Stopping Direct Marketing To The Deceased
from the why-just-the-deceased?? dept
There's apparently a new company (why do we need a company for this?) that is working to stop direct marketing towards the deceased. They're partnering with funeral homes, trust and estate attorneys to put together their list. I'm wondering what the company is getting out of this that it's worth creating a whole company around, and why only the deceased are allowed to get out of direct marketing hell? Of course, it doesn't stop spam. Just phone calls and mailings.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ha! Try dealing with jury duty!
The hitch, however, is my father and I share the same first name and middle initial. I didn't want to attempt to argue with the sheriff should some nitwit decide to issue an arrest warrant for my father failing to appear.
So I grabbed his ashes and took a trip to the office in charge of such notices. At the counter I announced "He's here for jury duty" and put the container on the counter. The look on the clerk's face was priceless; even more so as the color drained from her face when I opened it and showed the ashes. I suppose the label on it reading "HUMAN REMAINS" added to the effect. She damn near ran out of that office. A manager appeared poste haste. After explaining the predicament, to her likewise horrified countenance, she resolved to correct the problem immediately with no additional effort required on my part.
That and telling the telemarketers how much grief they were causing me to relive every time they called seemed to put a pretty quick stop to the foolishness. It seemed to really get choked up while ranting at them.
I'd suggest this only works with cremated remains. Walking in their brandishing bones would be a little over the top.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]