This is a fun book to read. It's one of those books that you stand in a bookstore reading and laugh out loud so everyone looks at you strangely or with jealousy because you are having such a good time. 

And the book has a serious side as well. 

Ted Nancy writes crazy, totally made up letters to corporations, complaining, or suggesting whacky ideas that many companies buy into as the real thing. My favorite is the one to Coca Cola, where Ted tells them he has made up a new drink called Kiet Doke, and he wants their permission to use that name. The Coca Cola Trademark Counsel responds, in strong language, basically telling him he must stop producing his Kiet Doke. So, Ted responds by saying that he agrees it was a stupid idea to call his soft drink Kiet Doke, and so he is immediately pulling it from the supermarket shelves. Instead, he is going to offer a beverage called Piet Depsi. No response from Coca Cola. Perhaps they got it by Ted Nancy's second letter. 

I recently attended a conference where someone declared that many American customers are genuinely stupid. The speaker's evidence was that someone had actually written a letter to a company asking if they were baking a turkey and they crossed a date line, did it mean they could cook the turkey one less hour. I would like to bet that this is yet another example of one of these crazy letters, written in humor, and several people didn't get it . If someone is so stupid that he or she doesn't know the answer to that one, the chances of them finding the capacity to write a letter and get it addressed to the proper place is minimal. 

Some of the people who respond to Ted Nancy's letters understand that he is pulling their leg, and when that happens, you see a very friendly repartee between client and customer. In one case he asked to set up a restaurant called the Hungry Mosquito. The person who responded, finished with: "We definitely believe your proposal sucks." This woman could write crazy letters herself! 

The most touching thing about these letters is how many "form" letters Ted Nancy receives, or letters where obviously no attention was paid to his original letter. That's too bad, and speaks of a larger issue around how organizations listen to their "customers."

Janelle Barlow, President  

TMI USA 

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