Choosy Moms Choose...

We’ve all heard the tagline.

It’s been etched into American culture for decades: "Choosy Moms Choose Jif."

But here’s the kicker—it wasn’t the kids, the ones devouring the peanut butter, making the purchase.

Jif wasn’t selling peanut butter to them; they were selling it to the moms.

The ones doing the shopping, making decisions.

The message wasn’t about the taste, nutrition, or even the fun kids could have with it.

It was about moms making the right choice.

The smart choice.

The aspirational choice.

That’s how Jif won the peanut butter wars.

Now, what does that have to do with your innovation?

Everything.

If you’re selling cutting-edge AI solutions, Web3 strategies, or the next big thing in your field, let me remind you of something crucial: you’re not selling to the end user.

Your product might be game-changing for your customer’s bottom line, but if you’re not thinking about how to make the decision maker feel like a winner for choosing you, you’ve already lost the battle.

Let’s take another example: Fancy Feast.

I guarantee no cat has ever wandered into a store, looked at the shelf, and thought, “Hmm, I could really go for some beef in gravy today.”

Cats, left to their own devices, would probably opt for something mouse-flavored.

Fancy Feast wasn’t built for the cat’s palate—it was branded for the cat owner’s ego.

The person buying that can of Fancy Feast is being sold a narrative that says, “You love your cat, you care about them, and this is how you show it.”

It’s luxury.

It’s a status symbol wrapped in aluminum.

Cats don’t care about status symbols, but cat owners do.

And here’s where most innovators screw up—they try to sell to the cat.

They fall in love with their own product, their own tech, and forget that, in most cases, the person making the purchase decision is the one who needs to feel good about the choice—not the end user.

So when you’re pitching your innovation, remember this: your job is to make the decision maker—the person holding the budget—feel like the hero.

And that’s not always about your cutting-edge features.

Look, no one’s saying you can skate by with a terrible product or a half-baked strategy.

That’s a one-way ticket to the business world’s version of natural selection—just like bad peanut butter won’t last on the shelves.

But if we assume your product is worthy, valuable, and brings something real to the table, the real challenge becomes messaging.

The genius of Jif and Fancy Feast wasn’t just in their products, but in knowing exactly who they needed to speak to.

Leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators—this is where your focus needs to be.

You’ve built something great?

Good.

Now ask yourself: am I talking to the right person?

Am I making them feel smart, capable, and like they’re making a premium decision by choosing me?

You might be offering a top-tier AI solution, but if you’re pitching to the CTO and only talking about how your tech will make the data scientists' lives easier, you’re missing the mark.

The CTO isn’t thinking about how to keep the data team happy—they’re thinking about how this tech makes them look smart in front of the board.

This applies to you selling an internal innovation initiative as well.

The decision maker(s) wants to feel like a genius for picking your product, not just reassured that it’ll do the job.

So here’s the takeaway: stop selling to the cats.

Sell to the cat owners, the choosy moms, the CTOs, the CFOs, and the executives who need to feel confident in their decisions.

Make sure they walk away thinking, “This was a smart move—my move.”

Innovation is more than just the product; it’s the story you tell and who you tell it to.

And if you get that wrong, it won’t matter how good your tech is.

You’ll be left with the world’s best mouse-flavored cat food that no one’s buying.

?????????? BTW: the Fancy Feast example isn't mine.

I'll get everyone who leaves a comment or repost with the name of the person (an author with fancy glasses) that popularized that example a one-year subscription to gptandme.xyz .