Another point is scored for the Anti-Marketing People of America (AMPA). Okay, there is no such organization called the AMPA, but if there were, it seems like a lot of folks would join it. The latest volley in the battle against marketers is the Do Not Mail movement.
The Seattle City Council just passed a resolution calling on the state of Washington to create a Do Not Mail Registry giving its citizens the choice to stop receiving unwanted junk mail. Cities and states across the country have either passed or are considering similar resolutions and laws. Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and about 20 other states all have proposed legislation to establish a registries of consumers who do not want to receive unsolicited direct mail marketing.
Professional marketers should take notice – and so should unprofessional ones as well.
You see, like so many other aspects of society, a few bad apples can spoil the whole bunch. Professional marketing is not immoral or unethical, but unprofessional marketers make it seem so for the rest of us. Unethical telemarketers annoyed us at home by calling us at the dinner hour. They abused the free and easy access to us and so the Do Not Call law was passed to keep them out. That action decimated the telemarketing industry. It damaged the ability for non-abusive marketers to get relevant and useful information to their audiences. The same situation was repeated with the CAN-SPAM act in order to prevent unethical email marketers from overloading our inboxes with useless and offensive emails. Now legitimate marketers are restricted in their ability to communicate via email to their potential customers.
Now we are considering Do Not Mail legislation because a lot of people are tired of receiving unsolicited offers in their home mailbox. Take a look at this page from the Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org/mailmovesamerica) to learn more about the topic of Do Not Mail.
The responsible use of direct mail is not inherently immoral, unethical, intrusive, wasteful, or socially undesirable. But irresponsible direct mail marketers have again aggravated Americans and the AMPA is out to get the rest of us.
Professional marketers provide a service to a free-market economy by informing consumers of the choices they have to satisfy their needs and desires. And that is a noble cause.
