What Do Prepackaged Lunches Have to Do with The Godfather? The Role of a Dilemma in Advertising and Dramatic Writing

There are many tools that can help writers to create more  engaging stories.

One of the technique that often works - when I'm helping students, friends or clients with their scripts - is to hone in on a choice that a key character has to make.

On June 6th, 2013 Jen Grisanti published a post to Branding Magazine -  about writing a marketing message - and I was surprised to see that some marketers are apparently using  one of the techniques I often rely on for feature length films:

"[T]he dilemma is what happens...  the moment when the central character gets stuck between a rock and a hard place...  the dilemma sets up the moment when [he or] she makes a difficult decision that sets the plot in motion."

When I'm explaining this technique, I often talk about the choice that Michael Corleone has to make in The Godfather - between a life with Kay or as the new godfather.

When Jen Grisanti talks to marketing people, what example does she use?

"When Kraft developed Lunchables, they tapped into a key consumer dilemma: do I pack lunches for the kids or get them to school on time? "