That's a new low.

I'm now ashamed of owning a Dodge.

Bastardos!

I'd walk into the middle of the showroom floor when there's a big crowd there (like on a Saturday afternoon), hold up the "ticket" and say in a very loud voice something like, "Hi, I'm here to return this bogus ticket that you people sent me! I'm not sure why you people are sending out letters from the traffic division claiming that a ticket is enclosed but I'm sure it was sent to me in error so I'm returning it to you." Then drop it on the floor and walk out.

Gee, I guess it is hard all over. Needless to say, I dont work for dealerships anymore, saw too much backstabbing and fleecing of customers

Yes, hire stupid people. They need jobs more.

Well, obviously their strategy worked, so it was an advertising success. Since the USPS is bending over, lube in hand, to accept as much bulk mail from advertisers as it can take, I'm sure fake government mail will get worse before it gets better. The real question is whether it was a marketing success. It's clearly created some ill will and resentment in this instance.

um... I looked first then read.. and I thought the story was about the OPPOSITE... an actual ticket was in that VERY junk mail looking envelope.

Maybe I get a LOT of junk mail, but around here, Carol Stream, IL is the junk mail mecca of the world.

I get junk mail all the time that looks official. that's kind of their big marketing idea they all pat themselves on the back about.

it's not very honorable and makes me think twice before visiting an establishment that does it, but duh... it's what brings in the suckers.

how come honda/toyota don't have to use gimmick advertising to sell their cars? oh thats right, they make quality cars that sell themselves and people want to buy, unlike what chrysler produces.

Want revenge?

Go ask for a test drive. Pick up the nicest car you can find on the lot, preferably one of those fancy-yet-thirsty Aspens. Go do a Home Depot run on your test drive and stock up on some of that clearance mulch they have in the garden center. Make sure you do a lot of jackrabbit starts and hard stops on the way home. When you bring the vehicle back, make sure it's running on fumes and THEN show them the ticket.

"You wasted my time, I'm now done wasting yours."

I am curious as to whether or not this might actually be illegal. Is there any legal provision about impersonating a government agency? What about providing a false return address?

um no one else thinks that this is kind of a genius strategy? this is good design, people. and there's no actual harm to the consumer upon opening the envelope ... obvs you could argue loss of time, etc,. but in the case of how cute this is, ("aww, its a ticket fabulous prizes! look at all the cute fake money!") i think we should give this one a pass.

It's a scam and the people behind it should be murdered.

As an employee for a car dealership (IT, not sales), I see mailers like that go out often. Sometimes they look like an IRS form or 1099 form around tax time, sometimes it looks like a refund check of sorts. The idea is to get the recipient to open it up and read it, which they are very effective at. There are many clues that indicate it is a mailer. Most of the time the return address is out of state and correspondance from your actual DMV or Division of Revenue looks different. If the market for (domestic) cars and trucks weren't in such a slump right now, dealerships wouldn't normally have to stoop this low, but good dealers make the best of a bad market and continue to sell cars, and that is what this one is doing. Like it or not.

@Carso: I think since they avoided the words "Department of Motor Vehicles" and never actually said it was an official government anything it falls under scammy and low-down but legal. I'm sure that's a real return address too, although "Traffic Division - Department of Ticket Disbursements" is probably a guy named Bubba who checks a P.O. Box once a month.

Here is my take on these types of things: I would not consider them a trustworthy business if they are willing to deceive you to get you as a consumer.

@slickhop: My thinking exactly.

The first clue it's junk mail is that the return address says "Carol Steam", not "Carol Stream". Immediately in the trash.

Step 1. Piss off potential customers
Step 2. ????
Step 3. Profit?

I think this is a brilliant strategy.

Wow, now that's an all time low. I've heard of the domain name registrars pulling something like this, or an "SEO" company that will send out what looks like an invoice, but this is a new low.

Only 1 rating, but it's not a good one either:
[www.dealerrater.com]

I've got quite a few similar junk mails from a local Toyota dealer in North Jersey faking as IRS.

