Lock the Cashbox – Stop the Catbox

One of my favorite tv commercials out right now – not favorite in the way that I want to buy something from them, but favorite in the way that it makes me laugh – is for Cingular Wireless.

Two guys are singing along to that 80’s anthem, Rock the Casbah. The first guy is singing, “Lock the cashbox,” which probably makes as much sense as “Rock the Casbah”, unless of course you know the name of this Clash hit.

Kind of funny – we all mix up words. But then the second guy comes in and suggests that they’re really singing, “Stop the catbox”.

Also kind of funny. What gets me, though, is that the first guy immediately gives in and believes that the group must be encouraging listeners to overthrow that most evil menace of pet accessories.

I deal with a lot of clients and always strive for a very open relationship. I need to be able to tell them what my experience as an online marketer is for what works and what doesn’t. Likewise, they need to not roll over at my suggestions when their experience tells them something else will work. So don’t fall for someone else’s argument just because they sound convincing.

(You can also make the case here that it’s important to sell your ideas if you have a reasonable chance that you’re correct. I chose not to bring up a Socrates discussion on persuasion given that the Cingular guy was so incredibly off.)

Of course, it’s also incredibly important not to assume either one of the parties is right. That’s why testing, especially A-B testing, is so important. And unlike with (physical) direct mail, it’s easy and fast to do, assuming you’ve been trained in that sort of thing.

Pretty pictures and more links will be inserted to this post tomorrow when I have time to finish this post. In the meantime, sleep tight and don’t let the catboxes bite.

Editor’s note: I guess I didn’t mean “pretty” pictures. Not that the members of The Clash aren’t attractive in their own heroin addicts in the 80’s kind of way. I’m not accusing them of being heroin addicts. Just looking like them.