December 16, 2000

From: "leonardo calcagno" <leonardo@upath.com>
To: <sourcedocuments@hotmail.com>
Subject: UPATH.COM
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 12:33:34 -0500

I'm the urban marketing development for http://www.upath.com...i was wondering if you  could get more info about your magazine! Like price list, reders, cost, events and distribution. Is their a phone number i can call?

Leonardo Calcagno
Upath.com
648 wellington street #450
Montreal, P.quebec
h3c 1t3



Dear Leonardo,

It may surprise you that I know of UPath.com. In September, one of your "urban marketing development" persons plastered the campus of the University of Windsor and surrounding area with your promotional stickers. They were little yellow UPath.com stickers on signs, on property, on mailboxes, and in the stairwell of the library where I work. One on every floor. 

I was so angry with this "urban marketing development" that I called up your company and asked them to stop plastering the library and the other public places of the University of Windsor. The company representative whom I spoke with (it could have very well been you - I suspect that UPath is a small operation) was mildly apologetic and told me that he would tell the Windsor marketing representative to "back off". He then informed me that such offenses were not their intention; the promotional stickers were meant for students to put on their binders and such.

And then I thought, yeeeeeaaaahhh right. To add insult to injury, the rep took me for a fool.

I understood immediately that your company was taking part in an attempt at guerilla marketing. You wanted to pursue a lucrative student market but you didn't want to pay for it. You weren't the first to do this at the University of Windsor, but you continue to be the most annoying; I still see you stickers from time to time, either weathered or half-scraped off.

The best advertising is a fair exchange. A magazine takes ads to supplement costs and the advertisers get access to their subscribers in trade. You wanted to be there for students, but you didn't want to do anything for them. At least the previous guerilla advertisers on campus used temporary measures like chalk, or tried to provide a gift of a cool looking postcard.

And it looks like you have graduated to such a real advertising campaign. I suspect that you have been trolling the Broken Pencil guestbook looking for hip zinesters like myself. This would explain why you think I have a price list, distribution or events.

In short, I am not interested in UPath.com.
 suspect my "reders" wouldn't either.


 
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