How not to sell backup service
It drives me crazy when people use a tragedy or natural disaster to try to hawk a product. Yes, I know it’s done all the time—even by those who consider the Iraq war a “product”—but that doesn’t make it right. Here’s an example that just landed in my inbox:
Hurricane Gustav chased an estimated two million people from their homes. Fires in Southern California and Yosemite Park areas destroyed thousands of acres and burnt hundreds of homes. Floods in the Midwest swept into homes despite residents’ best efforts. Every day natural disasters take their financial and emotional toll.
So far, so fair, right? I mean, this is tug-at-the-heartstrings stuff, and if it’s part of an effort to help out the Red Cross or send help to stranded Texans, fine. But it’s not. What’s being sold here? The pitch comes a little later:
Katrina was a wake-up call for Donna to convert her old family film into digital files…just in case. Scanning 20 years of photos wasn’t something Donna found fun but she’s glad the task was done. ... Having invested so much time in digitizing her photos, Donna wanted to create a fail safe backup and archiving plan. “I found a website, [redacted] that highlighted the benefits of different archiving and backup solutions…”
That’s right. This is a press release for a backup service. Sure, backing up your photos is important; I do it all the time. But come on! It’s just a few days after Ike, and people are still trapped and dying in Galveston. And, this guy is using storms and other tragedies to pitch a backup service! It’s just loopy. No, I’m not going to post the flak’s name, or the name of his client, here. But I’m definitely adding a spam filter to my mailbox, so I can avoid seeing any more of this lunacy. And I’m going to send the Red Cross a few bucks right now, just to feel clean again after having read this stuff!
