Why wouldn't they?

In a post about the lens of day, Megan Casey asks:

What would happen if every publicist or marketer at every imprint made a lens for every book he or she was publishing? Or the better question is, why wouldn’t they?

If you're hungry and there's a piece of toast on the table, you'll eat it. Why wouldn't you?

So, if you're a business looking to grow, and there's a cheap or free way to do that, why wouldn't you? Why does Google traffic keep growing--it's the same search engine it was a year ago, what were people waiting for?

Most of the things people market are about "going up." Getting more of what you're funking for.

The "go up" equation is complicated by the fact that every go up comes with a hint of "fall down." There's a risk to doing anything new. What if that new search engine gives my computer a (mythical) virus and it crashes and I lose my job? What if that toast was put there by a KGB agent and it's covered with evil truth serum?

It's really easy to underestimate how afraid people are of even the tiniest changes--especially in areas where they're already a little uncomfortable.

The best response may not be to reiterate the "go up" benefits. It might be to amplify the risks of doing nothing.