I got the Buyer's Choice Survey of American in the mail yesterday. It asks many questions about my household and our purchases. The front of the survey (which is several pages) promises to get me coupons, product samples, and special offers, as well as register me for sweepstakes prizes. I actually don't care much about that. I do recognize that money doesn't solve everything. My pay stub has come a long way from my days as an 18 year old E-2 making a base pay of $880 a month, and I have more problems to go along with that vast increase in pay stub figures. However, the kicker is that this survey promises to "Reudce unwanted mail- Buyer's choice will help eliminate unwanted mail in categories that don't interest you". Well, that alone is reason enough to take the survey.
I decided to do a quick web search about this survey. I turned up this article: http://www.directionsmag.com/press.releases/index.php?duty=Show&id=1381&trv=1. Apparently, Equifax bought the company. That's just what we need: the same company that holds our credit reports also handles the direct marketing. Do you ever feel like we're in some kind of "The Truman Show" for marketers? We live in a virtual world for them to amuse themselves by watching us. I have to wonder if advertisers have gotten too much power over our lives, but we did allow it to happen. Great free services such as the internet and television are brought to us by advertisers. Yes, we pay an ISP and a cable company respectively, but many of the services that we enjoy on each medium are paid by advertisers.
I think I will fill out the survey however. The direct marketers need to get their act together. I get mail from AARP, and I'm only 31 for crying out loud. Before we junked our landline, I used to get telemarketing calls for retirement condos. I'd like to retire, but I have more years left in the workforce than I've been alive.
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