Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Random Notes Triggered by The Worst Marketing Email Ever (Penzeys Spices)

This is going to be one of those posts where I bore you with a few random thoughts. It's just turned out to be that kind of day, as I wait to leave for my regular appointment with the retina specialist who monitors my macular degeneration "progress." 

But what really put me in a bad mood this morning - other than the already scheduled doctor-visit - is the email from Penzeys Spices I found in my inbox. We have been buying Penzeys spices for years, depending on our local Houston store for shopping until we recently took to buying the spices over the internet because of all the COVID-19 restrictions. Not once in all those years did I wonder about the political views of the people who run/own the company; I simply did not care in the least.

Then today, there's an email in my inbox marketing some special deals on a few interesting spices. It was only when I opened the email and read the body of it that I discovered a rant berating the "stupidity" of Republicans and EVERYTHING about them and their "misguided" conservatism. There was bullying, name-calling, and derision all wrapped up in one condescending, self-righteous rant that was semi-disguised as a "humorous" sales pitch. I cannot understand why a company that depends on a loyal customer base for its very survival (especially right now) would ever take such an approach? And now, Bill Penzeys is going to have to find someone to replace the sales he will no longer make to me...after all these years. Good luck to him, because "marketing genius," is a title he will never be able to claim after this fiasco.

I try really hard to ignore political differences and just get on with my life. But people and companies, like Bill Penzeys and the little spice company he runs, that work so hard to divide us for their own personal profit do not deserve a place in my life. And Mr. Bill no longer has one. "Oh, no!" Mr. Bill.

On a happier note, I'm doing a lot of reading right now even though I'm not finishing many books. A quick check this morning tells me that I'm well over halfway through several books, but I still keep dipping into the rather high stack of physical books on my desk to start new ones. That happens to me at least once a year, so I'm not surprised, but I think it's time to re-focus on two or three of them before starting another new one (something that is easier said than done when I'm in this mood). 

Among the books I'm particularly enjoying right now is Anne Hillerman's Spider Woman's Daughter, which is I believe the book in which she took over her father's long-running Joe Leaphorn series. Anne cleverly has Leaphorn shot in the head and hospitalized at the very beginning of the novel so that she can focus more on Cree and Bernie Manuelito (husband and wife Navajo cops) as they try to catch Leaphorn's would-be assassin. Hillerman revisits the Leaphorn "legend" in conversation as others work the case on his behalf.

Robert E. Lee and Me by Ty Seidule, a man who grew up in the shadow that Lee still casts in the old South, makes a compelling case that the South lost America's Civil War, but that it won the subsequent peace.  Siedle believes it is time to set the record straight about what he calls "the myth of the Lost Cause" and why the war was all about slavery and nothing else. I didn't grow up in the old South like Seidule, but I did grow up in a Confederate state, so I understand how difficult writing a book like this one must have been for its author. 

The Likeness is Tana French's second Murder Squad book and the third of her books that I'm now familiar with. This one has a highly unlikely premise that I'm willing to play along with, but it takes French just over 100 pages of set-up finally to start the plot moving in the direction promised on the book jacket. I can imagine that many readers give up well before French finally remembers that she is writing a crime novel and not a character study of the book's three main good-guy characters. Whew...

In addition to these three, I'm still reading short stories from the Wastelands compilation (9 of the 34 stories still to go), and dipping in and out of others like:

Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina. I can't even remember how or where I heard about this one, but it is one I just couldn't resist, especially after seeing this  cover. The jacket explains the book's goal this way: "The similarity between human and nonhuman consciousness, self-awareness, and empathy calls us to reevaluate how we interact with animals...ultimately a graceful examination of humanity's place in the world." I can't wait to get deeper into this one.


I've also started listening to the audiobook version of Bill O'Reilly's Killing Crazy Horse while dipping back in to Leslie-Ann Jones's John Lennon biography, The Search for John Lennon, and wondering how in the world I can work in Val McDermid's The Skeleton Road and S.A. Cosby's Razorblade Tears before they are due back in the library on August 20. And, of course, I've read the prologues or first chapters of several of the books on Native Americans that I gathered up on the trip and from the library when I got home last week. Those keep calling me to pick them up.

This is not necessarily one of those cases of "too much of a good thing," but it is getting dangerously close to being one. Now I just need to READ...

