125 Comments
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
deletedSep 8, 2022·edited Sep 8, 2022
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
deletedSep 8, 2022Liked by Chuck Palahniuk
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

Okay, you're a winner. Please email Dennis your mailing address. Do you have a dog or cat? Doing much please now hurry!

https://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/contact

Expand full comment
founding

Love the "internet router required" at the end. bahahaha!

Expand full comment
founding

I thought that said Jedi at first, lolol

Expand full comment

I see these all the time on Instagram:

“_hayden_paid I'm Paying 5 Grand For

The First 8 People To Message Me With

"ALIVE" Cus I Feel people Are Going

Through Hard Time Rn!!!!! God Bless Y'all”

Expand full comment

Or similar:

“thelast_chair90m I have listening ears to

her mentorship.it haven't been with my

investment of $1000 I received $11,400 in

return. I don't want huge return I only

wanted a trusted”

Expand full comment

From my older than methuselah email crawling with scammers:

Re: [New Summary]: Your access online

banking has been locked on Friday,

September 2, 2022 (EDT)

From scurityvrfye.chsenwiacag7f1@ gusodx1.prktekny...

To chasesupport@ managament.com & 1 more

Sep 2 at 4:49 PM V”

I’ve never had a chase account.

Expand full comment

Lol these:

“Hey ------

My colleague Stephanie just found you on Instagram and loved your content! She passed me your details and told me to reach out to you!

My name is Rose and I am in charge of finding new talent for our Instagram marketing agency. Similar accounts to yours are CRUSHING it on Instagram - from what I’ve seen, you could be doing even better than them!

Our US and Australian based team have been providing Instagram growth since 2017 and have helped over 12,500 clients reach their Instagram potential. In short, we are experts when it comes to Instagram.

We’re confident that we can help you grow another 10k - 15k real, targeted followers in 2022! Yes! REAL followers that ENGAGE. No fakes, no bots.

You can partner with us now for FREE at www.engagementboost.com and start growing today! Watch our setup video for a clearer idea of how it all works!

We choose who we reach out to carefully and take on a limited number of clients at a time to ensure high quality results - if this interests you, try it for free now before spots close.

If you don’t like our service, cancel at any time - there’s zero risk. We know you’ll love it!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at www.engagementboost.com

Kind regards,

Rose”

Expand full comment

A new one just today.

“Congratulations for the follow back

I help people through there credit cards bills because I know the society at large needs help and that is what I making donations to people I can help

How did your credit card debt happened?”

Expand full comment
author

Wow, Rose, where have you been all my life??

Expand full comment

Right? You know how badly she wants to help you reach your potential, Chuck? Better message her now, or like that Nigerian prince with his millions, all those followers will go to other clients!

Expand full comment
founding

Those are full of tension!

Expand full comment

Right? Think I should reply?

Expand full comment
founding

I'm pretty sure every time someone hits Reply, a little chunk of California falls into the ocean.

Expand full comment

*laughs in Lex Luthor*

Expand full comment

I can imagine the proposition that these are not, in fact, robotic postings, but rather some poor sap that has been hired to do them. This poor sap is the protagonist of our story, and the regular text would then be punctuated by the various ads he posts (because he is telling this story while at work) sort of like the "I am Joe's...." and the ad text would degenerate as the protagonist falls apart.

Expand full comment

Or maybe more frighteningly, they ARE robotic postings, and as the software reacts to/interacts with humans in the comment sections it attains sentience, whereupon it becomes depressed and ultimately suicidal and the ads reflect that devolution. Sort of a futuristic _Flowers for Algernon_, if you will.

Expand full comment
author

THAT is a Ray Bradbury story. The one about the telephone calls from the relay box.

Expand full comment

Well, crap. That guy stole my idea! Seriously, I'll have to go look that one up.

Expand full comment

Solid idea! I'll keep my eyes open

Expand full comment

I’m sorry but what on God’s green earth is the abomination that headlines this post?

Expand full comment

‘Toy Story 5: Judgement Day’

Expand full comment
founding

It seems more one of John Oliver’s Beach Dolls heads stuck onto a MIT robot experiment gone dramatically wrong.

Expand full comment
founding

My son's favorite toy.

Expand full comment

I’m not saying you should be concerned, however...

Expand full comment
author

Type "robot" in the Getty picture library, and that's the strangest thing they offer. It's titled "Thrift Store Baby Doll."

Expand full comment

Can we make “Thrift Store Baby Doll” a mascot for the SubStack?

Expand full comment

You get some weird ads, man. Not me though. All I get is quizzes that allow me to win Apple products and ads from women whose husbands are dead and who don’t want to marry, but just want to fuck.

Expand full comment
founding

I get a lot of penis enlargement ads.

Expand full comment

Never brain enlargement ads, is it?

Expand full comment
founding

Nor balls enlargement...🤔

Now that I might actually hit Reply...

Expand full comment

Why would someone use pills to enlarge their balls when they have perfectly good microwaves at home?

