Interesting, in a bad way

Wells Fargo regularly sends me ads for additional services, essentially spam stuck into my statements, disguised in safety envelopes as confidential banking documents demanding my "immediate attention" and "authorization". It's as if Microsoft were actually behind those fake Windows error message banner ads.

They've also rented out the back of the return envelope to somebody trying to sell me a wind-up flashlight:

Classy, huh?

You would expect a bank to know that a financial statement isn't just a great medium with 100% reach. It's a privileged, confidential communication. If I don't trust the information I get in that envelope, I don't trust my bank.

And this small, repetitive, inadvertent violation of trust weaves its way into my entire experience of Wells Fargo. Their profit is up? I wonder how much of that is from customers duped by the fake "official" envelopes. Interesting foray into Second Life. Does the virtual wind-up flashlight billboard actually light up?

Interestingness cuts both ways.

Comments

[Jeremy Simon]

This annoys me just reading about it.

The worst example of intrusive communication I've experienced was a fake parking ticket I once found on my car when I lived in London. Some local car dealership had gone to great pains to make it look as authentic as possible. The thought was "Aren't you relieved this isn't real? You'll be relieved at our low, low prices too". Ghastly.

[Jeffre Jackson]

The first time I heard someone use the word "intrusive" to describe a campaign, it took me a while to realize that he thought it was a good thing.