Chris Cardell Marketing Scam

A few months ago I recieved an (apparently) hand written letter with a newpaper cutting and a post-it note saying “Hi, I saw this and thought you’d find it useful – he’s really good! J”. I read the cutting. It was a newspaper article telling me how fantastic self-styled “marketing guru” Chris Cardell was. It included a picture of him and successful businessman Duncan Bannatyne. I checked the postmark on the letter. I couldn’t think of anyone with the initial J who lived in Kent. Surely Chris Cardell isn’t such a creep that he would me a fake hand-written testimonial? I forgot all about it.

A few weeks ago I recieved an unsolicted multi-page sales letter also telling me how fantastic Chris Cardell is. Amongst the standard sales copy and testimonials this sales letter has no less than 12 pictures of the (frankly not very physically attractive) Mr Cardell. One of them with Robert de Niro. It promised a book of free advice of untold value. But the tips it gives in the newsletter are mundane in the extreme and (after putting in some fake information on a squeeze page) it turns out that the free book is only “free” if you buy various other expensive items. Maybe this guy really is a big enough creep to send out fake hand written notes?

I did a bit more research. It turns out that:

• the handwritten note and newspaper cutting are fake and lots of other people have recieved them
• Mr Cardell has been told not to send out this marketing again by the British Advertising Standards Authority
• Duncan Bannatyne has explicitly stated he doesn’t endorse Chris Cardell
• lots of other people aren’t very happy with his business practices, including unexpected recurring billing hidden in small print

Would a real marketing guru have to sink so low?

More details at:

http://saltydroid.info/chris-cardell-direct-fail-marketing/ .

http://hubpages.com/hub/Chris-Cardell-Advert-Scam-or-Spam

You have been warned.

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