eROI Days Email Agency » Intriguing SPAM

Spam or Real Email?

Ryan Buchanan — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 17:03:19 +0000

The skeptic in me says “I’ve never heard of this entity before,” “seems fishy,” “never heard of the award before,” “why did they send it to sales@ – a spam-related email.”

But the optimist in me thinks maybe there is 5% validity to this award.

Should I be a skeptic or think it’s real. Please comment below to tell me your thoughts.

Mahalo “I’m Gonna Git You, Spamma!” Video is Brilliant

Ryan Buchanan — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:38:29 +0000

Mahalo is on a role. First, the controversial TechCrunch review of Mahalo’s founder blog entry on expecting employees to work 16 hours a day every day because he does (which I wholeheartedly disagree with). Now, their YouTube retro video is truly good stuff and relevant to the email marketing world. Mahalo, the human search company, is trying to show how pull technology like search doesn’t have the flaw of spam, but the creative is strong enough to get a chuckle out of it.

killROI Emerges Eerily from the Minds of eROI

Ryan Buchanan — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:28:58 +0000

killROI is our new hero (and a weird coincedence, “eROI” in Italian means hero). The credit goes to our design team and Flash guru who concepted the yellow robot/alien design on the body of a HazMaPo vinyl adult toy (don’t let your mind stray) made by our client Unkl Brand.

killROI is cool.
He kills spam. (Check out KillSpammer.com to see what I’m talking about).

If you are in the email marketing world at all, you have an obligation to kill as much spam as possible at KillSpammer.com. Watch out for the Viagra – it’s lethal.

UK Gets Tough on SPAM

Ryan Buchanan — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:30:01 +0000

Just read an article on the UK cracking down with new regulations in effect this year. My overall thought is that the industry should always stay ahead of regulations with more stringent best practices, but it’s good to see that other countries are taking email compliance seriously.

The article reads:
“UK puts new email regulation in effect
In an effort to cut down on spam and to weed out spamming companies, the UK has placed new regulations on email communications. At the start of the new year, the UK Companies Act Amendments of 2006 went into effect, with requirements similar to the US CAN-SPAM act.
by Kristina Knight

As with normal business correspondence, UK companies are now required to disclose the company name, where the company is registered, the registration number (if there is one) and the registered address in transactional email communications. For other commercial messages, such as marketing materials or newsletters, a valid postal address and the company name should be included in the correspondence.”

Read the rest of the article >>

The Spam Obituaries

Ryan Buchanan — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 15:21:52 +0000

I came across a blog that was right up my alley – The Spam Obituaries! The blog starts with an explanation of itself: “Hi, I’m William Ridenhour. By day I train as a chef under Delia Smith. By night I write the Spam Obituaries.” The blog takes the names from spam e-mails, bring them to life and kill them off swiftly. Odd, but interesting. Check it out.

Space Ads for $100

Ryan Buchanan — Fri, 14 Apr 2006 18:58:08 +0000

Oh, how I love intriguing SPAM. Crappy SPAM that accounts for 99.99% of the spam I get is no fun, but there is nothing better than intriguing SPAM.

Here’s how the email goes:
$100 Space Ad

Marketing is about to be taken to new heights…all the way to the edge of space.

Actually, it’s a research mission carrying student experiments. However, ads make it all possible.

“If it’s good enough for sports teams, it’s good enough for science teams,” proclaims John Powell, President of JP Aerospace.

These “ads at the edge of the world” are on a platform carried aloft by high altitude weather balloons. During the flight on board, cameras take pictures of the ads with the blackness of space and the curvature of the Earth in the background. In the past, weather balloons have conjured up images of UFOs; now, images of commerce are being created. After the balloons reach 100,000 feet, they are released, and the platform descends to Earth by parachute. The mission, called Away 27, is the eighty-seventh for JP Aerospace. JP Aerospace is an independent space program staffed by volunteers dedicated to bringing space travel to everyone.

More information and pictures available at www.jpaerospace.com.

On board will be over 1,000 individual student experiments. These student science projects are called PongSats®, for “ping pong ball satellite.” A PongSat is an experiment that fits inside of a ping pong ball. Students as young as six are running their own space programs. Experiments range from plant seeds to computers with sophisticated sensors. For several months, students from all over the country have been mailing their PongSats to JP Aerospace for this mission. Even the youngest of students can be space scientists, flying real missions to a place where few “real” scientists get to go. JP Aerospace has flown over 1800 PongSats involving thousands of students.

After landing, the PongSats are returned to the students. The students then inspect their experiments and study the results. PongSat is a completely free program for schools and individuals.

Marketing in space has been done, but it can cost millions of dollars and take years to accomplish. Now, for $100, even the local coffee shop can get dramatic marketing images.

“The images are more stunning than the Taco Bell® dog and a lot cheaper too,” says Powell.

Customers can use the images in their advertisements, corporate reports and web sites. Or for individuals, birthday greetings from the edge of space!

More information and pictures available at www.jpaerospace.com.

When Spam Filters Just Won’t Do

Ryan Buchanan — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 19:27:25 +0000

We look at ALOT of emails everyday. And we have relied on placing every mail filter in our inboxes to test just how client emails are getting through at every level. Sometimes these measures just don’t cut it with the volume of Spam we get. In an effort to add an extra level of Spam protection to our inbox (and brains) we looked for the right system to put in place to keep those that get through the spam traps and into the inbox. We are happy to release our latest product offering to the general public…. the SPAM Trap Protection System 8000.

I would reccomend that you get out and get one of these today if you are just fed up with blocking spam that seems to seep in no matter what you do. It might be the only way to live with it (as who wants to hit the delete key).

Best of luck in the War on Spam at your office and rest assured that we are taking every precaution needed on our end.

Jim is a Pretty Girl?

Ryan Buchanan — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 06:44:58 +0000

Jim – you are freaking me out. Your “from” line is Jim and email address is blatantly spam-like. You hooked me with a spam-like subject line “my dream come true” and waddya know, it’s SPAM with a beautiful twist. Jim is not a man – he’s a pretty girl. If you are going to spam me, don’t get me all gender confused.

“—–Original Message—–
From: Jim [mailto:ixyantt@shaw.ca]
Sent: Friday, January 27, 2006 9:28 AM
To: ryan
Subject: my dream come true

Do not ignore me please,
I found your email somewhere and now decided to write you.
I am coming to your place in few weeks and thought we
can meet each other. Let me know if you do not mind.
I am a nice pretty girl. Don’t reply to this email.
Email me direclty at nice@free4mail.info”

The Old Forward This and Win Email

Ryan Buchanan — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 17:54:58 +0000

I love these. A crappy looking email is sent from the CEO of a large company telling you if you forward this on to X friends that you will get a gift certificate. And below in another color and font some text that says, I just tried this and it really works. Right. This stacks up with the old Bill Gates emails and Nigerian spam in my eyes.

The problem is, they work, and people are suckers. I got this from a relative with little understanding of email and the web. We will always have those that don’t know and accept things as true that come into the inbox. It’s a hard battle for legitimate marketers and a bad brand experience when they use a valid company name to spam.

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Well if you Say it is CanSpam Complaint, it must be.

Ryan Buchanan — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:21:29 +0000

I love that this email shows at the footer a large call out claming it to be CanSpam complaint. If this is a not a red flag, what is? I mean if I tell you something on the internet, it is true right?

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