If you’ve ever wondered how sales letters with atrocious copy can mail multiple times, you’re not alone.
This direct mail letter, “How To Legally Rob Slot Machines In Any Casino,” mailed frequently around 2005.
While the copy looks pathetic to the trained eye, this mail piece gets the core appeal right for this market.
Probably more than any other market, respondents to “gambling systems” have a reputation for being dupes. As one of the characters in Richard Armstrong’s wonderful book,“God Doesn’t Shoot Craps,” says: if gambling systems actually worked, casinos couldn’t afford to put volcanoes out front.
The American television news magazine, 60 Minutes, did a segment recently on the psychology (and pathology) of the slot machine player. It’s worth watching if you’re interested in this market.
How To Legally Rob Slot Machines In Any Casino (8 megabyte PDF, 12-pages including lift letters and reply envelope.)
Atrocious copy seems to work well for the right types of products and markets. “This is NO JOKE! You Are The 1,000,000th Vistor! Click here to claim your FREE* Flatscreen TV!” seems to be a steady control in the online offer lead generation space.
Esh, that copy is horrible. It’s really bad copy, but I’m obviously missing something…
I thought the headline was decent but I hadn’t checked out the copy on the inside. Ouch…indeed, it’s pretty painful! Still it was an enjoyable excursion in Direct Marketing Land.