I actually have no problem with this kind of junk mails. It just tells me NOT to do business with them.

@slickhop: No it is not genius strategy. It is actually very lame strategy. It relies on deception to get people to open it. It also associates a negative experience with the company advertising. You thought you got a ticket = negative. You were duped by deception into opening an envelop = negative.

BUT! If your strategy is to find as many low intelligence suckers to sell them some really bad high interest car loans, this will certainly weed out the smart people and bring you only some true suckers.

I think the real question is, who's gonna clean up the Google AdSense ads?

@backbroken: Hey! What's phase 2?

These are fantastically-misleading dealership advertisements too:
[www.tpgauto.com]

@slickhop: It's highly deceptive. It's known that lots of car dealers are sleazy & deceptive. These guys basically advertised to their potential customer base "Hi, we'll stoop to sleazy underhanded tactics to get you to read our advertising brochures. Now won't you come into our dealership and buy a car from us? We promise we won't try any sleazy underhanded tactics once you're here to jack up the price of the car you buy from us, and we won't try to force all sorts of unnecessary extras like undercoating on you either!"

Pre-sorted? Dead tip off it's junk.

That's ridiculous. That's definitely the worst I've seen so far. I get similar-looking (but not nearly as "authentically" worded) ads for extended warranty protection on a new car I bought last year. They'll do anything to make it sound like it came from the dealer or from the corporate office itself without actually coming out and saying it. Scammers, ugh.

Pre-sorted doesn't mean junk. It means that the company/dealer/government office has taken the effort to pre-sort the mail to get a lower mailing rate. I guess since "taken the effort" was involved, it definitely wasn't a government office... Never mind, I see what you're saying. ;-)

Sallie Mae tried pushing student consolidation loans on me using junk mail designed to resemble a collection notice. I sent scans of it to The Consumerist but they never posted the story.

@timmus: Would that really qualify as an advertising success if it managed to cause active ill will (and then gets slapped up on the Consumerist, thus generating more ill will and zero delivery of message)?

From a marketing perspective advertising isn't just about drawing attention to your product/brand/etc... you also want to influence people in a pre-determined way (generally postive unless it's an election year ;). This ad actively makes someone worry about a ticket they don't remember getting and then springs it's message on them once they open the envelope (thereby instantly positioning itself in the "Is this a scam?" category like those fake yellow pages bills or those fake social security letters etc...).

If I got something like that I'd be inclined to lump that car dealership into the "possibly shady company" group and even after I forgot all about that specific ad, I might still have an automatic "I don't trust them" reaction next time I saw an ad. I know a few companies that I do that to now, if I stop and think about it for a bit I can remember why I have negative feelings about them, but in general, it's enough that I see their ads or anything to do with them and I automatically dismiss them because they're "bad" in some way.

@iverevi: My thoughts exactly.

@slickhop: How is it genius to piss of potential customers? I don't know about you but my first reaction to seeing a traffic ticket in the mail would not be a pleasant one. So you're irritated before you even open the thing because you're wondering what they thought you did and how you're going to pay for the ticket and it turns out to be an ad. Now you're mad at the dealership for jerking you around for no good reason.

@slickhop: I would be so pissed off at the sight of this thing that I would definitely NEVER go to that car dealership, ever. And I'd remember it for years. So I would call that seriously beneath "genius" levels of strategy.

@psyop63b: Now that would REALLY make me angry.

BTW, you can also put stories up in the forums: [consumerist.proboards88.com]

I make it a point to never do business with a company that sends me mail advertisements like that.

@bohemian: @Rectilinear Propagation: For me, I imagine the feelings I get would cycle from irritation, bewilderment, amusement, boredom. All within 15 seconds or so. I wouldn't go to the dealership either way, so its irrelevant to me. But from a design perspective, I like it. FWIW.

A particularly loathsome dealership in Boston sends out very serious looking manufacturer's recall notices, instructing that it is urgent you bring your vehicle to their shop, the small print explaining it's to see if anything has been recalled.

