Credit card massacre
a big hit on YouTube

     A couple of interesting stories you probably didn't see unless you take the Wall Street Journal: Fred Willharm, described by the Journal as a real- estate investor from Franklin, Tenn., made his TV debut on YouTube with a video he named "The Tennessee Credit Card Massacre." Incensed when card-issuers jacked up his interest rate, Mr. Willharm "sliced, drilled and shredded" his credit cards, then regretted that he couldn't blow up the cards instead. He's one of dozens, says the Journal, who have posted online videos of a "plasectomy," a term coined by Fox radio talk show host Dave Ramsey...the advertising industry, meanwhile, is furious over the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that gives the FDA power to control the marketing and advertising of smokes. No giveaways of non-tobacco items with the purchase of a tobacco product, and no outdoor ads within a thousand yards of schools and playgrounds. The ad industry says it's the most restrictive advertising bill ever passed for a legal product. Magazines will be particularly hurt says the Journal. Those with large readerships under the age of 18 won't be allowed tobacco ads in color--just black and white ads the business calls a "tombstone." In the first quarter of 2009, ad spending dropped 21%. How do you like the new regulations flowing out of Washington now?

Benefits & promises
make best teasers

     Response to your direct mail seems to drop off each month. What's the fastest, easiest thing you can do to turn it around? When the big retailers face such a problem, one of the first things they do is test their carrier--usually an envelope or a self-mailer. The world's best offer is useless unless your targets open your mail. Are you using a teaser on your envelope? If you are, does it pull out a benefit or promise from the letter? Some casinos think a teaser (a headline on the front side of the envelope) should actually tease. So you find lines such as "Cash in on your next stay with us," which is dull, lifeless, and promises nothing. But if your teaser said, "Inside: $25 in free slot play," your prospects would open it in seconds. And don't be afraid to write a teaser with 30 words or more. I have one in my files that ran 35 words, just loaded with benefits. In a print ad, the headline is the most important single element. The teaser occupies a similar position in direct mail.

Leo Rosten
hits it big
in Carnival

     Leo Rosten's Carnival of Wit is a laugh a page. Leo opens it with
a warranty to buyers: "If you are not completely delighted with this book,
just return it to me with the receipt showing exactly how much you paid.
I promise to return your receipt within five days."

Under MARRIAGE,
the following:

"Marriage is the only adventure open to the cowardly" (Voltaire)
"Marriage--a master, a mistress and two slaves,making in all, two"
(Ambrose Bierce)
"Marriage is popular because it combines the maximum of temptation
with the minimum of opportunity" (GBS)
"Marriage is a very good thing, but I think it's mistake to make
a habit of it" (W. Somerset Maugham)
"A man in love is incomplete until he is married. Then he is finished."
(Zsa Zsa Gabor)

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