A branding firm in Prague is promoting itself to ad agencies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia by mailing them clear plastic bags of fake blood, complete with catheter, to show how hard they work. “We’ll give our blood for good branding,” says a label on the bag.
Granted, I am a product of American culture. Perhaps had I grown up in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, my reaction upon opening such a package would be other than to, first, puke and, second, speed to the nearest medical lab for reassurance that I didn’t just pick up HIV from my mail.
I am all for Lumpy Mail. This agency is known for Lumpy Mail, and I’m nationally published on the subject. (Those who are more mature than I—about 99.728 of the world’s population—use the term “three dimensional mail.” But why? “Lumpy Mail” is shorter and more fun to say.) I have earned sizable returns for my clients by mailing sales letters that happened to have been accompanied by hockey pucks, stilts, volleyballs, life preservers, crow bars, air horns, fake mustaches, Lone Ranger masks and more.
But there’s this thing called taste. And first impression. Somehow, I do not expect eagerly unwrapping an unexpected package only to find a bag of bodily fluid to put your market into an instant buying mood.
I myself once thought about mailing something innocuous but possibly over-the-edge. But first, fortunately and utterly out of character, I took time to think about it. I left the mailing in my desk. When I pulled it out a week later, my first reaction was disgust. I nixed the mailing.
Sure, send lumpy mail. But keep it pleasant.
--Steve Cuno
Granted, I am a product of American culture. Perhaps had I grown up in the Czech Republic or Slovakia, my reaction upon opening such a package would be other than to, first, puke and, second, speed to the nearest medical lab for reassurance that I didn’t just pick up HIV from my mail.
I am all for Lumpy Mail. This agency is known for Lumpy Mail, and I’m nationally published on the subject. (Those who are more mature than I—about 99.728 of the world’s population—use the term “three dimensional mail.” But why? “Lumpy Mail” is shorter and more fun to say.) I have earned sizable returns for my clients by mailing sales letters that happened to have been accompanied by hockey pucks, stilts, volleyballs, life preservers, crow bars, air horns, fake mustaches, Lone Ranger masks and more.
But there’s this thing called taste. And first impression. Somehow, I do not expect eagerly unwrapping an unexpected package only to find a bag of bodily fluid to put your market into an instant buying mood.
I myself once thought about mailing something innocuous but possibly over-the-edge. But first, fortunately and utterly out of character, I took time to think about it. I left the mailing in my desk. When I pulled it out a week later, my first reaction was disgust. I nixed the mailing.
Sure, send lumpy mail. But keep it pleasant.
--Steve Cuno
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