Gary Halbert gets credit for the headline and concept on this one. I was working with him at the time, in the last days of the Reagan presidency, when the financial markets — and especially the precious metals markets — were causing investors migraines. Banks were rocky. The only people making any money were the South American cocaine cartels.
It was also a time of unprecedented release of information. After the savings and loan debacle of the 80’s, banks were forced to open their books, and evidence of money laundering and corruption was openly available. The “war against drugs” was just getting heated up. It was a different world back then.
It also seems quaint to see “outrageous” predictions of the Dow hitting 4,000 - few financial experts believed it would ever really get that high. Imagine the shock a few years later when it soared past the 10,000 mark.
But this piece was presciently right-on about the Japanese stock market collapse, the “gray’• market that developed, and the infiltration of society by drug lords. Also the laundering opportunities for criminals due to new money designs released in the U.S., and the introduction of the Euro in Europe, as well as the spread of legalized gambling. All this was news to most people back then.
However, don’t read this as history. The letter did a brisk but not spectacular business mailing to financial lists — mostly because every other financial information product out there was singing a similar song of gloom, doom and riches for the few survivors (though no one had done this kind of digging for juicy information).
No. This letter is notable for the quality of the writing. Especially …
— The power words. This piece is a goldmine of”hot” verbiage that carries the story. Words like: surge, manipulate, sobering, deceit, dirty cash, drug-encrusted cookie jars, massive market explosions, guerilla investments, foreclosure bloodbath, and nouveaux riches mobsters,
— The use of massive detail. Like, how 107.4 pounds of $20 bills equals $1 million … DeBeer’s control of 85% of the diamond market … the fantasy-land PIE ratios of the Nikkei Dow in Japan… the $20 St. Gaudens gold piece valued at $800… and more.
— And … the free 2,000 year-old coin in the post script. Gary was an old hand in the numismatic (rare com) market, and I was amazed at how easily we were able to find so many ancient coins to give away.
I’ve included the letter sent out to buyers with the free coin. It’s called a “stick letter”… meaning, it goes out a few days before the product does, to help make sure the sale “sticks”. It is also a mini sales letter for another product– based on the hunch that your customer is at his highest point of passion for what you have just before he receives the product.
We ran into a horrible production problem, however — these 2,000 year-old coins (called “widows mites”) are fragile. So fragile, in fact, that they were often crushed to dust by the post office sorting machines and stamp-canceling equipment. So the letter arrived with a little baggie of rusty metal stapled to the top.
Like I said… the mailing made profit, but not the huge returns we were after, and so we retired the piece after a year or so. Too many other million-dollar projects deserved attention. It’s still one of my most coveted early pieces.
Click here to see “The Financial Bloodbath Caused By Criminal Scum” ad.
Click here to see the stick letter for this ad.
(Each will open in a new window or tab, so you can toggle between the ad and Carlton’s commentary.)
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