3 Marketing Lessons from Fight Club

You’ve probably seen or read Fight Club, but in case you don’t this is a warning of spoilers. Now, go watch it immediately.

For the rest of you guys that already know Tyler Durden — the self-destructive alter ego of the narrator in Fight Club — here is a quick sum-up. In his philosophy Tyler resents consumerism, capitalism and materialism and believes that self-destruction is good, summed up in one sentence; it is only after we have lost everything we are free to do anything. He goes on and begin Fight Club which eventually grows into to Project Mayhem.

What can we learn from this?

1. People do not buy into what you do, but why you do it

Essentially, Fight Club a bunch of office clerks hitting each other in the face, continuously. The idea might sell as a reality show, but try asking people if they want to fight you — I’ve tried, and most don’t. The ones who do want to fight, is often not the one you wish to fight. The product by itself, is in reality very hard to sell to general masses, because it is very unpleasant. How come people join Fight Club in the movie then? Why do they keep doing it, even though their is no fame, no glory, no money involved? Because it stand for something, it has a purpose, it is based on a philosophy. For comparison, what is Apple build on? The philosophy of staying hungry, staying curious, challenge the status quo and Think Different. We get Tyler’s idea of self-destruction, the philosophy behind the fighting which makes it okay, which is why this movie is so freakin’ good.

2. Happiness is the truth

Tyler tells us it is only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything, losing all hope is freedom. Complete freedom and being free to do anything is exactly what money promise us as well. Many companies and their products promise us that we will live freedom to go where we want to be, do what we want to do, and not having any worries what so ever. Look at almost any commercial — do you see sad, confused and bewildered people tied to a desk? Maybe, but you are sure that the product the commercial is selling, will make them happy people. Another character, Don Draper from Madmen, says this best — advertising is based on one thing, happiness; it is freedom of fear.

3. Mirror the consumer

At the end of Fight Club, the narrator realizes he is Tyler Durden. Tyler Durden is a fiction of the narrators own mind. When confronted with this truth Tyler tells the narrator that he created him to “look like you wanna look, fuck like you wanna fuck; I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I’m free in all the ways that you are not” which is exactly why Tyler Durden is desirable. He indeed becomes the very product the narrator craves the most. By mirroring the consumers ideals and wishes in a product or company, it can become almost irresistible to right consumers. This is essentially branding in a nutshell.

Further analysis of Fight Club

What Tyler Durden hates the most is consumerism, yet he goes on to create a huge self-functioning organization, with a lot of different branches such as soap-making, Fight Clubs and Home Assignment Projects. Fight Club becomes a global brand, much similar to big corporations. Project Mayhem maybe even shares similarity with religion as it’s evangelists preaches Tyler’s word “His name is Robert Paulsen” and even goes on to say the famous quote In Tyler we trust. Tyler Durden becomes a messiah in the church of Project Mayhem, preaching a life of self-destruction and wishes for a utopia where trees grow on buildings and people hunt in the streets of NY. Conclusively Tyler Durden creates what he resents the most — a brand.