How to sell toothbrushes Monday at school, the teacher lined up all the students and had them present their weekend homework: their assignment was to sell something and give a presentation on effective salesmanship. Sally was up first. "I sold Girl Scout cookies and I made $30. My sales approach was to appeal to people's sense of civic duty and I credit that for my success." "Very good, Sally," said the teacher. "Next?" Jenny went next. "I sold magazines and I made $45," she said. "My approach was to convince people that the magazines would keep them up to date on current events and trends." "Very good, Jenny," the teacher said. Eventually it was Little Johnny's turn and as he walked up to the front carrying a large cardboard box, the teacher held her breath. He dumped the box out onto the teacher's desk, covering it with cash. "I made $2,167," Little Johnny said. "$2,167?!" the teacher exclaimed. "What in the world were you selling?" "Toothbrushes," said Little Johnny. "Toothbrushes?!" echoed the teacher. "How on earth did you sell enough toothbrushes to make that much money?" "I found the busiest corner in town, and set up a chips & dip stand and gave everyone who came by a free sample. They all said the same thing: 'This tastes like dog crap!' 'It *is* dog crap,' I told them. 'Want to buy a toothbrush?'" The teacher's jaw dropped. "I used the government's approach of giving you something shitty for free, and then making you pay to get the bad taste out of your mouth."