Dumb Ads == Just send 'em a bill!

	I hope I'm the inventor of the term above... This seems to be a relatively new marketing ploy-- Don't wait for people to subscribe to your magazine! Just send 'em a bill! These came through the mail just a few months apart, and while I had not given them any reason whatsoever to believe I wanted to subscribe to their publications, they just sent me invoices. No free issue, no nothin'. Just an invoice.
Look! "Professional Account!" Even my electric bill doesn't say "Professional Account!" I must be important!

	You can rest assured I contacted both publishers immediately after receiving these, and gave them a load of shit for trying to hook me in in this manner. How many people will receive this type of invoice and just assume it's legitimate, and send payment rather than risk their credit rating?


And when I called FORTUNE, I asked immediately for the operator's supervisor (they're the ones paid to deal with my vehemence, not the operators.) I complained at length about their Ambush Marketing attempt, and then I asked, "Have you ever heard of the website Dumb Ads?" And she replied "Have you ever heard of..." and stopped mid-sentence, and then hung up on me. Beautiful. Call and complain when you receive crap like this. If the operators hear enough complaints, they pass them on to management, and the dumbasses who come up with ambush marketing ploys will learn that it's not worth the headache.

Text content and original graphics c.2006 by T. Graff / All ad images and scans copyright their respective owners.