Rumors/Urban Legend - Right or Wrong #008

What's wrong with this email:

1. Why would a corporation such as Applebee's put out $50 per email "in an attempt to reach rural communities where they aren't located"?
   1. Wouldn't the majority of the emails generated be urban?
   2. Wouldn't they WANT the the people where Applebees is located to visit?
   3. Wouldn't dropping leaflets from an airplane be better for some "rural" areas? (Then again, this would be considered "littering".)
2. The ending line says that it really works... The person tried it and got the confirmation number quickly.
   1. If this is the first time they sent it, how do they know, and how did they append this note?
   2. If it's the second time they sent it, does it mean they're going to get ANOTHER confirmation number?
      1. If THIS is the case (sending multiple times to the minimum number results in multiple confirmations), wouldn't I cut my mailing lists down to nine (9) per email, and send as many as I can, to get MULTIPLE coupons/confirmation numbers?
         1. Wouldn't THIS mean that spammers and others with HUGE mailing lists could conceivably receive HUNDREDS of confirmation numbers?

What's wrong with this email:

1. "PLEEEEEASE READ!!!!!" [Isn't that WAY too much?]
2. If it's going to work, why do they keep saying things about taking a chance and "What have you got to lose?"
3. Why is it a mix of American and British English? ("Cheque"?)
4. Why is it a mix of companies? In part is AOL and Intel. In others it's Microsoft and Intel. And in others it's Microsoft and AOL? Who is it?
5. I could find NOTHING, ANYWHERE about a "class-action" lawsuit filed by Pepsico against GE.
6. AOL owns Netscape and Firefox is their most recent browser. WHY would they JOIN Microsoft in an effort to make Internet Explorer the #1 browser.
7. See the numbers in my End Notes, below. If $50 does that, what would $245+ do?
8. Why did the $ amounts for forwarding the email change? In the "letter" the amounts are $245/$243/$241. In the last part it says it's $203.15/$156.29/$17.65. Which is it? Oh... I see... It's two different combinations of companies. Does that mean I get money from both?
9. It appears that somewhere in email-land, two emails were combined! Why?
10. The writer's "brother's girlfriend" showed the check she'd received and cashed marked "Paid in Full"? WHY would she still have that check? You cash a check, it goes into the vault or back to the writers.
11. If Bill Gates is giving his fortune away, why is Intel going to contact me at all? Shouldn't it be Bill, himself?

Does this help you to understand how UNREAL all this is?

What's wrong with this email:

1. How can they rent something that doesn't exist?
2. "For every person you send this to..." Hmmm... Would be worth BUYING a mailing list here, wouldn't it? But that would BREAK Outback's back! Then where would I spend the BONUS $25 gift certificate?
3. Lets get this straight:
   1. For everyone I send it to, I get $413. (odd amount, huh?)
      My list has 100 people... $41300? KEWL!
   2. For everyone THEY send it to, THEY will get $413 and I will get $139.
      My father's list has 100 people on it... another $41300 + MY earnings ($13900)
   3. If everyone on MY list sends to 100 people, that's $... a LOT of money (You do the math!)
   4. Almost forgot to add in the $25 gift certificate!
   5. That's just TWO forwards. I knew Outback was GOOD, but didn't know they brought in THIS much money! (Uh... That there's sarcasm!)
4. The ending line [before the BONUS!] says that it really works... The person tried it and got a check the NEXT MONTH...
   1. If this is the first time they sent it:
      1. How do they know it really works?
      2. How did they append this note? OR...
   2. If it's the second time they sent it, does it mean they're going to get ANOTHER check?
      1. If THIS is the case (sending multiple times results in multiple checks), wouldn't I simply send as many copies as I can (say... one an hour or day to my FULL MAILING LIST), to get MULTIPLE checks?
         1. Wouldn't THIS mean that spammers and others with HUGE mailing lists could conceivably receive HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars?

And NONE of number 4 includes a $25 BONUS gift certificate...

Think I'd send to each and every person for MULTIPLE certificates!

What ELSE is wrong with this email:

1. This poem has been around for years, in this and many other emails, including being sent by itself. And it was written not by a 7yo, but by a child psychologist:
   1. David L Weatherford Website
      1. Slow Dance - by David L. Weatherford
2. The "letter" part says, "a choice for all of us to save a little girl", yet she's "terminally ill". Everyone (should) know that if a person is terminally ill, there's no real "hope". Even if any moneys went directly to research centers, etc., it then takes YEARS for a new drug or treatment to be tested and approved.
3. "For every person you send this to..." Hmmm... The magic words... It's crap!

Common Sense Approach

Think about this: The number of emails generated would grow exponentially (10x10=100, 100x10=1000, 1000x10=10000, etc.)

Assuming the item you will get is costs $50, then in just three (3) forwards in that example we've potentially cost the company $500,000!

Even assuming that only 10% of the recipients actually use the gift certificate...

• those three forwards have cost the company $50,000
• Another forwarding, and it's half-a-million dollars. ($500,000!)
• One MORE and it's $5,000,000.

And that's just FIVE forwards to 10 people each with only 10% of the recipients using the item!

And, no... Not even Bill Gates himself could afford this!

Reality Approach

I've said it a thousand times before (and so have many others... )

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS EMAIL TRACKING SOFTWARE

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS EMAIL TRACKING SOFTWARE

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS EMAIL TRACKING SOFTWARE

at least in the generalized internet-/email-land. Ok... Yes, businesses can track your sending and receiving of email (and what's in them!) at their place of business, but not across CYBER-SPACE.

• You will NOT get $1000 or free software from Bill Gates/Microsoft or anyone else
• You will NOT get free coupons, money, meals, records, cds, dvds, offers, etc.
• You will NOT get a funny picture/movie/joke/whatever to appear on your screen
• You will NOT get any better luck, better looking, better health, better ANYTHING

In fact:

YOU WILL NOT GET ANYTHING AT ALL

for forwarding crap like this, except maybe people in your address book/email list (who know better) suddenly thinking, "Maybe I should not accept email from xxx any more! I thought he/she was smarter than this! Besides, all he/she sends is stupid stuff like this and the occasional joke."

Oh... And if you MUST forward crap like this, PLEASE at LEAST see my Email FAQ - Forwarding Etiquette section.

Why? Because, in many of these:

1. It took me a lot of scanning to get to the message!
2. Any email tracker built will not require or rely on the list of forwarded email addresses.
3. It's just courteous.

While it would be nice of you to not only clean these up, but also to clean up the email itself (you KNOW how badly many of these multi-forwarded emails get broken up, and many people don't turn off the forwarding marks (">"). I've received many of these with 7-8 greater-than signs, some with spaces, some without, in front of EVERY LINE of the original email.

This is a copy of the Applebees email as I received it.

See what I mean? How much WORK do you have to do to read it? Do YOU really like reading this type of email?