Spam anyone?

Spam is "the sending of unsolicited, generally undesired bulk e-mail." In a sense, "offline spam" has been around for a long time. It's just we called it something else. Door-to-door sales, cold calls, flyers placed on your car windshield, roadside signs telling you who to vote for, etc.

Marketing, like many things in life, has a "hierarchy of acceptability." We accept commercials during TV shows, logos on our clothing, billboards on the roadside. But spam, due to the lack of permission, is pretty much universally viewed with disdain (except by the spammers themselves and those that create spam filters).

And yet spam must work or else it wouldn't exist. Some people must order the Viagra or baldness cures. Some people must invest in the penny stocks. Not me. I just send money to that nice Nigerian man to help him transfer his fortunes. Poor guy.