This isn't new. Didn't bacm in the 90s Jerry Seinfeld write a book under the name "Ted L. Nancy" detailing the letters and responses from various companies for nonsendical things?

It's been done, 12 years ago... Ted L. Nancy's book "Letters from a Nut". Maybe this guy thought enough time had passed for him to make money off of an old idea?

[www.amazon.com]

Jerry Seinfeld wrote/did something similar many moons ago. I remember reading this around 2000 in a book called "Letters From a Nut". In it he would send letters to Q-Tip saying they should make a 3 tipped one as it takes him more than one tip to do his ears.

In 1995, I did something similar, but I was serious, when I wrote a letter to Spam suggesting they create a "101 uses for a can of Spam" after hearing a story from one of my teachers where he moved into a house and found a can of Spam on the kitchen table. He soon realized that the can fit perfectly under an appliance to keep it steady.

no

@sincbt3: It was done even earlier in Paul Rosa's Idiot Letters.

[www.amazon.com]

Hey, if it's funny, it's funny. I'm not going to begrudge someone for reusing a concept if the material is fresh.

I have some of these books.
Looks like a copycat to me

[www.amazon.com]

[www.amazon.com]

It was done longer ago than that with Don Novello's "Lazlo Letters."

In ten years, somebody else will do it, and then people will pop up and say Chad Bradley did it first. They won't know about Ted L. Nancy.

Or Lazlo Toth.

Jinx. All y'all owe me a Coke.

Kind of like what Joey Comeau did with the Overqualified book.

[www.asofterworld.com]

He writes cover letters to companies which are businesslike for the first paragraph, and then plunge into the surreal.

First thing came to mind was didn't Lazlo Toth do this way back in the day?

PSP: Thanks for mentioning The Lazlo Letters--I've always thought Novello didn't get enough credit for that, and it seems to me that "Letters from a Nut" is heavily influenced by it. For those that don't know, Don Novello is AKA Father Guido Sarducci, who used to appear on SNL many years ago.

Tom Bartlett does this incredibly well, although they're complimentary letters to companies, not complaints.

[www.minortweaks.com]

My personal favorite:

Dear Windex,

I saw your commercial with the talking birds that fly into the window because it's so clean they think it's not really a window. Ha ha! That cracked me up. Stupid birds! It serves them right.

Maybe in future commercials you could feature other animals. Like, maybe a bear might try to walk through an opening when -- whoops! -- there's a sliding-glass door there! Sucker! Ha ha ha.

Anyway. Keep up the good work!

all the best,
Tom

@44 in a Row:
Okay that made me lol a little bit. And now my coworkers are looking at me funny.

The Brylcreem CR owned Chad! LOL

@jamesdenver: Used to love those books.

For those out there that enjoy this sort of humor, you might also like a series of books ("Letters from an idiot", "The Idiot Letters") by Paul Rosa. They're sold on Amazon, and I am in possession of a couple of them. He basically hand writes crazy letters to companies attempting to solicit a response. Most of them are worth reading, some not ;-)

@ldavis480: i've got one of his books, it is really entertaining :)

Isn't there a British eccentric (imagine that) who writes hilarious job application letters for such positions as Man In The Moon (addressed to NASA)?

I haven't read the others that were mentioned, but "Idiot Letters" by Paul Rosa is hilarious.

[www.amazon.com]

@RogueSophist: And early than that in Don Novello's The Laszlo Letters. [www.amazon.com]

@44 in a Row: I haven't read Tom's stuff in a WHILE!! I'm glad he's still at it.

God i feel old - Lazlo toth was my hero

Had I read those earlier ones before the Nancy books, I would probably be tired of the genre. It's not necessarily bad to reuse the idea, but it gets old. Fewer laughs, less enjoyment, eventually a lack of interest in this type of writing.

Did anybody mention Ted L. Nancy's "Letters From a Nut" yet? The "stick of butter suit on the bus" letter still makes me laugh.

Richard Nixon (the best!)

Who cares if somebody did it first. These letters are hilarious.

