I never have liked spam. Which spam, you might ask? Either. One clogs arteries, the other message inboxes. One creates apprehension from bad breath, the other apprehension from unsolicited friends. There's no good way to slice it.
Now I did a funny post long ago on potted meat product (you'll have to look it up), but I haven't yet written of email spam woes. Beings that you all know what spam is, I'll just suffice it to say that among my four major email addresses, I acquire approximately 2000 unwanted messages every week, which would be completely unconcsionable without built-in filters and safety guards. Thankfully, the filters are so good that all I have to do is empty my bulk mail folder and occasionally delete a pesky letter that managed to slip through the cracks. Certainly spammers are persistent, but at least for now it seems technology is allowing us to survive.
This past week though, I was exposed to a new form of spam. On Wednesday & Thursday, I came home to search our daily mail and found these solicitations:
Come Visit the Outer Banks (NC)!
Visit Flagler County Florida!
Sequatchie County, TN Chamber of Commerce
Arkansas State Tour Guide
Find Your Spot in Charlotte Harbor, FL!
Historic Mississippi Barge Tours!
I think there were more, but I threw them all away. Who signed me up for all these visitor guides? We're not talking a tri-fold brochure with a couple of scenic photos. We're talking large packets of information with muliple viewbooks and calendars of events. We're talking state road maps and completely packed adventure guides. All six of these places were incredibly driven to have my business, and I don't even know how they got my name.
Have you ever gotten junk mail that you really liked?
8 comments:
I would rather they spam my computer than spam my arteries. I can always buy another computer but I can't buy another me.
I will admit though I get plenty ticked at businesses that want to take control of our personal computers. That's like having an uninvited guest over to watch your every move. It's time to throw the bad guys out the door--literally.
i was almost convinced that i wanted to vacation in arkansas.
you know someone has to do research on this type of stuff: what junk mailings are really effective? is it just a wish and a prayer in mass quantities?
they must get really good deals on printing... and really, they must get some response... those places certainly don't get much attention without some advertising.
at least it wasn't porn!
did you guys use a travel agent for your mini-honeymoon to VA Beach? any chance they got your info that way? so weird. i'd rather get that kind of junk mail than all the cell-phone-computer-cable-related stuff. And don't even get met started on home refinancing junk. Uggghhh.
oh yeah, as soon as i bought the condo... i got mail after mail about refinancing and loans and lines of credit... it took me a while to realize what was junk and what was something i actually needed to keep!
i remember a special feeling inside when i was a kid and we would get a Publisher's Clearinghouse envelope in the mail. for at least two days it would spark dreams of "oh, what i would do with this money."
is Publisher's still around?
I'm a big fan of credit card offers that send the magnetic cards. Chris and I have collected 10 magnets and about 35 other cards over our two years here. But I will never respond to a mailed credit card offer, in part because it helps validates this mass mailing mentality.
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