One-of-a-kind TV drama Twin Peaks is known for many things—including donuts, coffee, and spine-tingling horror—but brand strategy isn’t one of them. So it might surprise you to learn that, tucked right in the middle of the show’s 2017 revival, is one of the best-constructed—and least-expected—brand stories you’re ever going to find.

“Iiiiit’s seven o’clock! Do you know where your freedom is?”

For those unfamiliar with Twin Peaks, the “Dr. Amp” screaming at you in the above clip is a stage persona adopted by Lawrence Jacoby, a key character from the show’s original run in the early nineties. As Dr. Amp, this kooky former psychologist takes to the internet several nights a week to vent his fury about corrupt politicians, evil corporations, and processed food—and to sell his flagship product, a round-point shovel covered in gold spray paint. Dr. Amp wants his viewers to use this shovel to dig themselves “out of the sh*t” that is life in the modern world.

Why would anyone spend $29.99 (“plus shipping”) to buy a piece of kitsch from a grumpy conspiracy theorist? The answer has to do with storytelling—and with Lawrence Jacoby’s mastery of brand positioning.

Gold sh*t-digging shovels sell like hotcakes in Twin Peaks and the surrounding areas because Jacoby understands the proper relationship between a brand and its customers, and builds out his lo-fi brand experience based on that. Specifically, he knows that Dr. Amp—the brand avatar—is not the hero of the story he revisits at seven o’clock on the dot, night after angry night. That honor goes to the people listening at home—Jacoby’s core audience.

This subtle shift makes his message—and his shovel—irresistible to the people he serves.

Selling with Story

As storytelling experts like David JP Phillips point out, human beings seem to be biologically hardwired for stories. Just the act of listening to a good yarn floods our brains with hormones and neurotransmitters that can make us more creative, empathetic, and focused—making skillful storytelling the most persuasive form of communication we have.

And while no two stories are structured in exactly the same way, many of our favorites fall into a general pattern known as The Monomyth, or The Hero’s Journey, identified by mythologist Joseph Campbell in his classic book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

Very broadly speaking, the Hero’s Journey involves said hero leaving home, entering some strange, new world, and returning from that world with a gift for their community. Along the way, they’ll endure trials, make allies, and face enemies—and, generally, meet with a Mentor, who will guide them on the first part of their journey.

When thinking about our own lives, we tend to plug ourselves into this framework, casting ourselves as the Hero on some kind of quest. That can be as simple as picking up groceries or as complicated as raising a family.

This is important, because it helps explain why many commercials—that is, miniature brand stories—fail to grab our attention, while others—like Dr. Amp’s—excite us, and motivate us to act.

“Out of the sh*t…and into the truth.”

Jacoby positions brand spokesman Dr. Amp as the Mentor to his customer’s Hero—a guide helping them on their Hero’s Journey “out of the sh*t and into the truth.”

As brand storyteller Jonah Sachs points out in his book Winning the Story Wars, too often, brands make the mistake of making themselves the Hero, there to swoop in and save the day with a product or service. This approach leaves the potential customer feeling disengaged and unmotivated, because the brand’s message hasn’t been framed in terms of how it will help them on their personal Hero’s Journey.

Casting the brand as a helpful Mentor, Sachs argues, is a much more effective way to talk to people, because it allows the brand to position itself as a critical, welcome part of a customer’s unfolding life story.

Jacoby pulls this off perfectly. In his initial rant, and again in the pitch that follows, Dr. Amp serves as a Mentor to the Heroes at home by pointing out the brokenness of their world (“We all live in the mud…in the sh*t!”). He issues a Call to Adventure, a demand that the Hero leave their normal life behind and face their destiny (“Shovel your way out of the sh*t!”).

And—as Mentors often do—he even offers his Heroes a powerful gift, which they can use to overcome the obstacles that stand between them and self-realization (“This is your shiny gold shovel. Two coats. Guaranteed.”).

Without spoiling too much, it’s safe to say that at least one character does manage to shovel herself out of the sh*t mucking up her own life, thanks to Dr. Amp’s shovel and the inspirational—albeit weird—message of personal empowerment that it represents.

This goes to show that well-constructed brands can be more than just selling tools. Put to good use, they can provide people with ideas and tools to take control of their own stories.