I guess you guys don't watch cop shows, either. Or medical dramas. Or ensemble comedies following the life of 20-something urbanites.

i look at the most of the letters as hilarious.... then i see the one to glaxo about gaviscon and know if he wrote something like that to my company - someone would have to fill out a report and send copies of it to the FDA.
nope, i am not kidding.

if someone calls me and tells me they took our medicine and then got a papercut - we need to report it to look for trending - maybe our medicine makes people more likely to get papercuts? or if you are standing perfectly still in your living room and a drunk driver comes hurtling through the wall and collides with you - if you've taken our medicine and call and tell us this - we have to file a report with the FDA. yes, it's the drunk driver's fault. but some potential injury could be aggravated by taking a medication.

yes, this is how they find out about things like 'increased tendency to gamble' [requip] and 'sleep-driving' [ambien]

out of his letter to glaxosmithkline the following exceprts from that letter would be reportable: [causing someone a world of grief over false statements]

[www.rollzero.com]

"Dear Sir/Madam,

...... unusual side effects I experienced when I took a tablet from a recently purchased box of Gaviscon Extra Strength (lemon) [BN 224701, EXP 1AUG04]......

.....I suffered an attack of severe acid indigestion/heartburn as a result (I suspected) of drinking too much lemonade the previous evening. ...........I had some magical daydreams, ..... my sheep responded to me in a very odd way that day. ......... I developed a healthy swagger.......... Throughout the day, more relevantly, my sheep developed and maintained a keen interest in my - ahem - soldier. They rubbed against my legs, baa-ed at me provocatively, chewed my rear and generally behaved sluttishly........... ...... confused....... aphrodisiac effects Gaviscon Extra Strength tablets (lemon flavour, perhaps others too) can have on sheep....
Yours truly,

Chad Bradley."

When I was a kid there was some sort of science magazine that sometimes had a column in the back with letters like those. Love them even if I can't remember them. Brain cells aren't what they used to be.

@44 in a Row: That was a funny note. But I went to the site and read a few more...they are all more or less the same:

"First of all,

Anyways,

All the best!

Tom"

Got sick of it after a while. It's amazing he actually gets responses though.

Eons ago I worked as an assistant at a small publishing company in New York. We got a letter from someone complaining about the shoddy bindings on one of the books he had purchased. He then went on to complain about the old fashioned art work, etc. We replaced the book, but I got to write the cover letter apologizing for the quality of the volume that had essentially fallen apart but in response to his other complaints, I ended with..."never judge a book by its cover". LMAO.

Because Tom does it, I sent a genuine one (meaning I actually do really like the product) to a soft drink company I'm quite fond of. It was written in a "Tom-ish" way. Here's the email:

Dear Stewart's Fountain Classics,

First of all, I'd like to say what a fan I am of your beverage. Out of all the companies that release their product in bottles, yours has the nicest design. It's intricate, simple yet effective. What's even better then the design is the taste of the drink you provide. Your Root Beer and Black Cherry have an absolutely delightful taste to them that has me buying more and more.

I was writing to inquire about the type of Sugar you use in your drinks. Is it pure Cane Sugar, a combination, or high-fructose corn syrup?

Regardless, the swell taste of your drink and its elegant bottle design hark back to the golden days of soda.

All the best,

Kyle

these are supposed to be funny?

@jamesdenver: That was Seinfeld? I didn't know that.

That whiskas one is hysterical.

@ craptastico

Yes, and they are! When he goes into how he's always been young for his age, I just about cracked a rib laughing.

@catastrophegirl: id have fun writing that report.

consumerist commenters are the biggest bunch of asses on the internet. A link to something funny is posted and the comments are inundated with people not only saying it's already been done, but also not bothering to read the 50 comments before their own that state the same thing.

And no, don't bother pointing out that by commenting myself I must be an ass as well. I knew you people well enough to know any true criticism around here is either blamed on the op, blamed on wal-mart, or turned into a "nuh uh - you are the one with the problem) remark.