# Spammy looking email subject from Red Cross **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 28, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192 "2019-06-28T00:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/1 "2019-06-28T00:58:58Z")
I got an email from the Red Cross reminding me they need blood donors. All the links are legit links to [redcross.org](http://redcross.org), which is their site. What gave me pause was the subject line: It’s Critic\_l! P\_tients Need Y\_u N\_w! Why would they use such a subject line for a bona fide email? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/2 "2019-06-28T01:10:28Z")
Defective A and O keys on their keyboard? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/3 "2019-06-28T01:23:12Z")
Thought of another possibility: they’re trying to get through spam filters. Of course, using the same techniques spammers use to do that is not the best way. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/4 "2019-06-28T01:25:54Z")
They probably were trying to use some fancy font to get your attention. They screwed up or your email service or your computer does not support the font they tried to use. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/5 "2019-06-28T01:46:07Z")
Don’t click hyperlinks in your email. No matter who it’s from. No matter what it says. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/6 "2019-06-28T02:50:30Z")
It’s part of their current campaign, [#MissingTypes](https://www.redcrossblood.org/missingtypes.html). They’re highlighting a lack of A’s and O’s - notice those are missing from your email subject. [Coke is into it.](https://www.instagram.com/p/BzI9MHUJnu_/) [Here’s a pic from Red Cross of Tennessee.](https://www.instagram.com/p/BzIcgZCAXBT/) [You can get a t-shirt if you want](https://www.magnetmail.net/actions/email_web_version.cfm?ep=7X9ITR8yF9GXzWEXLCi7IEhXkYooitt100hszDOaNmVGwwjAQ8IbBZu45900GyYg93Fgf9wdhUaCp20hmrj5f_7GOcm0GCxE-77WqJxy3fi14IgFAg7RELL_FIdMY2P6) It may look spammy to you but…I guess to others, it’s not. I could tell what they were getting at right away, before I looked it up and saw it was a whole campaign. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/7 "2019-06-28T10:23:53Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > It’s part of their current campaign, [#MissingTypes](https://www.redcrossblood.org/missingtypes.html). Cute. I guess they outsmarted themselves. Here are some phishing or spam email subjects in my current junk folder: lnsane New Cyber\_Week\_DeaI! .FREE-XT808 Tactical\_FIashIight! 5272423 Free\_Google Mini, with a Vivint\_Home Security-Sign\_Up. 41148 Тrust us. You nеed Amеrⅰcan Homе Shield. Stoр gettⅰng conneⅾ on heаltһ coverage, get the RIGНT coverage today! (Note the “I” used for the “l” in Deal and Flashlight in the first one, and the non-ASCII Unicode character used for “i” in “American” in the third, and “getting” in the last. I don’t know why they do that, but I get a ton of similar ones. They all have two links in the emails, and nothing else.) Anything that looks like this: It’s Critic\_l! P\_tients Need Y\_u N\_w! just looks suspicious. If they ran an ad like that it might work but as the subject of an email it just looks wrong. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/8 "2019-06-28T15:12:20Z")
Those non-ascii and other misspellings are an attempt to get past spam filters. It may work for some filters, but, as your example shows, not for all (and probably not for very many). ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/9 "2019-06-28T15:20:13Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > It’s part of their current campaign, [#MissingTypes](https://www.redcrossblood.org/missingtypes.html). They’re highlighting a lack of A’s and O’s - notice those are missing from your email subject. > > [Coke is into it.](https://www.instagram.com/p/BzI9MHUJnu_/) > [Here’s a pic from Red Cross of Tennessee.](https://www.instagram.com/p/BzIcgZCAXBT/) > [You can get a t-shirt if you want](https://www.magnetmail.net/actions/email_web_version.cfm?ep=7X9ITR8yF9GXzWEXLCi7IEhXkYooitt100hszDOaNmVGwwjAQ8IbBZu45900GyYg93Fgf9wdhUaCp20hmrj5f_7GOcm0GCxE-77WqJxy3fi14IgFAg7RELL_FIdMY2P6) > > It may look spammy to you but…I guess to others, it’s not. I could tell what they were getting at right away, before I looked it up and saw it was a whole campaign. That’s actually kinda clever, but I have to admit, if I got an email like that it would be deleted before I made it to the end of the subject line. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/10 "2019-06-28T16:24:22Z")
First reaction: this is stupid. Everyone will think it’s spam and delete it without reading it. Second reaction: Apparently there are an immense number of idiots who read spam and keep giving the spammers money. So, maybe this will work. If only there was a nice quote about not underestimating the stupidity of people … ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/11 "2019-06-28T16:57:48Z")
Have you donated in the past? Perhaps they made the (mistaken) assumption that previous donors would be familiar with the campaign and recognized it right away. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spammy-looking-email-subject-from-red-cross/836192/12 "2019-06-28T17:39:42Z")
I mean, ok, it looks spammy to you. But what does a spam email subject look like anymore? Most of the spam that I get that gets through my filters are like “We need your opinion” or “Can you check this out?” The Red Cross sends about 3 emails a week, if not more. They get through to mailboxes if their domain reputation is good and their emails have content. They most likely are not using that subject for all recipients (I’m on their list and I didn’t get it). They’ll judge the effectiveness of the campaign by their campaign results - they’ll know deliverability and open rates. If it shakes out that their squirrely subject had very low deliverability and open rates, they’ll be sure to not try it again. You guys are all super geniuses and won’t be fooled by something that looks so spammy. Good for you. Now please, go to [https://www.redcrossblood.org/](https://www.redcrossblood.org/) and sign up to donate blood.