These pages in "Made to Stick" focus on two parts of the acronym: S for simple and U for unexpected. Simple is strangely enough, all about keeping things simple to get a message across. The example of the army and all of their planning is given, and how "no plan survives contact with the enemy". To be simple isn't simply shortening an idea or plan, or dumbing it down. It's about getting to the core of the idea in the quickest fashion possible. Keeping things simple. Or as Michael Scott says, KISS: Keep It Simple Stupid. Some examples are Southwest Airlines and their quest to be "the" low-fare airline, a very successful quest for over 30 years. Bill Clinton's campaign slogan "It's the economy, stupid", and the Dunn Daily Record and its core of local coverage are other examples the book provides of simple prevailing through finding the core idea.
Unexpected is all about doing something to stimulate your audience. You do something out of the ordinary that makes them remember your message, it makes it "stick". It's like the idea was made to stick or something. The flight attendant giving a different safety presentation is an example. She sticks to the facts of the presentation but presents them in an unexpected way. Surprise and interest get people's attention. The Nora Ephron example shows that its all about finding the core idea, not simply regurgitating facts. In her journalism class the lead to the story wasn't simply rephrasing the information they were given but getting to the core of the idea.
Some examples of unexpected would be the pet giraffe in the DirecTV commercials, which makes them instantly memorable. Also unexpected would be any other ads with talking animals, or other flashy stuff designed to make them stick in your mind. Simple is the general rule for car commercials, many of which stick to the point of : this is the mileage it gets, this is the price, this is how it compares to a Japanese car. Some car companies go the unexpected route, such as the new Chrysler one where they recount all the cities Detroit is not, while giving new life to a song that is suddenly nine years old and making me feel like an old person.
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I was also really impressed with the new Chrysler commercial. I think they did a good job with both the simple and unexpected aspects: the "Imported from Detroit" tagline has a lot of power behind it using just a few words. I also wasn't expecting the "new life" you mentioned, and goodness gracious I don't want to admit that song is nine years old.
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