HELPFUL HINT$$$
(1) Itching from mosquito bites driving you mad?
Rub lemon juice directly onto the bite.
(2) To deter ants, sprinkle a line of cinnamon or talc powder at entry points.
(3) Remove chewing gum by placing shoes in freezer, frozen gum is easier to scrape off.
These were three of the eight helpful hints that arrived in a friend's mail box the other day, courtesy of...a bank!
Not advice from his mother or favourite aunt. Not taken from the CWA Cook Book, nor even from the ABC's modern cleaning sensation, Shannon Lush.
"Why is a bank sending him handy hints?" I wondered.
"Because they want his (and my) money, Stupid!"
This, I suppose, is the same reason that the manager of my wife's rental property, utility companies, The Salvation Army (I'm sorry to say), and every other commercial Tom, Dick or Kate includes a recipe or 'tip-for-a-better-life' with their glossy newsletter or appeal.
I'm sick of it. Sick of corporations and corporate-style entities trying to win business (i.e. get money) by intruding into areas that have nothing to do with why they exist--and trying to sound as though they care. Who are they fooling?
I am also sick of non-corporate entities--charities, Christian organisations and the like--who think they must ape businesses' marketing techniques in order to survive.
What I'm saying, or should I say, yelling, is that the intrusion of business and corporate-style agendas into what might traditionally have been called the realm of the 'citizen' drives me mad.
Does anyone else share this or a similar concern?
PS I'm aware that the above presents me with two problems at least: (1) If I were to place one of my sneakers in our tiny freezer, it would leave very little room for frozen dinners for the next week. (2) As I sometimes take work as a copy writer (i.e. writing brochures, ads, websites and the like), I directly contribute to the trend I am screaming about, which is another of life's terrible tensions.
Rub lemon juice directly onto the bite.
(2) To deter ants, sprinkle a line of cinnamon or talc powder at entry points.
(3) Remove chewing gum by placing shoes in freezer, frozen gum is easier to scrape off.
These were three of the eight helpful hints that arrived in a friend's mail box the other day, courtesy of...a bank!
Not advice from his mother or favourite aunt. Not taken from the CWA Cook Book, nor even from the ABC's modern cleaning sensation, Shannon Lush.
"Why is a bank sending him handy hints?" I wondered.
"Because they want his (and my) money, Stupid!"
This, I suppose, is the same reason that the manager of my wife's rental property, utility companies, The Salvation Army (I'm sorry to say), and every other commercial Tom, Dick or Kate includes a recipe or 'tip-for-a-better-life' with their glossy newsletter or appeal.
I'm sick of it. Sick of corporations and corporate-style entities trying to win business (i.e. get money) by intruding into areas that have nothing to do with why they exist--and trying to sound as though they care. Who are they fooling?
I am also sick of non-corporate entities--charities, Christian organisations and the like--who think they must ape businesses' marketing techniques in order to survive.
What I'm saying, or should I say, yelling, is that the intrusion of business and corporate-style agendas into what might traditionally have been called the realm of the 'citizen' drives me mad.
Does anyone else share this or a similar concern?
PS I'm aware that the above presents me with two problems at least: (1) If I were to place one of my sneakers in our tiny freezer, it would leave very little room for frozen dinners for the next week. (2) As I sometimes take work as a copy writer (i.e. writing brochures, ads, websites and the like), I directly contribute to the trend I am screaming about, which is another of life's terrible tensions.
posted by Sauntering Walker at 8:27 PM
4 Comments:
I hear you loud and clear Chris. One pet hate of mine is having to walk all the way to the letter box only to find that nobody loves me except the local real estate agent, whose advertising material tells me how to cook fish with lemon grass and compliment it with a fine glass of Chardy (I'm sure Southcorp paid royalties to the agent for advertising their 'Penfolds Broken Gate Chardonnay'). The last thing I need when living in a rental house is to be encouraged to sell the house through this agent AND how I should cook my dinner.
Hear, hear David, and nice to hear from you.
I've also noticed that this advertising guff often slips past our 'No Junk Mail' sign. Grrrr.
Chris
PS A sad confession: I've written one of those spruiks for a real estate agent -- although there were no recipes!
I cooked one of those recipes once - it was quite nice. Didn't make me want to buy a house though (or help me afford one!).
On a slight, but relevant, tangent, when I get snail spam - especially if it's addressed to me - I proofread it and send it back to them with a bill. It's all very professional: I wouldn't do a better job if they did hire me.
I also include a letter asking them that if they choose not to pay, at least remove my name from their mailing list.
If they pay, whacko. If they don't, there should be no more pulp (in both form and function) filling up my letterbox.
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