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TL;DR: OP received marketing email from Paypal and is angry

by casca 13y ago

wpietri 13y ago
It goes deeper than that. He's specifically angry at the high bullshit level in the email, and has some reasonable speculation as to why PayPal is doing something harmful to their brand. Marketing isn't synonymous with jerkiness. Google, for example, had a great touch with marketing for many years. AWS still does. In both cases I mainly heard from them when they had created something new and probably valuable to me personally. Here, though, PayPal isn't sending these emails because they are creating value for you. They're sending them because they're using you to generate income. You aren't the customer; you're the veal cow, the foie gras goose.
- 3825 13y ago
  Some context I didn't know before: > The production of foie gras (the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened) involves the controversial force-feeding of birds with more food than they would eat in the wild, and more than they would voluntarily eat domestically. The feed, usually corn boiled with fat (to facilitate ingestion), deposits large amounts of fat in the liver, thereby producing the buttery consistency sought by some gastronomes. Animal welfare controversy aside, I would imagine this suggests they are prematurely exploiting their user base in a non-sustainable manner. If only the customers (I assume the shareholders are their customers?) would care that this tarnishes the brand in the long run. Please correct me if I am wrong. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras_controversy
  - wpietri 13y ago
    Sure, and I think customers care. This customer clearly cared. But suppose some customers don't currently care about you doing something manipulative or exploitative to them. Is that a sign you should keep going? I say no. That not everybody has yet wised up to your exploitation isn't a sign that you're safe. The fundamental basis of commerce is a positive-sum creation of value for both parties. Whenever a company drifts away from that, they're skating on thin ice, and they will eventually fall in.

TL;DR: OP received marketing email from Paypal and is angry

by casca 13y ago

TL;DR: OP received marketing email from Paypal and is angry

It goes deeper than that. He's specifically angry at the high bullshit level in the email, and has some reasonable speculation as to why PayPal is doing something harmful to their brand. Marketing isn't synonymous with jerkiness. Google, for example, had a great touch with marketing for many years. AWS still does. In both cases I mainly heard from them when they had created something new and probably valuable to me personally. Here, though, PayPal isn't sending these emails because they are creating value for you. They're sending them because they're using you to generate income. You aren't the customer; you're the veal cow, the foie gras goose.

3825 13y ago
Some context I didn't know before: > The production of foie gras (the liver of a duck or a goose that has been specially fattened) involves the controversial force-feeding of birds with more food than they would eat in the wild, and more than they would voluntarily eat domestically. The feed, usually corn boiled with fat (to facilitate ingestion), deposits large amounts of fat in the liver, thereby producing the buttery consistency sought by some gastronomes. Animal welfare controversy aside, I would imagine this suggests they are prematurely exploiting their user base in a non-sustainable manner. If only the customers (I assume the shareholders are their customers?) would care that this tarnishes the brand in the long run. Please correct me if I am wrong. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras_controversy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras_controversy
- wpietri 13y ago
  Sure, and I think customers care. This customer clearly cared. But suppose some customers don't currently care about you doing something manipulative or exploitative to them. Is that a sign you should keep going? I say no. That not everybody has yet wised up to your exploitation isn't a sign that you're safe. The fundamental basis of commerce is a positive-sum creation of value for both parties. Whenever a company drifts away from that, they're skating on thin ice, and they will eventually fall in.