Shouting Into Space

<rant>
I've always held a general disdain for marketing people. Not all marketing people mind you, just most of them. I used to think it was because they are so often self-important, arrogant and close-minded. Many of them hold themselves in such high regards that they think the software industry (or other industries) just can't go on without them. When I think of marketing, I think of slimy snake oil salesman, so enamored with the fake little world they've created that they rarely ever pitch the actual thing we are all making.

Anyway, I realized this morning the real reason I'm so annoyed by them. It's just that for all they think they're worth, they generally never make anything lasting. There are exceptions to this rule of course. Some marketing campaigns we remember for a few years and actually leave a lasting impression on us, but those are the exceptions. In general, we forget marketing campaigns shortly after we've been subjected to them. The have absolutely no longevity. Now I know that everything in life is impermanent but it's a noble goal to create things which benefit society and last long enough for people to actually remember the impact those things had on their lives. Marketing is in the business of making trash, and trash has limited use, limited life-span, and limited (if any) benefit to society.

This is why I don't really have any respect for marketing people.
</rant>

I've been getting an inordinate amount of offers for pre-approved credit cards lately - on the order of two or three a day. My credit score is way up (in the 790s) and obviously this has all the major (and minor) credit card companies courting me with ridiculous offers. I can't stand to have another credit card though because I already have nine and that's way too many as is.

Anyway, USAA (props to them for this) sent me a prescreened offer and on the form was a box containing the following text:

You can choose to stop receiving "prescreened" offers of credit from USAA and other companies by calling toll free (888) 567-8688.
I called them and it seems like most credit reporting agencies sell names to credit and insurance companies. The number is the link to the opt-out/opt-in program. Finally I can stop getting so many offers in the mail.

That number again: