Bleeding Edge Marketing

 The case you are about to read is true.  The names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.

Dear Bill,

XXX Insurance Company is pleased to provide you with this desk calendar for your home or office.  You'll notice it resembles three people linked together, like our logo.

[skip the paragraph that explains what the three people in the logo represent and the one telling me how wonderful their insurance is, ending with this sentence:]

And should the unexpected happen, rest assured that XXX will handle your claim quickly and efficiently.

To our valued customers, we hope you enjoy this small token of our appreciation . . .

I'm sorry, I just can't go on.  I got this dizzy, disoriented feeling like I had been whizzed back to the 1950's, before the days when absolutely every machine that has a computer chip in it boasts a calendar, back when a desk calendar might actually have been useful.  Small token, indeed!

It amazes me that people still produce ugly little desk calendars and that others take the time to build marketing campaigns around them.  These are not exactly salad days for the insurance industry.  They can't afford to waste a single mass mailing. 

Face it, the days of the desk calendar have long since disappeared.  Deal with it and move on.