I sent mine to the local news consumer watchdog, and while I don't believe anything ever aired, they must have contacted the dealership who seems to have stopped sending them, which they previously did on a fairly regular basis.

Steve Winwood has issued a statement that Traffic does not issue tickets, much less does it have its own division. He would also like to request that those upset by said announcement simply "roll with it, baby."

TheSpatulaofLove is right on. Quite frankly, I don't have the balls to use Harvey Birdman's idea, but have no problem using TheSpatula's method, possibly with a dash of IphtashuFitz's.

I don't know what the Hell this is, but it isn't free speech.

Anything from Carol Stream, IL, and I just toss it. I've seen that address on way too much junk mail. There's only one real IL address that I would really think about opening (That's where my step family lives).

I think the government should bail out the US auto manufacturers so that they can pull more stunts like this on the customer...er.. tax payer.

Call Feeny Dodge and let them know that they suck balls:

(847) 697-0900

Geri

@JeepDude: I disagree that they "have to stoop this low". I don't care what a business is selling...cars, chocolates, baby formula, it doesn't matter. If they start the conversation with a potential customer by grossly misleading them in an attempt to get their attention...it's likely not going to lead to a sale.

@BeastMD: I agree and practice that 100%. If anyone starts off a conversation with me by treating me like a fool, then, at the very least we won't be doing business.

What's even better is here in California, the photobot traffic tickets here don't use an identifiable return address, a CA state seal, or any identifier suggesting the ticket isn't junk mail.
Only after the time has expired to contest the ticket does a new envelope, printed with a properly identifiable return address w/ CA state seal get sent to your house saying you now owe $350 for your moving violation.
It's cunningly designed to look just like junk mail, to be tossed.

Truly evil. I had one sent to me in this fashion, only luckily it was in error and the driver of my car was clearly not me (different race, even), so I was able to get out of it by "only" wasting a day in court.

Yay, public/private partnerships!!

Since they're claiming to be from the "Traffic Division", aren't they posing as government officials? I'm not sure if that's illegal, but it's obviously unethical.

The state Attorney General needs to know about this, even if no action can be taken against the company.

Consumerists, let's all write letters letting the employees of Feeny Dodge know their houses are being foreclosed upon, and their uncles and aunts are all dying of cancer!

@Rectilinear Propagation: I think they're just trying to find some simple minded folk to come buy a Dodge and finance the hell out of it....

Prospective customer: "OMG...I just got another ticket notice in the mail!!! Crap, crap. crap!!!"

*opens letter*

Prospective customer: "Oh, thank God it's not a ticket!! I am so relieved and happy now! Say, that's a nice looking car on the insert! I should go buy it!"

Then when Prospect shows up at dealership, ad insert in hand, they can easily and immediately be identified as a simple minded sap who is ready to be screwed on a sale.

Or something like that...

@TheSpatulaOfLove:

indeed. badvertising is always a great excuse for some equally bad taste reaction. next time i get a shitty add from a dealer, i'm off for a time wasting "sorry not interested" string along.

any junk mail that comes with a return postage envelope gets returned filled with every piece of paper they sent, plus additional gifts of trash to weigh it down.

@InfiniTrent: The "traffic division" of WHAT? See, that's the genius here; they are impersonating no government agency. Just trying to get you to *think* they are. A real ticket-in-the-mail would say something like "Village of Carol Stream, Traffic Division."

@strathmeyer:

psst.... www.customizegoogle.com

put the setting to: "block adsense ads"

Heh heh heh, WHY do car companies allow their dealerships to send out their own independantly-developed ads? This is a great case in point why the practice should be stamped out. If a multimillion dollar budget developed by experienced, university-educated marketing professionals (and you can read some sarcasm into that) can't get people in the showroom (without pissing off their customers in the process), what makes some hicks drinking beer in the backroom think they have a better idea? Better yet, send the concept to HQ first and ask for some feedback, first.

These kinds of ads may be effective if you're trying to sell penis enlargers, but if your objective is to gain recognition and build a client base for a car dealership... it has the opposite effect.