This is dangerous... A well-designed flyer and a tempting offer: a copy of the Economist and a one gigabyte memory stick for nada. Question is, can I get them without my name and address being added to tens of junk mail lists?

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How about this chat up line?

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One of the reasons why I set up this catablog is because Royal Mail gives the following warning to people requesting an opt-out form for the company's Door-to-Door Opt-Out:

It is not possible for Royal Mail to separate material you don’t want from material that you do want, such as advertising offers or leaflets from Central and Local Government and other public bodies. Opting out from Royal Mail Door to Door stops all unaddressed items from being delivered by us (although we would work with Government to get a message to every UK address in exceptional circumstances). Election material is not delivered by the Door to Door service and is therefore not affected by this opt out.

I've emphasised the last sentence because you would think that a booklet with information about the referendum on the alternative vote system is election material. Not so, apparently. I've checked with both the Electoral Commission and Royal Mail if the booklet is being delivered to households registered with the Door-to-Door Opt-Out, and the answer from both was 'no'. Interestingly, neither the Electoral Commission nor Royal Mail could explain why a booklet with information about the referendum is not treated as being election material.

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Clearly the booklet non-commercial. As it is printed on 50% recycled paper and includes a 'recycle' logo we can classify it 'almost green':

British Gas 'looking after my world'? I don't think so. While British Gas is chopping down trees and burning fossil fuels as if there's no tomorrow at least one of its competitors has much more sensible ideas about protecting the world.

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What is it with charities and bribing people into donating money? A couple of weeks ago I was sent a stupid plastic pen and sticker by Macmillan; today I got a bookmark and two cards of the kind my great grandmother used to give me for my birthday from the British Red Cross. Worthless 'gifts' that go straight from the letterbox into the bin… A complete waste of resources and donor's money.

Promoting negative feelings

The marketing department of the British Red Cross will no doubt disagree and point to all the people sending in cheques because they would otherwise feel guilty. Yet, is this type of aggressive marketing really the way to go? Even the Institute of Fundraising - yet another self-regulating body / industry lobby group - isn't that keen on bribing tactics. Here's what the institutes' code of practice has to say about 'enclosures':

4.7 Enclosures in direct mail packs

Enclosures can take a variety of forms. These can include incentives to encourage donations, inserts that demonstrate the work of the charity or thank you gifts. Used well, they can be a very effective tool for fundraising, awareness‐raising and supporter engagement. However, poorly used, they can promote negative feelings, representing a reputational risk to the sector and a perceived careless use of funds.

• Fundraising organisations ought to be able to demonstrate that the purpose of the enclosure was to enhance the message and/or the emotional engagement in the cause and not to generate a donation primarily because of financial guilt or to cause embarrassment. In judging this, emphasis will be given to the perception of the recipient.
• Fundraising organisations ought not to use unexpected enclosures that might cause inconvenience in achieving delivery.
• Fundraising organisations ought to consider the environmental impact of incentives and encourage mailing recipients to recycle where possible.
• Fundraising organisations must consider the safety of any enclosures.

Can the British Red Cross demonstrate that the bits of rubbish enclosed with its door-drop "enhances the message" and isn't simply an attempt to "generate a donation primarily because of financial guilt"? And how about the third bullet point, about considering the environmental impact of 'enclosures'? I suspect this door-drop has been posted through millions of letterboxes. How many of the bookmarks and cards are actually used?

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