

purchased

^{thecarcassof whatwas}

purported

^tobea

mermaid. Thiscreature resembled a

monkey

^{with the}

body

^ofa

^fish,

^but

the head and

body

^were

perfectly joined—it

^was

truly

^a wonder. After

someresearch Barnum discovered that thecreaturehad been

expertly put together injapan,

where the hoax had caused

quite

^astir.

He nevertheless

planted

^{articles in} newspapers around the country

claiming

^the

capture

^ofamermaidin

the Fiji

^{Islands. He alsosent}the pa—

pers woodcut

prints

^of

paintings showing

^mermaids.

By

^{thetimehe showed}

the

specimen

^{inhismuseum,a}national debate had been

sparked

^overthe

existenceof these

mythical

^creatures.A few months before Batnum’scam~

paign,

^{no one hadcared or evenknownabout}

mermaids;

^noweveryone

was

talking

^{about themasif}

they

^werereal. Crowds flockedinrecordnum»

berstoseethe

Fiji Mermaid,

^andtohear debatesonthe

subject.

A few years

later,

Barnum toured

Europe

with General Tom

Thumb.

^a

five-year—old

dwarf from Connecticut whom Bamum claimed was an

elevenvyear-old English boy,

and whom he had trainedto do many ^re- markable acts.

During

^{this tour Bamum’s name} attracted such attention that

Queen Victoria,

^thatparagon^of

sobriety, requested

^a

private

^audience

with him and his talented dwarfat

Buckingham

Palace. The

English

press may have ridiculed

Bamum,

but Victoriawas

royally

entertained

by ^him,

and

respected

^{himeverafter.}

Interpretation

Barnum understood the fundamental truth about

attracting

^attention:

Once

people’s

eyes^{are on}you, you have^a

special legitimacy.

^For

^Barnum,

creating

interest meant

creating

^a

crowd;

^ashelater wrote,

“Every

^crowd

hasasilver

lining.”

And crowds tendto actin

conjunction.

^Ifoneperson

stops

^toseeyour

beggarman laying

^{bricks inthe street, more will dothe}

same.

They

^will

gather

like dust bunnies.

Then, given

^a

gentle push, they

willenteryour^{museum or}watch your show. To^createacrowd you have^to do

something

^{different and odd.}

Any

^{kind of}

curiosity

^{will serve}the pur- pose, for crowds^are

magnetically

^attracted

by

the unusual and

inexplica-

ble. And onceyou have their

attention,

^{neverlet it}go. If^{it veers}toward other

people,

^itdoessoatyour expense. Barnum would

ruthlessly

^suckat~

tentionfromhis

competitors, knowing

^{whatavaluable}

commodity

^{it is.}

Atthe

beginning

of your^risetothetop,

then, spend

all your energy^on

attracting

^{attention. Most}

important:

^The

quality

^ofthe attention isirrele

vant.Nomatterhow

badly

^{his showswere}

^reviewed,

^orhow

slanderously personal

^werethe attacksonhis

hoaxes,

^{Barnumwouldnever}

complain.

^If

anewspaper^criticreviledhim

particularly badly,

ⁱⁿ

fact,

^{he madesureto}

invitethemantoan

opening

^andto

give

him the bestseatinthe house.He would even write anonymous attacks ^on his own

work, just

^to

keep

^his

nameinthe papers. From Bamum’s

vantage,

attentionwwhether

negative

or

positive——was

^themain

ingredient

^{of hissuccess. Theworstfateinthe}

world fora man who yearns

fame, glory, ^and,

^ofcourse, power^{is to} be

ignored.

Ifthe

^cou.m'er

happens

^toengage^inarmsinsome

public spectacle

suchas

jausting

^{. . . he willensurethat thehome hehas is}

beautifully caparisoned,

^{that he}

himselfis suitably

^{attired, with}

appropriate

mentorsandingenious^{minesto attracttheeyes}

qfthe

^onlookers

inhis directionas

surely

^asthe ladeswneattractsiron.

Halzlr1.s.wn>(Irz.tl2T,grli01zr2, ^{I 478- I 52 9}

KEYS TO POWER

Burning

^more

brightly

than those around you^isaskill thatno oneisborn with. Youhave to learnto attractattention, ^“as

surely

^{asthe lodestoneat~}

tractsiron.”At thestartof your^career,you^mustattach your^nameand rep- utationtoa

quality,

^an

image,

^{that sets}you

apart

^{from other}

people.

^This

image

^canbe

something

^likeacharacteristic

style

^of

^dress,

^{or a}

personality quirk

^thatamuses

people

^and

gets

talked about. Oncethe

image

^{is estalr}

lished,

you have^anappearance,^a

place

^inthe

sky

for your^star.

It is a common mistake to

imagine

^{that this}

peculiar

appearance of yours should ^not be

controversial,

^{that to} be attacked is somehow bad.

Nothing

could be further from the truth. To avoid

being

^aflashinthe pan, and

having

your

notoriety eclipsed by another,

you^{must not}discriminate between different

types

^{ofattention; inthe}

end,

every kind will workin your^favor.

Barnum,

^{we have seen, welcomed}

personal

^{attacks and felt}

noneed to defend himself. He

deliberately

^courtedthe

image

^of

being

^a

humbug.

reports (/1111(}r7s'sa<'rr attracted theattention

ofljmpumrClmrlcsV

bywearingufamu.v1it‘

paper<,'()si‘1un:e.In doing^sohewasadopt»

mg^{thetacticstl.$‘€(/}by Di:zocrr1Ie.s'. who.in ordertogain(ZC(‘L’.l‘S' In

AltczmmlertheGreat.is suit!tohaveappeared di.rgL1isc(1^asthe rmkt-cf Ht'r.':ule.x wlzm the monarchwasxittizzgⁱⁿ jzrdgnzciiz.

