#YouTube Hall of Fame: Top 5 Sales Scenes (from TV & Movies)

For fun I recently started a “YouTube Hall of Fame” blog series to showcase the lighter side of important business topics we work on every day. My first blog posts were on Big Data in Movies and Top 5 Mobile Phone Scenes. Today, in honor of SAP’s recent acquisition of hybris (the fastest growing e-commerce software company in the world) I’m sharing my Top 5 Salesperson Scenes from TV and Movies. I hope you enjoy it!

Today’s Topic: Favorite Salesperson Scenes

#5: Mad Men

When Don Draper is at his best, it’s an impressive thing to watch. When he’s not at his best, well….let’s not go there. Here’s Don telling executives from Belle Jolie how to sell lipstick (note: this was probably Peggy’s idea but the delivery is what sells it).

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OifcLEQ1o8k

#4: The Bass-O-Matic (Saturday Night Live)

This classic SNL commercial from the ’70s features a young Dan Aykroyd selling a rather unique blender. It slices and dices alright.

#3: Ginsu Knife infomercial

The granddaddy of all infomercials. I remember watching when I was a kid and in complete awe. This knife can cut through beer cans and tomatoes! The ad is totally outdated (it only costs $9.95 instead of $19.95) and is politically incorrect to a laughable degree. But still, who wouldn’t want to buy this?

#2: Jim from Taxi sells vaccuum cleaners

I really debated putting this at #1 because it is such a genius bit of comedy. The writing, the acting, the buildup, and the hilarious reveal at the end. It all works perfectly, and it’s comic gold.

#1: Glengarry Glen Ross (warning: adult language)

Before Alec Baldwin became a goofy sitcom actor, he was once a leading man with serious acting chops. Here Alec tries to “motivate” this group of real estate agents. It was his only scene in the movie and was not even in the original play. Did I mention he uses adult language?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=8kZg_ALxEz0

So that’s my list. What am I missing? Feel free to add your favorite scenes in the Comments section (or tweet me @ChrisKimSAP). Hope you enjoy!