- Ah, guerilla marketing - where would we be without you? Probably in a situation where I didn't receive emails such as this one, which starts: "Hi Carless: As a fan of Game Developer's great gaming reviews, I'm happy to offer you some quality fuel for your late-night sessions."

Well, Game Developer doesn't actually review games, and that's my last name, but please, keep going: "I represent Carl's Jr. and Hardee's new Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (www.spicybuffalo.com). Inspired by the best of dive-bar hotwings, the Spicy Buffalo combines Frank's classic Red-Hot sauce with juicy chicken breast, giving you all the kick and spice of your favorite bar food without the spilled beer and sawdust."

Oh, OK, I see where the video game relevance is here! "And since you're into games, you might like to play with our Lunch Invite widget. Make a Lunch Date with Ashley Hartman (uh, there's a different East Coast link for Hardee's)... you get a $1 off coupon at the end, and you'll get to see a gorgeous girl do your bidding." Aha, appealing to the geeks, here. And the 'gaming insider' capper? " Of course, if you roll female Blood Elves, you're probably used to it."

Dude, I 'roll female Blood Elves' ALL THE TIME. But separately of that, I learned the following:

a) Don't try to shoehorn random gaming references into completely random subject matter;
b) If you're sending out a mass email, try to personalize correctly both the name of the person you are sending it to and what the outlet actually does;
c) Imagine if Electronic Arts was called something different in New York to California. That's the problem Carls' Jr and Hardee's has. Ouch.
d) I just gave these guys free publicity anyhow. Ack.