Most marketers underestimate just how physical persuasion really is.
When you see someone smile, your mirror neurons smile. When you hear laughter, your brain laughs with them. Neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran calls them “empathy neurons” because they dissolve the barrier between self and others.
This is why the most memorable ads don’t just tell you something. They make you feel it. They create knee-jerk reactions, inside jokes, even little catchphrases you carry into your daily conversations. Wassup!
That’s what Dr. Matt Delgado has done with one deceptively simple question: Do you know your AQ?
Not IQ. Not EQ. AQ. Your A$$ quotient, the biggest predictor of pain and long-term health. How many hours do you sit on your A$$?
It’s a phrase that lights up mirror neurons because it surprises you. It makes you curious. And once you know what it means, you feel compelled to share it. That’s how brandable chunks work.
In I Think I Swallowed an Elephant, I wrote that words create worlds. They shape the stories we tell ourselves and each other. “I think I swallowed an elephant” was my way of turning an overwhelming struggle into a story of hope, one bite at a time.
AQ is the same kind of story trigger. It reframes health from something reactive to something empowering. It’s sticky, it’s personal, and it spreads because people don’t just remember facts, they remember how you made them feel.
The best brands don’t push products. They create moments where mirror neurons fire, empathy sparks, and stories begin to spread.
So let me ask you: Are you just delivering messages, or are you creating elephants and AQs, phrases that move people, bond them, and live far beyond the one time message?
