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How not to solicit business in 2015 or ever

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This email was waiting for me when I got back from the JoCo Cruise:

worst-solicitation-ever

Maybe it’s the fact that the boat is still moving, or the fact that I have real coffee in my veins for the first time in almost two weeks, or maybe it’s just because I’m easily amused, but here is my response:

wil-wheaton-terrible-solicitation-response

Happy Monday, everyone! May all your emails today be amusing.

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9 February, 2015 Wil

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that time I got to see the Arecibo telescope → ← Guest Post by Will Hindmarch: Here’s to Wil Wheaton

52 thoughts on “How not to solicit business in 2015 or ever”

  1. Michaela R. Brown says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:22 am

    Oh god… was Comic Sans truly necessary? >.<

    1. Dustollo says:
      9 February, 2015 at 9:23 am

      When is it not necessary?

    2. robwinton says:
      9 February, 2015 at 9:40 am

      I agree. I mean there’s witty retorts and then there’s mental cruelty. Where will it all end?

    3. Kelli says:
      9 February, 2015 at 9:45 am

      How else is the reader supposed to know that it is a friendly closing?!? 😉

    4. eblonk10 says:
      9 February, 2015 at 9:53 am

      It is what serious scientists use.

    5. Phil Bolton says:
      9 February, 2015 at 11:41 am

      In this case, I believe so.

    6. arandil1 says:
      10 February, 2015 at 11:13 pm

      yes… very much so

  2. Dustollo says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:23 am

    This is absolutely brilliant!

  3. pink light images says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:23 am

    hhahahaaha THE COMIC SANS was the icing hahahahahahahaahhahah OMG. this was greatness.

  4. Jim Randolph says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:23 am

    Now that’s entertaining.

  5. Matt C. A. Smith (@MattCASmith) says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:24 am

    Mismatched fonts and colours are all fair game, but I think you crossed the line with Comic Sans. Nobody deserves that!

  6. xeribunni says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:24 am

    hahaha

  7. Alex says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:25 am

    Is your Manager Mr. Black?
    http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Mr._Black

  8. Aegis says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:25 am

    Brilliant.

  9. Alex says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:26 am

    Why are some parts of your e-mail not written in Comic Sans?

  10. Eric Arcana says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:26 am

    omg, can’t help but wonder how often Wheaton gets this type of copy/paste bs

  11. Jade stewart says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:26 am

    I just love the use of what appears to be comic sans for the Warm Regards well done Mr Wheaton well done

  12. Doug Davison says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:31 am

    Well played. I used to get these emails (and calls) all the time asking if I wanted to outsource all of our software development work to cheaper resources in India. I would normally say something like,

    “Hold on a sec… let me ask my co-workers and friends.”

    “Hey everyone, do you want to outsource all of our work to India?”

    “Okay, so I think the consensus is ‘No’ at this time.”

    1. Wil says:
      9 February, 2015 at 9:33 am

      “Okay, so I think the consensus is ‘No’ at this time.”

      Holy shit that’s really funny.

  13. Librarian Bryan says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:35 am

    don’t be a dick, wil

  14. The Scott-man says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:35 am

    It’s Mad Libs for Working Professionals

  15. fluxcapacitory says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:37 am

    I agree with everyone else: that Comic Sans was COLD. 😀

  16. manybellsdown says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:44 am

    Wait, you don’t just send them a picture of you collating paper? Or Nathan Fillion holding twine?

    1. liljazzykitten says:
      10 February, 2015 at 3:47 am

      Scrolled down to post exactly this. It was tremendously reassuring to find it here already. +1 internets to you, manybellsdown, and +1 to the idea expressed. At the very least, there needs to be a separate page on the site for you to refer these people to if only to lighten your daily email load, Wil. 🙂

  17. Herne says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:47 am

    MOAR COMIC SANS AND GIANT FONTS IN NEON COLOURS!!

  18. Revanche says:
    9 February, 2015 at 9:48 am

    Oooh I get these once a week! But they don’t even congratulate me on my (fill in the blank) accomplishments. :sad face:

    I’m going to send them this post and ask them to up their game. At LEAST fill in some blanks. Or use different colors.

  19. mimi (@mimi78) says:
    9 February, 2015 at 10:00 am

    Sad Trombone!

  20. Quirky Chrissy says:
    9 February, 2015 at 10:09 am

    I’ve been getting these e-mails (you know minus congratulating me for amazingly successful film and TV ventures) a lot lately, and have been responding in kind. Your response was brilliant. Thanks for the Monday laughs!

  21. Will Anderson says:
    9 February, 2015 at 10:33 am

    The nerve of these people! I like how you repeatedly mocked their poor grammar. English not first language, huh, Apu? Better kill yourself and get reincarnated in AMERICA before contacting a Hollywood big-shot like Wesley fuckin’ Crusher, bro.

