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Home > News > India News > Article > It was just another marketing mailer

It was just another marketing mailer!

Updated on: 22 December,2009 09:38 AM IST  | 
Manju Shettar |

Techie's parents get a parcel with boxes inside boxes, and finally a funny bottle, triggering a family scare that gets to the police too. Finally, it is found to be just a marketing gimmick

It was just another marketing mailer!

Techie's parents get a parcel with boxes inside boxes, and finally a funny bottle, triggering a family scare that gets to the police too. Finally, it is found to be just a marketing gimmick

The elderly parents of a techie were yesterday presented by a courier boy with a riddle wrapped in a mysterious, 'silvery' foil inside an enigma of a bottle, and all this covered in layers of cardboard packaging that had no name of the senderu00a0-- panic buttons were pushed, the son was called at his workplace and remained tense till he reached home. What if the thing inside were a bomb? A strong acid sent by some maniac?






Vasant Gooli's parents, it turned out, had received a marketing mailer at their JP Nagar residence from a tours and travels company.

"It's very sad that the company has a marketing technique that leaves customers mystified and scared," said Vasant. "The trauma my parents suffered, I woudn't want anybody to go through." Vasant added that he has decided to file a complaint with the police today.

Letter in a bottle: The mailer from a travel company (top), the various boxes (middle), and the broken pieces of the bottle (above).


The parcel was received at 1.30 pm. After puzzling over it for long, the Goolis called Vasant at the software firm where he works. He was greatly anxious for his parents after he was told about the strange parcel, and asked his parents not to open the bottle till he got home.

"My mother received the parcel, which did not mention the name of any company or address of the sender; the box simply had a message saying 'Pleasant Memories Await You.' This message made them even more scared," said Vasant. "My father, who had had a quick look at the transparent bottle, was very worried by the look of the silvery foil-like substance that we later found was the wrapping for the letter from the company."

When Vasant reached home and had a look at the strange parcel, he decided it was better left to the police to demystify. He called the JP Nagar police station, who told him their home fell under a different jurisdiction and directed him to the Hulimavoo police. The Hulimavoo police redirected him to the Subramanya police Station.

Finally, two constables reached the Gooli residence and inspected the parcel. Vasant said they were so reluctant to touch the bottle that they asked him to break open the bottle on the floor.
u00a0
Finally, they found the letter from the tours and travel company announcing a tie-up with an insurance company and calling them for 'insurance planning session' besides inviting the Goolis to enter a contest.

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