!‘H§€ <,‘()UR’l’ mrris‘i‘.

MARTIN VVARNKE.

l993

LAW6 .1 47

Thecourtof Louis XIV containedmany talentedwriters, artists,

great beauties,

^{andmenandwomenof}

impeccable

^{virtue,butno one wasmore}

talkedaboutthanthe

singular

^Duede Lauzun. Theduke^was

short,

^almost

dwarfish,

^{and he was} prone ^to the most insolent kinds ofbehavior-—he

slept

^withthe

king’s

^mistress,and

openly

^insultednot

only

^{othercourtiers}

but the

king

^himself.

^{Louis, however,}

^wasso

beguiled by

^{theduke’seccen~}

tricities that hecould notbeathis absences from the court. Itwas

simple:

The

strangeness

of the duke’scharacter attracted attention. Once

people

wereenthralled

by ^him, they

wanted him aroundatany^cost.

Society

^craves

larger-than-life figures, people

who stand above the

general mediocrity.

^{Never be}

afraid, then,

^{of the}

qualities

^thatsetyou

apart

and drawattention toyou. Court

controversy,

^{even scandal.Itisbetterto} be

attacked,

^even

slandered,

^than

ignored.

^All

professions

^areruled

by

^this

law,

^{and all}

professionals

^musthaveabit of the showmanabout them.

Thegreat^{scientistThomas}Edison knew thattoraise moneyhe hadto remaininthe

public eye

^{atanycost.Almostas}

important

^asthe inventions themselves^washow he

presented

^themtothe

public

^{andcourtedattention.}

Edison would

design w'sual1y dazzling experiments

^to

display

^{his dis~}

coveries with

electricity.

^Hewould talk of future inventions thatseemed fantastic at the

time-—robots,

and machines that could

photograph thought—-and

that he hadno intentionof

wasting

^hisenergy ^on, but that made the

public

^{talk about}him. He did

everything

^{he couldtomakesure}

thathereceivedmoreattentionthan his

great

rival Nikola

Tesla,

^whomay

actually

^{have beenmore}brilliant than hewasbut whosenamewasfar less known.In

1915,

^itwasrumoredthat Edison and Tesla wouldbe

joint recip-

ientsof that

year’s

Nobel Prizein

physics.

^The

prize

^was

eventually given

^to

a

pair

^of

English physicists; only

^{laterwasitdiscoveredthatthe}

prize

^com-

mitteehad

actually approached ^Edison,

^{but he}had turned them

down,

^re-v

fusing

^tosharethe

prize

^withTesla.

By

^{thattime hisfamewas more secure}

than

Tesla’s,

^andhe

thought

^{itbettertorefusethe honorthanto allow his}

rival theattentionthatwould havecomeevenfrom

sharing

^the

prize.

If you find

yourself

^{in a}

lowly position

that offers little

opportunity

^for

you^to drawattention,^aneffective trickistoattack the most

visible,

^most

famous,

^most

powerful

person you^canfind. When Pietro

Aretino,

^a_young Romanservant

boy

^{of the}

early

^sixteenthcentury,^wantedto

get

^attention

as awriterof_verses,he decidedto

publish

^aseriesof satirical poemsrid}

culing

^thepopeand his affection fora

pet elephant.

^Theattackput^Aretino in the

public

eye

immediately.

^{Aslanderousattackon a}person^ina

posi-

tionof power^{would haveasimilar}effect.

Remember, however,

^tousesuch

tactics

sparingly

^after you have the

public’s

^{attention, when the act can}

wearthin.

Once inthe

limelight

you ^must

constantly

^renewit

by adapting

^and

varying

your method ^of

courting

^attention. If you

don’t,

^the

public

^will

grow

tired,

^willtake you^for

granted,

^{and willmove ontoanewerstar.The}

game

requires

^constant

vigilance

^and

creativity.

^{Pablo Picasso never al}

lowed himself to fade into the

background;

^{ifhis name became too at}

tached toa

particular style,

^hewould

deliberately upset

^the

public

^{with a}

newseriesof

paintings

^thatwent

against

^all

expectations.

^{Betterto create}

something ugly

^and

disturbing,

^he

believed,

^{thantoletviewers}grow^toofa- miliar with hiswork.Understand:

People

^feel

superior

^tothe person whose actions

they

^can

predict.

If you show them who ^{is in}control

by playing against

^their

expectations,

you both

gain

^their

respect

^and

lighten

your hold

ondreir

fleeting

^attention.

I m ag^{e :} The

Limelight.

^The

actor whosteps ^{into this bxil»}

liant

light

^{attains a}

heightened

presence. All eyes^{are on}him. There isroomfor

only

^{oneactor atatime in}

the

limelight’s

^narrow

beam;

^{do what-}

everittakes tomake

yourself

^itsfocus.

Make your

gestures

^so

large,

^amus-

ing,

^and scandalous that the

light

stays ^on you while the other actors are left in

the shadows.

Authority:

Be ostentatious and be seen. . . .Whatis notseenis

as

though

^{itdidnot exist. . . . It}

was

light

^thatfirst caused allcre-

ation toshineforth.

Display

^fills

upmany

blanks,

^covers_up^defi-

ciencies,

^and

gives everything

asecond

life, especially

^whenit

is backed

by genuine

^merit.

(Baltasar ^Gracién, 16014658)

LAW6 349

LAW 6