Direct Hit

As always, Nelson Algren had it just right. “However do senators get so close to God?” he asked in his 1951 classic Chicago: City on the Make.

The same question could be asked about bank CEOs. more

The most compelling subject line I’ve ever seen? “You’re fired.” I’ve been sacked in strange ways, but never by e-mail, and you can be damned sure I opened it.

But it turned out to be Les Gore’s Recruiting Report, and the article was on how to discharge a subordinate. Les, a direct marketer recruiter, sent it to me unsolicited, but I read it because it was interesting in a ghoulish way—like reading about how to administer a lethal injection. And I subscribed to the e-letter.

Well, Les has returned to that topic, and it’s a timely one given the layoffs going on. more

What’s the capital of American direct marketing, Chicago or New York?

My vote goes to Omaha, Nebraska.

more

Did Joe Namath really wear pantyhose? Did Edie Adams smoke Muriel Coronella cigars?

These mysteries may never be solved. But they raise a larger question: Do celebrities use the products they endorse, and can you believe what they say?

They better, judging by new guidelines proposed by the Federal Trade Commission. more

Now it came upon the day before Thanksgiving and Mo Moss found himself, as on many other days of the year, in court.

Mo was the owner of the List Tank, a compiling company with a single product: A bankruptcy list. Having inherited the firm from his father Sy Moss, he was now doing everything he could to run it into the ground. more

Now you can understand why printers have nervous dispositions.

R.R. Donnelley filed suit against American Best Group, a firm that says it can transport “time sensitive shipments from your dock to your customer’s dock,” for allegedly botching an insert delivery.

The facts have yet to be established in court. But the narrative presented in Donnelley’s Oct. 16 complaint suggests that someone at the company is pretty stressed out. more