Advertising Is Good For You

Sorry, CVS. I just want to be friends.

The drug store I use sent me an email with the subject line:

Paula, learn more about CVS/pharmacy!

CVS, you're going to have to try harder if you want me to care about you.

The weirdest spam I've ever received

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What percentage of all emails are spam? Click here for the answer.

7% of babies have their own email addresses

This article in Time's Healthland says so.

 Image: TLC

Radio Olives Awards call for Entries

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No doubt, this was written by a white person

From yesterday's Daily Candy email...

 

Can't believe they used the exclusionary "flesh-tone" to describe the color of the product.

Crayola changed the name of its "flesh" colored crayon to "peach" back in 1962 because the crayon maker recognized the racist implications.

Email stalking -- oh, what a feeling

Here's the tale of Amber Duick.

She's a Los Angeles woman who for five days received emails from someone she didn't know, a man named Sebastian Bowler. Sebastian told Amber he knew where she lived and told her he'd be coming to her home to hide from the police.

Amber says she feared she was being stalked and had trouble eating, sleeping and her job performance suffered.

When she found out the emails were part of a guerrilla advertising campaign for Toyota, she decided to sue Toyota for $10 million.

Of course advertising shouldn't be masquerading as a guy who's wanted by the police and is on his way to hide out at your house.

But what about a series of tongue-in-cheek emails from a guy who says he's wanted by the police and is on his way to hide out at your house?

I don't have access to all the emails, but here are two snippets from the emails sent by the fictitious Sebastian:

Amber mate! Coming 2 Los Angeles. Gonna lay low at your place for a bit till it all blows over.

Amber, ran into a little problem at the hotel. After I'm done visiting you, I'm going to go back and sort out that front desk Muppet. (this email included a bill for damages from a hotel)

THIS is the kind of thing that "terrified" Amber Duick? Seems to me the copywriter did a great job of injecting just enough cornball into the copy to clue in the reader that this is some kind of joke.

Read more about Amber Duick and her suit against Toyota.

Ever since I first read this story, in my mind's eye the role of Sebastian Bowler has been played by Terry Thomas.

94% of all email messages are spam

Visit Switched for 12 tips for fighting spam on your PC and cell phone.

The week's most interesting spam headline

Direct from my mailbox:

Power up your meat cigar

Sent by tended3980@savarveiculos.com.br.

Not everyone is worried about looking ostentatious during the recession

I signed up for regular emails from Bergdorf Goodman a while back. I'm no more likely to shop at Bergdorf's than I'm likely to dress up like the models in the editorial pages of Vogue. But luxury store emails and fashion magazines provide me with the same thing: a little fashion news and a healthy dose of fantasy.

Today's email looked liked this.

These are $2,875 Christian Louboutin shoes.

*****************************

The shoes are made of "natural python." Pythons would probably be more accurate. I wonder how many snakes it takes to make just one pair of these shoes? And what do they do with the snake parts that aren't used for the shoes? Is there a market for Mongoose Chow?

Timberland knows what it's doing

North of Boston, we got at least a foot of snow over the last 24 hours. There was no school today. Many people stayed home from work.

I bet a lot of people sat in front of their computers much of the day. Timberland figured as much, too. So they sent their customers an email with the subject line, Snow today. $20 offer ends Tuesday.

Some customers may have remembered that they had received a similar email last week at the start of the promotion. Others probably assumed this was something special Timberland was doing just to take advantage of the snow day.

Either way, it was a timely email that I'm sure was well received.

By the way, the email says I can pass the offer on to a friend, so here you go: spend $100 at a Timberland store or Timberland.com and save $20, plus get free shipping, when you use promo code BUNDLE20.

22% of the world's spam comes from Russia

Source: The Consumerist        Image: Colour Lovers

One man's revenge on a spammer

Yesterday's Boston Globe Magazine recounts an exchange in which writer Mark Pothier cons a spammer. It's very funny.

CLICK HERE to read The Spam Victim Strikes Back!

How to be a good Samaritan who doesn't get scammed

The FBI last week released a list of tips to help avoid getting scammed when making charitable donations online -- especially useful information considering the many natural disasters of recent weeks.

Do not respond to unsolicited (spam) e-mail.

Be skeptical of individuals representing themselves as officials soliciting via e-mail for donations.

Do not click on links contained within an unsolicited e-mail.

Be cautious of e-mail claiming to contain pictures in attached files, as the files may contain viruses. Only open attachments from known senders.

To ensure contributions are received and used for intended purposes, make contributions directly to recognized organizations rather than relying on others to make the donation on your behalf.

Validate the legitimacy of the organization by directly accessing the recognized charity or aid organization's website rather than following an alleged link to the site.

Attempt to verify the legitimacy of the nonprofit status of the organization by using various Internet-based resources, which also may assist in confirming the actual existence of the organization.

Do not provide personal or financial information to anyone who solicits contributions: providing such information may compromise your identity and expose you to identity theft.

Source: Switched