September 25, 2002 (thing)

{rant}

The Internet (or, The Downward Spiral of Common Business Ethics)

It is not a good business tactic to annoy every person who comes into contact with your business logo until they simply must find out what you're about. This kind of business tactic (such as pop-ups or SPAM) makes about as much sense as people getting ritually beaten just to make a point clear. Imagine your teacher swapping you upside the head, in order that you remember 2+2=4... which is more likely to come to mind in later years? The formula or the knot on your skull?

If you're a strong, reliable, powerful business, then you don't need to annoy people into buying your product. And if you've got a product worth getting the public's attention, then word will get around without much help from you. Advertising is all well and good, don't get me wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with advertising. But unremittingly beating people over the head with your ads, being completely and unabashedly invasive in your techniques, is right up there with pouring a full bottle of perfume all over your body just to catch the attention of a few men- it just isn't done, ask any woman.

Politicians do it all the time, right? Yep, they sure do. And how much do we really trust those guys? Not a whole helluva lot. Same goes for televangelists. So what makes a business think it'll succeed where politicians and bible thumpers don't?

Cookies, pop-ups, SPAM, banner ads... these are perfectly clear signals that business, which is a reasonably noble field in and of itself, has been cheapened by the uneducated. Only a fool truly believes that "there is no such thing as bad publicity." If bad publicity wasn't such a bad thing, then the whole concept of the "cover-up" wouldn't have come into existence. Folks, there is such a thing as bad advertising and Internet business seems dead set on making it their #1 tool.

Why is this?

Simple: because any IDIOT can start an online business. Hence, "the downward spiral of business ethics." If you put idiots in charge of a small company, you can expect them to take idiotic measures in their ad campaigns. More to the point, you can expect them to make uninformed and uneducated guesses as to what is considered apropos in the field of business.

If I was in charge of a major business powerhouse then I would go to great lengths to make SPAM and unsolicited advertising illegal. Why? Well, such business tactics sour the entire industry, not just one business. I mean, that's common sense, isn't it? If Joe Blow is shouting from the rooftops that his product is the best (when it clearly isn't and is, in fact, a scam), then people will most likely end up looking at Joe Public's business and wonder, "Is he any better than that Blow guy?" Without even thinking about it Joe Blow has hurt not just himself, but everyone else in his industry simply because he was a loudmouth who isn't aware of how to advertise responsibly.

I surf the Internet on a 130mHz laptop computer- trust me, it's not because I like it that way. Whenever a pop-up explodes onto my screen it takes up extra memory on my system which already starved for attention. It bogs it down to a snail's pace and reduces my productivity by 50% until I can manage to get the damn thing closed. To make matters worse, some pop-ups spawn new pop-up windows as soon as you try to close them, which can kill a system in minutes. Is this friendly advertising? Nope. Will I be inclined to check out the offending business' products? Hell no.

And even if I was running on a considerably faster system, my attitude would be no different.

I don't give my money to bums on the street, so why would I be inclined to do so on the 'net? That is, after all, what these business idiots are: bums, and nothing more. A bum looks for a hand-out, an easy ride. A man who's willing to earn his keep will use his brain.

I fucking hate, hate, hate idiots. That hate grows more with every time some idiot makes a vain attempt to get my attention. After all, what does an idiot, one who is clearly lacking in something, have to offer?

{/rant}