Sex, we are told, sells.
I suspect we are all well used to seeing images of beautiful women and men used to sell us items every day.
They are to be found in magazines, on billboards, in newspapers, online…everywhere in fact and I have no problem with any of it.
Being British I also grew up in a culture of sexual humor, with double entendres – where words often have a hidden (or not so hidden) sexual connotation to them – being commonplace.
While a bit childish perhaps, this type of play on words had never offended me. Quite the opposite in fact as it has been the basis of much mirth in my younger years.
Much of the jokes broadcast on British television sitcoms and comedy shows when I was growing up were based on the concept of the double entendre – seemingly innocent words or phrases which had a hidden sexual meaning to those in the know.
With all of the above I have not the slightest objection. Everything, after all, has its place.
But what I am going to suggest is that crude sexual references have absolutely no place at all in email mass marketing campaigns.
So I was shocked, a couple of days ago, to open an email from an online marketer to find that he was comparing his product to a specific sexual act which I won’t mention here.
In fact the marketer in question was so proud of his particular sexual reference that he made the same play on words no less than four times in a single email.
If that had been sent to me in another context then I may have found it amusing but to receive crude sexual references from a complete stranger who is trying to get me to buy his product is, at least for me, wholly unacceptable.
Normally I like to quote from the emails I feature on these pages, but because I want my blog to have wide, general appeal I am not going to do so in this instance.
Suffice it to say that I have found another marketer with whom I shall not be doing any business either now or in the future.
It may be hard to believe but in the 1950′s there was an official ‘postcard censor’ in the British Isles who decided if the saucy seaside postcard double entendre jokes had gone just that little bit too far.
Maybe in the 2010′s we could do with an email censor or perhaps I am just being terribly old-fashioned.
Twitter: ITSergioFelix
Hey Patrick,
It is very interesting that you bring this to the table (or your blog actually!)
I have found a LOT of spanish-based marketers with subject lines that you wouldn’t believe me if I told you; double meaning words, foul language, VERY explicit attacks to other marketers and the list goes on and on.
Guess that’s one of the reasons I am NOT interested in doing business with Spanish based marketers even though I do have a domain name with my full birth name and the .com.mx extension for Mexico.
However getting back to your article, I do have a lady that I bought a product from and I really liked her and her products as she has LOTS of expertise, always overdelivers and turns out to be quite a savvy Internet Marketer.
This remained true until she sent a broadcast email with this exact subject line:
“I’m receiving Death Threats…Help?”
I swear that I wasn’t done reading the whole subject when I already had click to open the email and see if I could offer any kind of help or support on such a delicate thing.
My heart was still pounding fast when I read the following:
“Please watch my video on this death threat”
And a link below that…
I was like “You did what…? Who the hell makes a video on something like that? Oh please don’t tell me it is some marketing thing… you must be f…ing joking with me…”.
And yes, I guess she though it was something “fun” to use as a way to have a higher open rate because it was such an “important” video.
Needless to say the members of the program were mad and I don’t mean just regular mad, they were BERZERK about it!
Some of them were even leaving comments on the site swearing at her and claiming their money back and that her ‘strategy’ (if you can call it like that) was simply TOO FAR.
I think they all got the same impression I had and to be even more honest about it, anytime I hear something about her, I feel sick from these kind of Internet Marketers.
As a matter of fact, the course I was taking was amazing but I stopped taking it because I couldn’t bare to watch her and listen to her on video after such polemic email AND scaring the sh*t out of me.
She did not apologized (as far as I know) and she kind of just kept her cool and moved on.
Again, I’m guessing she just didn’t care about what she triggered into her buyers with that.
And on my thoughts, she’s not taking one single cent from me ever again.
So to sum all up, there are lots and lots of IMers who play the game with their own rules, I am NOT easily offended and in fact I can take a lot but this ‘stunt’ was a little too much even for me.
So don’t worry Patrick, we all have our limits!
Sergio Felix thinks you may like this post too..Welcome To Marketing With Sergio Felix
Twitter: clutchtool
Hi Sergio,
I always ignore people asking for help with a life threatening situation in an email.
Because more than likely they have been dead more than a few days by the time i get to their email.
JPB
Twitter: ITSergioFelix
Haha smart thinking John!!
Sergio Felix thinks you may like this post too..Digital Nomad Out Of Bounds
Twitter: chattopatrick
Hi Sergio,
You are spot on with what you say.
I think some people are so pleased with themselves for creating a “clever” advertising campaign (such as your kidnap woman) that they fail to step back and think how people will react to that in the real world.
And there is another good lesson to be learned from what you said. If I understand you correctly I think you may have been willing to give this person a second chance if only she would have apologized and said something like “I am sorry but I made a really stupid mistake.”
In my view by not apologizing then this only compounds the original error of judgment so I fully understand why you acted the way you did.
P.
Patrick Griffin thinks you may like this post too..Friday Newsletter: November 4, 2011.
Twitter: ITSergioFelix
You are 100% correct Patrick.
If she had apologized or at least explained something about it, I wouldn’t even remember the event by now but she didn’t and I don’t play games with people so full of themselves, is just not worth it.
