Jews For Jesus
A few days ago, someone was
handing out funny yellow pamphlets.
Now, you have to understand, I HATE preachers, pushers, and the like who
hand crap out. You don't get to know what it is before you take it, and
you're faced with a horrible choice each time you pass by - either take
it and be stuck with what is inevitably a piece of crap, or snub the
person, and walk on by (risking a shoulder check as they try to shove
it in your hand.) After everyone gets sick of having it in their hand
and they don't see a garbage, they just chuck it on the ground, and of
course, these people on a "mission" don't consider it part of their
mission to clean up the mess they made.
So the fact that I was intrigued by this little yellow pamphlet means
it's cleverly disguised. I can normally tell what I'm looking at with
cursory glance, and will just leave it where it is.
Each of these little pamphlets is a story or instructional brochure that
has basically nothing to
do with it's premise.
Catching a Cab
Ever get the feeling that when you don't need a cab they
are everywhere waiting to swoop down on you?
You may be waving goodbye to a friend across the street and
a cab stops. ... (3 more paragraphs like this)
Then there are those times when you really need a cab and
you can't get one.
Either they've already got customers in them already, (cute, funny
picture of people hanging out of cabs here) or
they're off duty.... or its' raining and everybody else
wants one too.
Here are some tips for getting cabs on rainy days:
(3 real/funny tips for catching a cab)... then: or you
could PRAY
Cabs may be hard to get when you need them, but GOD is
always available to hear your prayers... (more here)... His
Son, Y'SHUA (Jesus) said, "...."
So there's a few things that strike me as weird about this.
First of all, it's a sneaky little thing. It tries to reel you in with
something that affects your life, and then totally switches the subject
at the end.
Let's try it another way:
"Ever have trouble with your iPod?
Many people
experience problems with their battery after extended use. To
troubleshoot, please check your model number to see if your battery is
under warranty, ensure your headphone cord is intact, or eat
some diamonds."
"Diamond eating is a new crazy started by the prophet Y'EASISH (Steve
Jobs) which will bring you great happiness and wealth..."
At which point you should go "WHAT?!?!"
Yet somehow, Jews For Jesus
(which in itself seems to be a
contradiction, but maybe that's just me) feels that bits like these are
effective
pieces of propaganda.
The Gallery at their site is a hoot too. The X-Files image above is more
of their strange mix of pop-culture and and Jews for Jesus "bend your
mind (to get around all that "logic")"
preaching.
Want to know more about haling cabs
or hailing Y'SHUA, call or write:
Moishe Rosen
Jews For Jesus
yshua4u@aol.com
Please Do Not Litter! (even though I've just shoved this
piece of crap in your hand and you can't find a garbage!)
5:47 pm | permalink |
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The Economics of Free Comic Book Day
I'd made myself a note in my
palm to go and get my Free Comic today as part of the nation-wide
"
Free
Comic Book Day" promotion, and just did exactly that.
Having worked a few "Free Cone Days" at Ben & Jerry's (They've donated
several PartnerShop
franchises to Common Ground), I know the pros and
cons of events like this.
The idea is as simple as the corner crack dealer's sales philosophy,
AKA: "The first one's free, kid." Once they've tried it, they remember
how good it was later, and they don't want to wait for next year to come
around, so they come back again, and again, and so forth.
Free Comic Book Day is the same idea, except there's one crucial flaw.
When we're giving away ice cream, there's certain rules you've got to
follow. The ultimate goal is to make the consumer so happy on Free Cone
Day that they want that feeling again, so you really work to make it a
good experience. You keep lots of people on staff to keep the line short
and entertained. You hold giveaways to promote your catering. You keep
your best flavors on
stock, and plenty of them. You let them go through the line as many
times as they have time for. You promote the event in your local
neighborhood to up your awareness, and the free event works as amazing
viral marketing, with friends telling friends.
All this adds up to a great experience for all, and great marketing for
you as a business. Sure, you lose a bunch of money that day, but
compared to a nationwide TV spot or equivalent print ad campaign, it's
really not that big an expense.
Imagine now, the crucial failure of logic it would be for B&J to skimp
on the ice cream they used that day to keep the costs down.
Sure, you cut your losses on that one day, but you don't get
people to come back who may have been enticed by that freebie and you
also
dilute your brand in a major way and may even scare off loyal customers
who think "wow, their ice cream has really gone downhill - maybe I'll
start going to Cold Stone, etc..."
Only in it's third year, the Free Comic Book Day organizers have already
questioned the logic of the event, but rather than cancel it completely,
they've tried to cut their losses. Just like the hypothetical situation
above, they've ended up with a lack luster event
that stores resent, and speaking as someone who was looking to be
enticed into reading again, an offering that scared me off rather than
drew me in. It's been years since I've picked up a
paper comic book, although I will admit to reading most of Ultimate
X-Men online. Looks like it'll be a few more years.
Speaking with the local comic book store employee (who might also be
the owner, I'm not really sure,) my feelings were confirmed. This years
free books suck by all accounts. The major labels put out very few
titles, paling in comparison to the Ultimate Spiderman and Ultimate Xmen
releases of the past 2 years, and there were many more independent books
out there. Normally this is a good thing, as I enjoy indie art, but the
ones that were left by the middle of the afternoon were pure stinkbombs,
like the pictured "Ballad of
Sleeping Beauty" here.
The clerk at the store lamented the number of people who come in for the
freebie each year and then don't come back, but I can hardly blame them.
This isn't the type of product that gets you hooked, it's the type of
thing that reminds you why you don't read comics any more.
Too bad.
4:24 pm | permalink |
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