Steal These Ideas!: Marketing Secrets That Will Make You a Star, 2nd Edition

Rolling Stone Magazine

Back in the 1970s, the notorious antiestablishment, self-proclaimed gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson was a managing editor of Rolling Stone. He authored a subscription renewal letter that was completely different from what any other magazine had ever contemplated.

The letter, short and to the point, declared that Rolling Stone was Thompson's only legitimate source of income. It went on to say that if you didn't respond, he would be thrown into utter despair and probably wind up in Needles, California, “sucking from a nitric oxide tank down to the bottom death blast of freon, listening to German tourists describe their coyote sightings.”

Basically, Thompson threatened the recipient, demanding a response, or else. To underline ...