I just want a hotdog at Yankee Stadium
As a lifelong fan of America's pastime (baseball, for those who flip by sports channels on the tube), I believe I am a highly profitable customer for MLB.com (the Major League's website) and shop.mlb.com (where you buy the good stuff). Let's look at the basics of my profile:
- I play baseball in my spare time and therefore, purchase baseball equipment and attire. This includes MLB branded attire. In fact, my trip to Yankee stadium this year will include a Bernie Williams jersey!
- I am female. Female apparel sales have skyrocketed over the past few years. Pink is in, pick your team.
- I work full time and do not have kids yet. No brainer - I still have a disposable income! Also means I can travel easily (in fact, I have tickets in hand for games in Baltimore and New York later this year - bought online).
- I love the game. I attend upwards of 6 or 7 Mariners games a season (and I live in Vancouver, 3 hours away). I watch a couple games a week on TV, catch the sports highlights EVERY night, and subscribe to various web reader feeds for my favorite teams to stay up to date on transactions (Mariners and Yankees... who doesn't love Bernie Williams?!?!).
So why, based on the above, does MLB treat me like a stranger? As a loyal subscriber to their news, specials and other offers, I am tired of receiving emails that contain offers that make me giddy (I mean, a chance to go to the All Star game for placing my vote on who should play? I'm in!), only to find out that since I don't live in the United States, I am not eligible to win. My time, my vote, and my interest means nothing. Last time I checked, the Toronto Blue Jays were in Canada. Why can someone in Wyoming participate in the League's offers and contests but I'm excluded? And to top it off, why do I keep receiving these emails? Open up your database, do a quick filter on the "State" or "Country" field of my profile, and stop spamming me with irrelevant information. Take a closer look and realize you'd make my day by simply sending me a coupon for a free hotdog for my first visit to Yankee Stadium.
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cherylmin
- Goodwill: Annoyed
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- 3 Comments
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Comments
I know there's contest rules and regs out there that restrict a lot of these offers to within their country of origin, but I'm totally with you on the frustration factor here. You'd think some of these border-spanning businesses would be able to do a better job of figuring it out, ffs.
One of my all time favourite examples of ultra-stupid spam fits into the latter category, but not in a good way. A few years ago, I was idly surfing around and happened to traverse a site that clearly ran online offers for U.S. residents. Reading my IP address, the site helpfully served up a pop-up ad that read (I kid you not): "We're Sorry - this offer is not valid in Canada."
I hadn't clicked on any offer, asked for any offer, probably didn't even want their goddam offer - but this still blew my mind. Someone had gone to the trouble of coding a site that would figure out my IP address, do a location lookup, then serve up a custom pop-up, completely free of any value whatsoever. It seemed purpose built to do nothing more than showcase their ability to irritate the bollocks off random Canadian visitors. Feh.
Well I made the trip to Yankee stadium for my hotdog. I am still enjoying irrelevant emails and had the pleasure of paying 4.75 for tiny dog pictured above. Tasty tho!
May 16... got my latest email from MLB.com this morning for this year's chance to win a trip to the Allstar game --- fine print of course stating that the contest is only open to residents of the United States. Gee thanks MLB, for another reminder that you know nothing about me nor care to acknowledge my needs as a lifelong CANADIAN supporting the sport.
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