Sergio
Sergio Felix thinks you may like this post too..Backpacking Europe
Twitter: multiplytraffic
November 7, 2011 at 9:15 pm
I agree comepletely!!!!
I believe that emails should remain a professional means of communication.
Donwgrading it with sexual inuendos is just not proper.
Kindle Man thinks you may like this post too..Justified: The Complete Second Season: Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy: Movies & TV
Twitter: chattopatrick
You have got it. There must be professional standards – there really is no way around this. Well said.
Patrick Griffin thinks you may like this post too..Special Report: From Trash Bags to Hash Tags, This Former Refuse Collector Now Works Full Time Online
Twitter: hotflashhits
There is such a fine line between being funny and being obnoxious.
While promoting the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, I tried to be quite aware of this fact and NOT cross the line. I admit, I even wrote a few headlines and then thought better of it and deleted them.
I think it is common to become immune to the sexual innuendo in some advertising. I agree by comparing a product to a sexual act is not only far fetched but over the top rude. Innuendo is one thing, blatant exploitation is completely another.
Catherine White thinks you may like this post too..Business Mastermind Alliance
Twitter: chattopatrick
Yes Catherine you have nailed it right there when you said: “I even wrote a few headlines and then thought better of it and deleted them.”
That shows a marketing process at work:
1. Write something
2. Review it
3. Consider its suitability to get the message across
4. Refine or replace as necessary.
Patrick Griffin thinks you may like this post too..Monday Moaning: Cut Out The Crude Sex Talk In Email Marketing Campaigns
Twitter: andrewstark
November 7, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Defiantely a cheap tactic that works very well short term, but long term leads to ruin any goodwill that you have built up.
I also got an email about a death threat, but it was more of a shooting, and starting to remove myself from more and more of this guys lists I think I’ve been downgraded from top customer list to churn & burn as I’m no longer buying home study courses and giving him lots of commissions.
When you unsubscribe from a list for reasons like this you really should direct the offending marketer to posts like this.
Andrew
Andrew Stark thinks you may like this post too..Protect Your Reputation And Become An Expert…
Twitter: chattopatrick
Well said Andrew. I agree with what you have said and there is nothing I can add!
Patrick Griffin thinks you may like this post too..Friday Newsletter: November 4, 2011.
It’s very rude and cheap to send vulgar mass-emails to try to sell a product. Sex sells, that’s true, that’s one of the unwritten rules but now written, but bringing sex and a product together, two things that have nothing in common, is really stupid. I’m sure that marketer is very ashamed of himself, it should be! Congratulations for writting this post and thanks for sharing!
Twitter: chattopatrick
Amit, I could not agree more.
You said: “Bringing sex and a product together, two things that have nothing in common, is really stupid.”
That is exactly what I am talking about!
Why is this simple concept so difficult for many marketers to understand I wonder?
Patrick Griffin thinks you may like this post too..Monday Moaning: Cut Out The Crude Sex Talk In Email Marketing Campaigns
Twitter: clutchtool
Hey Patrick,
I guess i have just become jaded to the whole sex in advertising issue, it’s almost as old as the act itself.
I think it is better to do as Sergio did and that is to disapprove by taking his money and business elsewhere rather than having emails censored.
I would rather vote by clicking my delete or spam button without having some self righteous censorship commitee deem what is appropriate for me to read.
I prefer being my own email censor.
In the past week i have seen two commercials on TV that had songs playing as a soundtrack for a video game and one for a movie, both songs had lyrics that are considered too dirty for american television so they play the songs but BLEEP the dirty words.
In both instances i was unfamiliar with the lyrics of both songs so i had entered my own lyrics in place of the bleeps thinking that they probably were the most likely used dirty words for both songs, only to find out later after hearing both songs uncensored that i was totally wrong on both accounts.
The lyrics i had used in place of the bleeped lyrics were way dirtier than what they had censored, in fact the lyrics they bleeped were kinda rated PG compared to my X rated lyrics, and i kinda liked my choice of words way better, gave the songs more attitude.
So thank you censorship, there are now two more songs i will never be able to sing along to with the original lyrics.
P.S. Out of common courtesy i restrained myself from typing the dirty words so you would not have to pay your censorship commitee
JPB
Twitter: chattopatrick
Hi John.
You said: “The lyrics i had used in place of the bleeped lyrics were way dirtier than what they had censored…”
Now why does that not surprise me I wonder?
Great comment, you made me laugh out loud once again. lol. (see!)
P.
Patrick Griffin thinks you may like this post too..AdKreator
Very nice association and for sure everybody who has read this will memorize it:) Anyway, I also think that it is cheap and highly unprofessional to send mass e-mail only to sell your product. It is not my cup of tea for sure.
Anna thinks you may like this post too..When root canal treatment cost is not a priority question.
Twitter: chattopatrick
Quite right. Email is a great tool but it is also so very easy to misuse it!
P.
Patrick Griffin thinks you may like this post too..Large Or Small, Airport or Internet Marketer, There Are Some Things We Must All Get Right
Comments on this entry are closed.