Bad Pitch of the Day: SSPR
I have no idea why anyone would possibly think this would be something I’d cover. It’s not related to PR. It’s not related to marketing. It’s not related to NYC Outdoors. It’s not related to outrageous PR stunts… Is there an angle that I’m missing?
Sorry to be a bother,
This year you can reach your New Year’s goal of reading more books, learning a new language, and/or brushing up on history.
Simply Audiobooks makes audio books easily accessible to anyone who enjoys reading, but can no longer find time to fit it into their schedules. Simply Audiobooks offers readers options to rent over 10,000 books on CD (they work on a monthly subscription model, very similar to Netflix). You can also purchase one of their 7,000 downloadable books to listen to on your MP3 player
Are you interested in getting more information about this service for a possible story?
Thanks,
[name redacted because I’m nice.]
Am I missing something here? Or is this simply a blind pitch, not targeted, and certainly not researched? If I’m missing something, tell me, and I’ll stand corrected. But I don’t think I am. The only POSSIBLE connection is for NYC Outdoors, in that I could listen to books as I run or workout or whatever. But that’s so thin, it’s anorexic.
And the greeting: "Sorry to be a bother," - what’s that? You’re bothering me not because you’re pitching me, but because you’re pitching me without a clue as to why. That bothers me. By saying "Sorry to be a bother," you’re already assuming that you’re bothering me. Had you pitched something on topic, trust me - you wouldn’t be.
Thoughts, anyone?
3 Responses to “Bad Pitch of the Day: SSPR”
Peter - Ironically enough, his/her pitch worked - right? Atleast I’m now aware of a company that I had no idea existed prior to your post.
Sorry to be a bother is pretty lame - If I were him/her I would have went the “Someone like you probably won’t be interested in this” route.. puts people on the defense “Someone like me? What the hell is this product/service that they immediately assume I wouldn’t be interested?”
Totally agree with the greeting - If i am getting pitched and read that i would just hit the delete button because you know it is a waste of time.
Oh boy. This obviously is becoming a bad trend since Chris and you were featured in the New York Times. It’s one thing to use that approach in person with a friend, family member or acquaintance (hasn’t everyone had someone use that line on him or her?), but it’s quite transparent when written. The expected response when used in person is something along the lines of “No, no, you’re not a bother, what do you need?” Somehow I’m not seeing that work on email or the web.