Ever wander into your spam folder, just for a laugh? I remember when a certain strain of spam was getting through GMail’s filter on an almost daily-basis, and I actually liked it, becuase the titles were ridiculous. I’ve kept a few of my favorites. I particularly liked the ones that kept beating GMail because of an extra, strange word placed after the main spam pitch. The body text was usually filled with a piece from a Tennesse Williams play or an extract from Dickens, which just made it all the better. The top ones:
Subject: It’s easy to spice up your sex life. stinkpot
Subject: Wow! Won’t she be impressed. mucilage
From: Shortfall M. Twinge
Subject: If you need software, we’ve probably got it. embalm
Subject: Ambiguous Stench
Body: prodding of! children polymer was curry powder sat firefly reckon tapeworm closely,
Body: Hey, How have you been, Your situation doesnt matter to us!
Body: Kids are the result of great love.
But if you have any problems with that, Spermamax can help you.
Subject: Discreet way to jazz up your love life. piracy
Subject: Be the man that your wife wants you to be. indigent
Linzie Hunter had the same idea, but she took it to a great new level. She started illustrating prints of the best spam messages she would get, and made a flickr set out of it. After getting some big notice online some months back, she eventually made 12 prints of the best ones.
There’s something great about seeing these useless, hilarious, easily ignored lines done up as nice typography by a talented illustrator. I’m always a sucker for when an artist takes a bunch of useless crap out of a useless context and makes it into something good, and Linzie has done it here with just about the most useless, annoying corner of the internet.
And even better news now, as she’s about to publish a book of postcards, featuring 30 separate hand-painted spam lines you can now send to your cherished loved ones. And it’s got an awesome title, too. Technically it’s just “Secret Weapon”, but really it’s “This Secret Weapon Will Give More Power to Your Little Soldier”, which is a work of art in itself. It’ll be out in November, allowing you to “move spam from the inbox to the mailbox where it belongs”, which is a commendable idea in itself.
