Marketing Into The Teeth of a National Tragedy

I was on the computer Friday just after noon when my wife called to me. She had been watching a cooking show, and they broke in with news of the shooting of 1st graders in Connecticut.

We sat and watched ... both of us crying. Our son died a few years ago, and I could only think of what an awful, awful night all those mothers & fathers, brothers & sisters, grandmothers & grandfathers would be having Friday night ... and for many days and weeks and months and years to come.

It's not just a tragedy. It's a national tragedy. It's riveting. It's 100% incomprehensible, unexplainable, and depressing. It's an event that none of us will ever forget. Ever.

In my own websites, traffic is down 80% since the news broke. And yet ... the normal marketing emails keep coming. Sure, I know, most were pre-programmed into autoresponders. But programming can be changed. And it should be. My impression was, "How can you act like everything is business as usual, like nothing has happened ... when the world has changed?"

Of the several dozen emails I got from marketers, two were not about business. Those 2 guys wanted to talk about the events in Connecticut and their reactions and what we might possibly do for the families of the victims ... and for our own families. They weren't focused on selling me something. They struck exactly the right tone ... as marketers, and as humans.

Gary Halbert said that the worst thing that can happen to a direct mailer is to drop the mailing, and then have some riveting national event occur ... that you will pretty much lose every penny you put into the mailing, because no one will pay any attention to it.

I think that applies to most forms of marketing.

But especially for those sending out marketing emails, when you continue as if nothing has happened, you risk seeming like an insensitive clod AND you risk losing credibility in the eyes of your prospects and customers. IMO, the best marketing strategy is to simply take a break, then pick it back up later. In this case, after the holidays.

Even better ... send out a heartfelt message talking about your reactions to the event. Believe me, I will remember the 2 marketers who sent me a message like that. I'll be much more inclined to trust them and buy from them in the future.

Richard Dennis

[Glenn]

Thanks Richard,

As a skinny/short farm country kid from Baltimore, County MD - who dressed
differently and had a crew cut I got bussed into elementary school.

The Elementary school I remember was a dangerous Dungeon-like place.

I got roughed up, Made fun of, picked on and chased a lot. And that was
done by the other kids alone. The teachers were worse.

My memories of school as Hell-on-earth are still vivid.

But -at least- none of the Bullies in my day were carrying guns.

Miss Whip used to Hit me with a ruler.

Miss Lamont terrified us all by hanging us out the 2nd floor window by our
legs. Or head down in the trash can. She was 200 pounds of solid muscle.

Mr Gerda used to put me in a corner wearing a Dunce Cap when I turned
around to get Nancy Belt to stop poking me with her sharpened pencil.

I still remember names and faces.

I spent a lot of time in the library.

Disappearing into other lands, cultures, worlds. No student OR Teacher Bullies there.

It NEVER occurred to me to SHOOT anybody though.

Our society seems to be moving fast in many not so healthy directions.

Access to weapons.
Pervasive violence in games,
horror movies,
MMRP Games like World of Warcraft have Changed.

Naturally that will manifest in school.

The drug gangs in every city and town in the USA seem to give people
PERMISSION to shoot or maim.

What am I saying?

From MY Perspective elementary school doesn't seem to have changed
Violence-wise. BUT The Weapons have become more dangerous.

And the Cultural inhibition against
violence seems to be out the window.

My Question from the Perspective of the little kid who shot the elementary
school principal and the others -- Because I came back from school bloody and bruised more often than not - is who or What made him so angry??

Who was he getting REVENGE on?

Maybe I'm wrong.

I admit MY PERSPECTIVE is radically SLANTED by my own
childhood experiences.

But as children from all over the world Race past USA Educated kids
in academic subjects - maybe there is a Deeper - More serious problem
Right in front of our Faces.

Based on my Rotten Elementary School Experience - if my classmates
had been allowed to tote guns - I'd be dead.

I couldn't outrun a bullet on the playground.

ON THE PLUS Side - Maybe some of my sadistic teachers would have been nicer if their students
were armed.

YUCK.

I don't like to think back to my Terror filled school days.

Sort of boggles the mind.

Glenn Osborn
Elementary School Survivor

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Richard Dennis

It's not just a tragedy. It's a national tragedy. It's riveting. It's 100% incomprehensible, unexplainable, and depressing. It's an event that none of us will ever forget. Ever.

Hi Richard,

The thoughts you've shared are absolutely true, I agree with you 100%.

Let me share a short, personal story...

My late father was near a shooting on a university campus in 2002, where he worked as a professor. The gunman, who was a university student, killed two people, and also shot and injured five others.

My father's office was located in the same building where the gunman shot his victims. We were so worried when we heard about this on the news, and hadn't heard from my father, who was at work when the shooting happened.

