Call for Entries: Announcing Magilla’s Stupidest Marketing Ever Awards!

What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen a colleague, boss, or organization you worked for do in e-mail marketing? Did a superior [in title only] order you to add a list of addresses from a questionable source to your house file? Did the CFO tell you to make it as difficult as possible for people to opt-out of your mailings?

The wackiest marketing ideas often come from the ops guys.

For example, I once worked in the creative services department of a small business-to-business cataloger where the CFO told us to mock up some fake invoices and send them out in hopes that accounts-payable departments on our list would simply fork over the cash.

I can’t remember if we tried it or not [I’d like to think we talked him out of it] but you gotta love the ethics on that one, no?

In any case, such stupidity is the usually the subject of office gossip and not much more.

But starting today, your stupid e-mail marketing story can win you an award. A Magilla Stupidest Marketing Ever Award!

What can you win? Why, your name [first and last, or first only] or a pseudonym of your choosing in this newsletter plus coverage of the sheer stupidity you witnessed, that’s what. I’ll also toast you with my next vodka martini. Probably that very night! Who needs a lousy hotel conference-room luncheon and cheap dust-catching trophy anyway?

How many awards will be given? I have no idea. If no one responds: none. Given the stories I’ve heard over the years, I’d be very surprised if no one had anything to say on this, though.

In order to qualify, you don’t have to name names. “Some moron in sales in an idiotic company I once worked for tried to …” will do just fine.

In fact, I’d rather you didn’t name names. Magilla’s Stupidest Marketing Ever Awards aren’t worth being sued over.

This contest is also open to e-mail service providers who want to share stories about idiotic clients. Come on, ESPs. I know you’ve got stories. You’ve told me some of them.

And you want to know the best part of Magilla’s Stupidest Marketing Ever Awards? If the stories are really good, you will lighten my workload. Every word written by you is a word I don’t have to write myself. Now, if that isn’t incentive, I don’t know what is.

So fess up. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen anyone do in e-mail marketing?

Besides funny, it’ll be cathartic. Good luck!