A new entrant in the when-it-rains-it-pours category.
The Republican National Committee sent a fundraising mail piece earlier this month with a
return number that leads to a phone-sex line offering “live, one-on-one
talk with a nasty girl who will do anything you want for just $2.99 per
minute.”
At the bottom of a piece designed to resemble a census form, a toll-free
number is listed next to the national party’s address.
A voter in Minnesota received the mailer and called the number intending
to complain about the attempt to raise money with a form that looks
like a government document.
But the Minnesotan was instead directed to a second toll-free number
that greets callers as “sexy guy” before offering them the chance to
talk with “real local students, housewives and working girls from all
over the country.”
The individual then forwarded the mail piece to the voter’s congressman,
a Democrat, who shared it with the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee.
A spokesman for the RNC declined to say how many copies of the
census-style mailer were sent out.
“The number in question was a typographical error by a vendor used on
this particular mailer — using 1-800 instead of 202,” said RNC
Communications Director Doug Heye.
Heye e-mailed different direct-mail pieces that included the correct RNC
phone number, writing: “This is an isolated incident and will not be
repeated in the future.”
He said the vendor responsible for the mistake “will not be used for the
foreseeable future.”
