I stopped to see some models the other day. Not only did the homes look interesting, but I do like to stay on top of what’s new in the area.

We walked through, dissected the good and the bad of all the models and determined yet again that there is no way a person can have their dream home. There is always something you want to change. And I bet that even if you built a custom home that you personally designed, at some point you’d realize that you still need to make changes.

Not trying to be a downer. Just a realist.

I was honest with the salesperson. We own a home. No, we are not in the market. But I do know people and will keep the neighborhood in mind. And I happen to know that some builders expect to see some results from their salespeople. And if those results aren’t signed contracts, they at least expect to get names and addresses. Being a sales-minded person I don’t mind relaying my contact info. It’s really no biggee.

But as I opened a piece of mail from the builder today (somehow I forgot about the mail yesterday), I got the chills. The chills of a bad, bad marketing tactic. A pitiful ploy to make one’s marketing piece stay ingrained in your mind FOREVER.

Glitter. Not the tiny sparkles. They were little slivers. But annoying nonetheless.

As soon as I opened the flap, I saw a little flash of color. “Oh no,” I thought. “Please tell me they didn’t put freakin’ glitter in here.”

I almost didn’t open the dang thing at all. Seriously, all I could think about was the mess this sucker was going to make and that I sure as heck didn’t want to clean up after a stupid piece of mail.

But then I thought that perhaps there was a purpose other than thanking us for stopping by. Perhaps it was the announcement of a party. Some sort of event being held by the builder. Some possible reason for horrendous, messy glitter to be added to a piece of mail.

Nope. It was just your standard “thank you for stopping by” note. Ugh.

And as careful as I was, at least 8 of those slippery suckers dropped onto my counter. Evil, evil glitter…how I hate thee.

And now, that builder has left a lasting, bitter taste in my mouth. The bitter taste of bad marketing.