In my last column, I shared the results of an informal e-mail survey I did with a group of friends and family members about their attitudes toward direct marketing (Pushing the Envelope, DIRECT, March 1).
Fifteen responses were received—14 in reply to an e-mail I sent 22 people, and one from the co-worker of a friend who forwarded him the questions. Overall, they gave a thumbs up to catalogs and direct mail, and a thumbs down (or at least sideways) to DRTV and commercial e-mail. I saved the comments on telemarketing for this issue, because quite frankly, there was just too much love in their comments to squash into the column. The telemarketing responses deserved a column all their own. Here’s a typical example of the warmth my amigos conveyed.
Telemarketers are the scum of the earth. They are a pain in the *
