Oh, hi. I didn't see you there. Well, as long as you're here, let me tell you about term life insurance.
You see, ever since Julie died, the funeral bills have been piling up. If only we had gotten this life insurance sooner.
Exhibit B :
Oh, darling, what is that you've put into the shopping cart? All new Smart Shakes? But those can't be good for you! WHAT? THEY ARE? They're packed with vitamins and anti-oxidants? That sounds great. Let's get 2!
These are two examples of lazy marketing. Some people refer to these as the "idiot nets" because if you just scoop these through late night TV, you are bound to catch a few easy sales.
So what does this have to do with all of us? Today, I was the recipient of the following "idiot net" email. I have crossed out the names to protect the guilty:
"I was reading your blog today. It was super funny. Tough break about the AOL thing. That 850 would have been nice to have. I have been to Chicago but I have not yet been to Montreal. Chicago was great so I can only assume that all the stories about Montreal are true. I wanted to check it out for UFC but the tickets sold it in like 20 seconds. Ah well, what can you do.
My name is ---- and I work for -----, a word of mouth marketing company in Toronto and we're looking for people in Montreal to try out a new ipod charger. All that we ask in return for you testing it out is your feedback. Hopefully you own an ipod and can get use out of a charger.
If you're interested you can check out ----- or you can email me back at ------.
Alright man, keep writing your blog, it's really funny. Take care,
-----"
After reading the email and clicking-thru to the website, here is the juice of that:
Is this you?
* Live, work or go to school in urban Toronto or Montreal
* Between the ages of 18-35
* Commute daily or travel long distances for work or school
* Own and regularly use an iPod
* Are active online and an outgoing social connector online and offline
What’s the catch?
There is no catch - all we ask in exchange for the ---- is that you use it as much as you can, show it to all your friends, talk about it whenever the opportunity arises, and provide us with your honest feedback about your experience...
My initial positive thoughts:
1. His grammar, though not great, is passable.
2. He obviously has a grasp on how to google "iPod + Montreal + blog".
3. He has proven to me that he has at least read the first post of my blog.
4. He also seems to be a very trusting person since he equates my former residence in Chicago and current status in Montreal as somehow validating the idea that "Greatness of (CITY) = truthiness of stories about (OTHER CITY)" and that is a good thing.
5. There is no catch! They say it right there! That's a huge relief.
6. He thinks that I am an "outgoing social connector" and is correct.
My initial negative thoughts:
1. It's some crappy corporate scam.
2. He is a jackass.
What do you think? Should I do it?
6 comments:
Well... depends on if they ask for money. I wouldn't be surprised if they asked for a security deposit or a CC# or something like that so they could safeguard the item they're sending you or whatever.
Other thing would be what, if any, personal information they ask for. If they're just gonna straight up mail one to you fine... but if not then I don't know. I wouldn't reveal anything.
Lastly, if you go so far as to be mailed the charger or whatever... make sure it's rated by UL (Underwriter's Laboratory) or whatever is the Canadia equivalent. You don't want to blow your shit up only to find that your warranty or whatever isn't valid because you plugged your shit into some charger made in the former Republic of Ivory Coast or whatever.
Anyways.
I personally would like more blogs about food and tallboys. Also about how you think the Cubs are going to win the WS and that you will win this year in fantasy baseball, I love fiction.
Its getting warmer out that means its piss bucket season!
tim
sounds like it could actually be about getting you to try the charger, period. my advice: don't sign a contract or (duh) give out personal information beyond an address.
man, i love piss bucket season
I think this is totally legit and makes sense only if
"new"= new (TO YOU)
"ipod"= PENIS
"charger"= RECEPTACLE (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS MY ANUS)
"testing"= TASTING
so that the email really reads...
"we're looking for people in Montreal to try out a new(TO YOU)PENIS RECEPTACLE (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS MY ANUS. All that we ask in return for you TASTING it is your feedback. Hopefully you own a PENIS and can get use out of a RECEPTACLE (OTHERWISE KNOWN AS MY ANUS)
go for it
Whats with you Irish guys. Its always Drinking, Fighting, and Piss Buckets.
Post a Comment