  22. T'Mihn says:
    9 February, 2015 at 10:39 am

    LOL! Great Response. Happy back from cruise. Hope you had a blast.

  23. Rob Tarr says:
    9 February, 2015 at 10:54 am

    Comic Sans = Mic Drop

  24. craniest says:
    9 February, 2015 at 11:01 am

    and a green QUIT. That’s not even a link that’s a color 😀

  25. simplednd says:
    9 February, 2015 at 11:01 am

    LMAO

  26. Leslie Stockton says:
    9 February, 2015 at 11:46 am

    Happy Monday to u too 🙂

  27. Kathe says:
    9 February, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    So awesome. Bless you Wil Wheaton!

  28. M.C. Barnes says:
    9 February, 2015 at 7:35 pm

    Love the comic sans as a final “Fuck you”.

  29. John says:
    9 February, 2015 at 10:05 pm

    Comic sans = mic drop.

    Well played.

  30. SpinelessCoward says:
    10 February, 2015 at 5:23 am

    This is hillarious – with 500 “Highly creative animation crew” and “more than 15 years experience”, that means each individual on the team only has to have been working there straight out of kindergarten for just over two weeks – in total, that adds up to 15 years 😉

  31. Jan Uzzell says:
    10 February, 2015 at 8:20 am

    Such a good reply 🙂

  32. Sherry L says:
    10 February, 2015 at 10:56 am

    I used to get emails like this, basically asking if I wanted to get my company to outsource my job to them – “we can save your company a lot of money by firing you.”

    Great response on your part.

  33. Gary B. Watts says:
    10 February, 2015 at 11:18 am

    Thank you Wil for giving a great tutorial on the best way to reply to these types of email solicitations.

  34. Wil says:
    10 February, 2015 at 5:07 pm

    Ha, funny as hell and welcome back!

  35. Mark Hoelscher says:
    10 February, 2015 at 5:41 pm

    Much like your other readers, I get emails just like this all the time. I just don’t understand where they got the idea that I was in stand by me or star trek… It’s quite disturbing to be referred to as Mr. Wheaton, as well… I mean, people don’t even call my dad Mr. Wheaton… About that time it’s best to just thank them for their time, but you’ve decided to go with a local kindergarten for all your poor grammar and typo needs.

  36. Terry D'Entremont says:
    11 February, 2015 at 6:03 am

    Wil, I’m glad you had the time to cultivate such a brilliant response. I can’t believe these people who claim to have such a successful business, that will exponentially help us, and they use a reply email address from gmail or yahoo! I get those all the time.

  37. Karen Naylor says:
    11 February, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    HE’S BACK!!!!!!!!! (Loved it. Best reply ever.)

  38. 7thsealord says:
    12 February, 2015 at 4:07 am

    😉 So don’t hold back, Will. Tell the guy what you REALLY think.

  39. fairwages4citizens says:
    12 February, 2015 at 4:42 am

    Like a boss

  40. AngryWeasel says:
    12 February, 2015 at 2:56 pm

    Tonight’s top story: Wil Wheaton breaks Wheaton’s Law.

    In other news, water continues to be wet, the Pope remains Catholic, and bears do in fact defecate in forests.

    1. Herb Finn says:
      13 February, 2015 at 11:04 pm

      Wil wasn’t being a Dick, he was just responding in kind to a “professional” solicitation. These folks are most likely contacting every person on IMDB pro regardless of their position in the industry with these piss-poor lazy arse paste-and-cut begging for work emails. You can’t blame culture differences on this one,either.

      Perhaps these folks should be reported to IMDB pro and have their membership revoked.

      Makes you wonder how they managed to win independence from Great Britain – Even Gandhi would have face palmed this one!

  41. Herb Finn says:
    13 February, 2015 at 10:55 pm

    Clearly a sign of laziness and no understanding of business communication. You can’t blame cultural differences for a lak of etiquette,

    They should have either sent a general email or a personalized one, and not his fake paste and cut from IMDB (Well, atleast it was IMDB pro) stuff…makes you wonder how India won their independence from The UK! Even Ghandi would have been ashamed.

    …and only a witty writer like will could put together such a great response, that will sadly go over their heads!

    1. Herb Finn says:
      13 February, 2015 at 10:59 pm

      Sorry about the extra “L” type, Wil – guess I could write emails in India now? 🙂

  42. Karen Hancock says:
    28 February, 2015 at 7:27 pm

    Is it wrong that all I could think of was, OMG if that was me sending the crappy email I would have been whooping all over the room with childlike excitement over the fact that Wil Wheaton replied to my email!

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