Luckily, it turned out that my Dad was okay.

One of my brothers happened to have been a classmate of the student who did the shooting, though he wasn't there when the shooting happened (and my brother didn't know him well).

The gunman was later found to have had psychiatric problems.

(I didn't post about this on Sowpub at the time, since, as you can understand, my emotions were still pretty raw...)

So I know something about what it feels like first hand, at least in that period before you find out your loved ones are okay.

(Here is the Wikipedia page about the shooting I'm referring to - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monash_University_shooting )

In my opinion, I think if someone is determined to commit a mass murder, there's probably not much you can do about it - except for police to try to discover the plan before it happens, and stop it early.

However, the cases that really break my heart are the cases where a young, innocent, naive kid gets hold of a gun, then accidentally shoots his brother, sister, or himself. (From what I can tell, it seems to almost always be boys who do the shooting, rather than girls.)

Some (very sad) examples...

https://www.google.com/search?q=boy+accidentally+shoots

Other very sad cases are where a man accidentally shoots his own kid.

https://www.google.com/search?q=man+...lly+shoots+son
https://www.google.com/search?q=man+...hoots+daughter

But what can be done about it? How can we prevent these from happening?

Some good news is that the gun homicide rate in the USA over the last few years has been improving...

However, regarding gun accidents, I have found there are some things that can be done.

I stumbled over this gun safety equipment. It's a modification which can be made to a handgun, such that...

...the gun can only be fired if the person holding the gun is wearing a magnetic ring on his or her finger.

If someone gets the gun, and is not wearing a magnetic ring - the handgun won't fire.

That means that...

• Kids can't grab the gun and accidentally shoot it.
• Nobody else can grab the gun and shoot it, unless they are wearing the magnetic ring.

Here's where you can find out more about it...

http://www.tarnhelm.com/magna-trigge...ty/magna1.html
http://www.tarnhelm.com/magna-trigge.../magtkudo.html

Some further info is available here...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Gun

Innovations like this can help reduce some of the tragedies we hear about...

(And yes, there could be business opportunities here - which will also help to save innocent lives...)

Best wishes,

Dien

[Glenn]

Thanks Dien,

9 of 10 of these school shootings happened because the kid had been
given an anti-depressant drug or drugs.

(Interesting the kids who killed 2 or 4 or 5 at a time - stayed out of the national Radar - until now.)

Kids and their parents reported memory loss. All kinds of chest, leg, arm, neck pain.

Mild depression Jumped to Suicidal thoughts.

AND

Worst of all were the symptoms DURING withdrawal from a lot of well
known drugs.

They made a good case for Avoiding All the Drugs prescribed by psychiatrists
and psychologists AND doctors...

Doctors seem to go by what the Manufacturers tell them.

Makes Sense.

The Top Psychologists' point was - that in HIS Practice every single person
reacts TOTALLY different to the same drug. So he watches 'em like a hawk.

Convinced me.

If Anybody I know feels Depressed I'll suggest they go for a walk.
And I'll buy them a strawberry sunday.

Join a band or a choir.
Listen to your favorite rock Band.

Thanks,
Glenn

Glenn,

That was a very interesting post. Unfortunately, you got me started.

The use of antidepressants for children & teens has increased several hundred percent over the last few years. Plus, Merck & GSK & J&J the other drug companies have spent $$Billions targeting pediatricians to refer patients or directly prescribe antidepressants.

25% of kids on prescription drugs

But one of the problems with that solution is this:

44% of drugs given to children have no instructions

We've all heard the ads that say to call your doctor if you take their drug and get depressed or have thoughts of suicide. But this little girl didn't follow orders:

Why would a 7-year-old commit suicide?

As for the shooter in Connecticut, his brother claims he was autistic. So check this out:
More than half of kids with autism in U.S. prescribed "mood stabilizers"

And if you want a simple explanation why so-called "respectable" doctors would put kids at risk:
$$$

If you have children or grandchildren and you want a description of any drug prescribed by a pediatrician:
Kids' Drugs

Johnson & Johnson ("The Family Company") supplies pediatricians with plastic building blocks for kids to play with in the waiting room. Each block is inscribed "Risperdal". OH ... speaking of
Risperdal

I have plenty more of 'em ... but that's enough for now.

They're all screaming their heads off right now about guns ... but not a one of them is saying a word about drugs.

Richard

In my opinion, every American should take the time to watch this video. Your family is worth it. The future of our society is worth it. The possibility of preventing future Sandy Hooks is worth it. You need to know the story of psychotropic drugs.

The Untold Story of Psychotropic Drugging

The media, the politicians, the professors ... they rant and rant, but not one of them asks what mind-bending prescriptions that kid was on. And every one of them owes some part of their income to the drug companies.

Richard Dennis