Wave of the Future (Spam)(further OT)

--- Cameron Kaiser <spectre(a)stockholm.ptloma.edu> wrote: We used to get this sort of thing at work from our direct mail ads... remember getting packs of "bingo cards" in the mail? We used to pay a couple of grand for an insertion into a pack of cards with a 100,000+ distribution list. Every time, we'd get a stack of crank responses from folks who received these at home who were not part of our desired audience. They ranged from political messages stamped on to religious propganda to a bitter and insulting response from, we think, an ex-employee. The "brick" reminded me of one respondent... I don't know when he/she got on the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) list for bingo cards, but once they did, we got one of these back every time - they would take a few of the cards, cut up, and tape them to the back of the response card in a kind of almost pouch, increasing the weight to a couple of ounces. Not exactly a brick, but it still cost us more than the usual rude response. Even with a noticable quantity of bad cards coming back, it was still one of our best ways to find new customers. Note: I am not advocating spam - I am simply describing a bygone advertising technique and the resulting responses. We paid for the cards to go out and to come back... nothing like the free ride spammers get today. -ethan ===== Visit "The Seventh Continent" http://penguincentral.com/penguincentral.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/