11 comments:

  1. Sam, My husband experienced the same type of divisive stupidity in the reverse when several months ago his barber not even knowing whether my husband was a democrat or republican took to bashing the democrats and Biden and asking whether he would vote for Trump again. My husband has been known to hold his own in a battle of wits and words and let him have it about all the reasons Trump will never be presidents again LOL - Needless to say, he now has a new barber:) But, seriously, why would a business person pick a side with a customer?

    I hope you appointment with the retina specialist goes well and that you stellar reading year continues.

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    1. I'll never understand it, Diane. Frankly, I feel bad for people, especially those in business for themselves, who allow their whole lives to be consumed by politics. I think that''s exactly the way both parties want us to live because keeping us separated into two distinct tribes makes their jobs a whole lot easier.

      I try to eliminate politics from my daily life. It's not that I don't pay attention to what is happening around us, it's more that I refuse to become consumed by it. I just don't care about the political beliefs of my friends because we didn't "bond" over shared political beliefs in the first place.

      The appointment went pretty well, thanks. No movement on the degeneration front, and that is always the best I can hope for since there's no going backward with this thing.

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  2. I've never been super interested in politics, although I do have strong opinions about Trump. However, the political situation in the U.S. right now is so divisive and hateful that I NEVER bring up politics with anyone unless I already know where they stand. It's said that adults can't have civil, respectful discussions about politics, but these days, wow, it doesn't seem possible at all!

    I can only think of one company—an indie bookstore, actually—that I frequent where the owners are very public about their political opinions. Since I mostly agree with them, it doesn't bother me, but I imagine they've lost customers over the years because of it. I prefer to appreciate a company (or an author, artist, musician) based on their product/work, not their personal beliefs or behavior, but sometimes it is hard to separate the two.

    Glad you've got some good reading going on. I love Tana French and I remember enjoying THE LIKENESS, but I don't remember any specifics at this point. I hope the book picks up soon so you don't lose interest!

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    1. No one listens to political opinions that they don't already lean toward or agree with. That's just the way it is today. No one will ever change another's mind, and the negative things that happen by even trying are just not worth it for that reason. And, honestly, I don't care where others stand politically to get too upset about it all unless someone like Bill Penzeys decides that throwing it in my face is cute and funny. I think I would have reacted the same way if he had sent out a pro Republican message...I lost all respect for him as a businessman and the product he is selling.

      That Tana French book is really dragging right now, but at least I've gotten her inside the house where she is going undercover among the murder victim's closest friends. I find it kind of ludicrous to believe that she could pass herself off as the victim herself, but I'm willing to go there if it helps. :-)

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  3. Businesses should never let politics color their marketing like that. It's very off-putting! I know Ben & Jerry's stance on Israel is why I'll never buy their ice cream again. But hey, at least you have a lot of good books you're reading! And good luck at you eye doctor. :)

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    1. I find that kind of marketing to be totally off-putting, Lark. I try not to personally boycott companies or certain products ever...but this kind of in-your-face challenge is where I draw the line. I agree that Ben & Jerry's is another good example because they handle their personal politics in exactly the same embarrassing-to-them manner.

      Lots of books...and that gets me through. The eye doctor was encouraging the sense that she's dropped me back to three check-ups a year from the four I've been having. That's a little encouraging that she expects everything to stay relatively stable for a while.

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  4. Do you suppose it was "spammed"? That somehow the email was corrupted and made to look like it was from P's. I used to get their catalogue and found it lovely. (Now I buy my organic spices from the local Co-op.

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  5. Of course I did a search and check this out! This has been going on for a good while!!
    https://duckduckgo.com/?q=penzey%27s+email+political&atb=v276-1&ia=web

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    1. I learned the same, Nan. Too, the email I reference even contained a link to the man's Twitter account where he was taking a bow over how clever he considers himself to be. The replies to that tweet of his were so derogatory toward his target group that I made up my mind for me. He is a divider and, as such, I don't need him or his products in my world. It takes a lot to send me to that tipping point, but he managed to do it all in one morning.

      Life is too short for this kind of thing.

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  6. Hi Sam, Interesting about Carl Safina. He used to work for the National Audubon Society when I worked there years ago. Never met him although I may have seen him around the offices a few times but as I understand he was a nice man and very smart and committed.

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    1. I've only just gotten into the book, but I'm already enjoying his style as much as anything else. He's a good writer.

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