January 17, 2007

Know Thy Market

OK...I'm really busy today...but I couldn't let this one slide. I received the following piece of junk e-mail just now:

Title: MEET THE HOTTEST CHRISTIAN SINGLES!!!!!!!!!

Open e-mail...one picture of girl in a bikini, another of a guy working out with huge abs. No bibles in sight.

The text reads as follows:
"There are hundreds of available Christian singles in your area, and they're dying to meet you! Log on to (link--not wanting more junk) to find a HUGE FREE database of available, attractive, exciting singles who all live in the DUBUQUE IOWA area! And faith is important to them, too! They're all just ONE CLICK AWAY! What are you waiting for?"

Where does one begin?
First, the overuse of exclamation points is inexcusable...yes, I know you're excited about spreading the Gospel of Hook-Up, but settle down a bit here. Seems like borderline desperation.
Second, I love how faith is sort of thrown in at the end...this e-mail obviously caters to people who have decided that their order of mate-trait-priority must be:
A) Attractive
B) Single
C) No, I mean REALLY attractive
D) Exciting
E) Accessible (as in one click away)
F) Have I mentioned the whole looks thing?
G) Oh yeah...and faith would be nice.
Finally, they lied to me. If they found a whole database full of rocking singles in Dubuque, Iowa...I'm Chester A. Arthur.

And so, rather than simply nit-pick, I am going to be productive. I am suggesting the following revisions:

Title: MEET THE MOST RIGHTEOUS CHRISTIAN SINGLES!!!!!!!!!

Open e-mail...one picture of a girl reading C.S. Lewis on a roller coaster, another of a man dunking a basketball while wearing a clerical collar.

"There are several Christians in your area. Some of them are single. None of them have any idea who your are...and they're OK with that. Some of these people happen to be exciting. They all are growing in their understanding of how God, through Christ, is working in their lives to bring light, hope, and love into the world. Oh...yeah...and some of them are attractive. We got some of their names together and, for a rather hefty fee, you can find out what their names are. Take your time, think about it."

I realize that the tagline hearkens to Bill and Ted (Most Righteous!...air guitar), but I think that actually might bring in the coveted "Christian and Big Fan of Keanu Reeves" demographic. Anyway...just trying to help, that's all.

3 comments:

Tim James said...

Welcome, Scott!

Looking forward to more blog posts!!

I too love exclamation points!!!

Well, not really, but you know what I mean. It's interesting to me that all week I've gotten the following error when trying to post comments on your blog:

"Forbidden: This page is categorized as Sex"

But now, after posting your 'Christian dating proposal' I can suddenly get through. Hmmm... Perhaps you convinced the powers-that-be that this was actually a most righteous site, and not to be confused with 'The Sex'.

Welcome, nonetheless.

Tim "San Dimas High School Football Rules!" James

Ron said...

Well, it could be worse. You could be posting nude pictures on MySpace.com. This is a good way for you to vent all the zanyness that builds up in your head and it is great entertainment for those of us who have nothing to say.

Keep up the good work, Scott. You are probably unaware of how much of a blessing you are to everyone who knows you. Your sense of humor is a gift from God and your willingness (obsession) to share it is your gift to us.

We thank you and we thank God for you.

Later.

Ron

Anonymous said...

Speaking as your "Suddenly Single Again" sister, let me just say that I couldn't agree more with how obnoxious some singles sites can be. What I'd really like to see is an honest singles site. An example of a posting there would read:

Single, relatively attractive male looking for a girl is way out of my league, but willing to settle. I have the world's most annoying mole on my left cheek, and I enjoy sitting on my butt most of the time. Oh, and I also am really, really scared of committment. But if you're interested, send me an email. Maybe I'll reply, maybe I won't.

Marcy