Word: help
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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...Aren't you partly to blame for the animosity in Vietnam? What makes you think you could help with reconciliation...
...gurus of the direct-mail copywriting trade are the Sonoma, Calif., team of Bill Jayme and Heikki Ratalahti. Over the past 20 years, they have used their wiles to help launch more than a score of publications, including Bon Appetit, Smithsonian and Mother Jones. Jayme and Ratalahti's marketing packages, which cost $30,000 to $50,000 each, share four characteristics: an irresistible envelope, a personalized typewritten letter, a brochure intended to give an as yet nonexistent product an aura of legitimacy, and a response card. Jayme and Ratalahti know that people do not read direct-mail pitches carefully...
Does your hand clutch reflexively for the wastebasket when you encounter an invitation for a "21-day free trial period"? Do you feel a numbing sensation when confronted by a hysterical series of !!!!! or uppercased exhortations: THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!!!!! ONLY YOU CAN HELP!!!!! ORDER NOW!!!!! ? Have you begun to regard with suspicion bordering on paranoia every piece of mail marked OFFICIAL or V*A*L*U*A*B*L*E D*O*C*U*M*E*N*T*S I*N*S*I*D*E? Do the words "You May Already Have Won . . ." provoke in you an overwhelming desire...
Critics contend that little of that outpouring went for its authorized purpose: to enable elected officials to conduct a dialogue with constituents. Most of it, they argue, went to help incumbents consolidate their hold on power. The outcry has given rise to some reforms. House and Senate members up for re-election are prevented from issuing mass mailings just prior to elections. This year the Senate prohibited members from transferring individual franking allocations to colleagues, and the House agreed to restrict franking funds to about $180,000 for each representative...
Such safeguards help make the direct-mail flood more selective, but it is likely to continue to spread. In fact, the glut may grow exponentially as relatively cheap technologies increase the numbers of marketers who can tap into the stock of consumer information. Last month Lotus Development Corp. of Cambridge, Mass., introduced a Macintosh-compatible software data base culled from more than 7 million U.S. companies. The $695 package will enable small concerns to enter the business-to-business direct-market mainstream. Another Lotus data base, due early next year, will allow small businesses to tap into the consumer market...