Smarter Than A First-Grader?

5 Jan

I belong to a list-serve where people post requests for graphic/technical assistance. This note came my way earlier today:

I am at a lost…..

I work for a private elementary school.  We are looking fir a logo redesign…we have had several people to volunteer and the product we have gotten back is missing the mark……thus I am searching for a Graphic Designer to do a Logo Redesign for the school.  This would be a volunteer project….  Please feel free to forward off list. For more information, please eMail me.

SERIOUSLY? Since your note says you “work” there, I’m going to assume you’re receiving a paycheck, and not just volunteering. Presumably that means at some point, someone interviewed you or you completed an application. Was your writing this horrific then, or have you helped out in the first grade room a bit too long?

(And PS: This photo is an actual note written by a kindergarten student. Please note that he proofread his work and made appropriate revisions. It’s called editing: try it sometime!)

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Online Marketing at Its (Questionable) Finest

3 Jan

This ad popped up after I sent an email from my Yahoo account today.

Question for you: What is the FIRST thought you have when looking at it?

If you’re anything like me, your thought sequence was something like this:

Holy shit! Why is there a serial killer in my email?

Wait. Is that Jesus?

<Skimmed headline>

Huh? What does this guy have to do with me going back to school?

Hold on… are we supposed to infer that people who make less than $45k look like this?

In any event, I can’t imagine that this ad correlates to a strong response rate. It seems to me, they’ve gone for a pretty specific audience. Unless, of course, Jesus, a serial killer, or college drop-outs who smoke a ton of weed are interested in going back to school. In which case: well done, Degrees.ClassesUSA.com!

(And yes, apparently it was *somewhat* effective, because I clicked through to see who the sponsor was.)

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Addictions & Resolutions

2 Jan

My name is Alison, and I’m addicted to Facebook.

It’s embarrassing, really. I didn’t know the first thing about Facebook, Twitter or any other social media until I joined my company two years ago. Since we support other organizations with their marketing initiatives, it’s a requirement that everyone have a Facebook page and tweet daily. (I know, my friends who are teachers are shaking their heads, thinking, “You get PAID to tweet?”)

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