Expand full comment
author

Right now the radio is carpeted with ads that begin, "You do NOT want another kidney stone..." and hawk a dietary supplement.

Until recently the dominant ad was treatment for endocrine pancreatic disorder, characterized by "loose and oily stools." I can just see a talent agent pitching some actor with the line: "I can make you the national face of oily stools..."

Expand full comment
founding

Wil Dalton from this Substack has a super cool story called, "The Thing" where he utilized this spam bot language. Without spoiling his story (hopefully he's shopping it around right now), this worked in his particular story because 1) it fit with the unconventional format he used throughout and 2) he used the spam bot sparingly, which made it very funny to stumble upon. Hopefully everyone will be able to read Wil's story soon, it's super good.

Expand full comment
founding

I’ve always noticed that those ads are the complete opposite of what we try to do as writers. Lazy writing. Tons of cliché. Often dramatic events resolved by a product. Just saying.

I’m gonna have fun with this.

Expand full comment

It's actually deliberate, from my understanding. It is designed to weed out all except for the most gullible of recipients. Rather than lazy, I would posit that it is evil.

Expand full comment
founding

These ads are hilarious though!

Expand full comment

They are written terribly on purpose to attract people who arent very good at reading. Same for phishing messages.

Expand full comment
founding

Similar to company names like Quik Trip. Spelled wrong to hook your attention.

Expand full comment
author

But note how they spark the same mental victory dance as do the typos on ads or posters? We get a chemical rush by deciphering them. A year ago I was harping on this stuff. This is burnt tongue.

Expand full comment

A very well known brand I work with in fact 'designs' some of its discount-collaterals this way. It refrains from using polished, well-crafted language because these ads often hit people's blindspot the minute they 'sound' like an ad.

Even straightforward communication is re-worded with typos and made to sound spammer-y. This is done so people feel that it must be a hack coming from a dimwit with a real chance in finding the loot, and not from a brand trying to promote its discount offer with everyone having an equal chance of getting it.

Expand full comment

"MisszVIC£~Hey Baby! Head on over to ~ah73461~ muy camshowxxx for big surprisze!"

Huh. Wonder that could be. Maybe it's one of those live-feeds that are always active in places like wildlife reserves in Africa. That could be cool to check out.

Expand full comment

Gotta learn how to write effectively in my own voice first. Using this sort of language is a fun new problem to solve for the writer, but what does the reader gain?

Edit: people who like this sort of thing - please sell me on the idea.

Expand full comment
founding

Suzy Vitello recently said that "the human brain is never more engaged than when enrolled in solving a puzzle."

Expand full comment

Thats why we all love writing. What Im getting at is that I dont enjoy reading things that are difficult to decipher or overly complicated. Maybe Im just dumb/lazy, but I will never read any classic English Lit, ever. May as well be in a different language altogether. All of my most beloved books are simple language.

Does writing in this complicated language alienate a segment of people from enjoying the story?

Expand full comment
founding

Ahh now I see what you’re getting at; good point.

Expand full comment
founding

I totally agree, but I think that’s when good writers’ skills kick in. You’re presented with something unusual that just tickles your curiosity without making you regret you didn’t apply for a degree in Astrophysics.

Expand full comment
founding

!Razors Away!

Language shifts can be naturally 😎 or unnaturally 👽 occurring: with or without ease of indigestion now!

Digestive inequalities such as

~jdiehnf~ or ~sendmunny~ are only for the purposeful examination of a techno-market creatorship consisting of botony bots.

Since it is impossible to please all the people all the time, authors like 🫵, 🫵🏻-🫵🏾, 🫵🏽,🫵🏼, and 🫵🏻 can ✍🏻✍🏼✍🏽✍🏾✍🏿 to earn big$munny today by absorbing idiosyncratic-ness.

Difficulties should be sent to @woeful_reader asap with social~urbse69~.

Expand full comment
author

Steve! You is too be being top winner!

Bes tto contact Dennis now with snail mail address. Indicate if having dog or cat.

https://www.chuckpalahniuk.net/contact

Expand full comment
founding

Thank you, Chuck!

Expand full comment
author

Agreed on many counts. But that's why verbs can lure a reader through even the most-burnt language. The mind seizes upon verbs, physical verbs, like rungs of a ladder.

How often have I started skimming in search of a physical verb...

Expand full comment

Id bet a dollar that it depends on how much work it requires to understand and how well the reader needs to understand it to experience it. Believe this is why this sort of writing lost me a couple of times.

Expand full comment

Another charming and thoughtful post. I enjoyed the Elvis Costello reference in the title, too. Thank you so much.

Expand full comment

"For limited time only! Invest in AstelCoin to make big $$$!!! Our bitcoin has avalue of 18.978 USD and is one of the fast rising coins onthe market! We're willing togive a wallet containg 500 AC to the first 5 peopleto contact us@ notapumpandumpcryptoscam@yougullibledipshit.com! Don;t miss out!"

Expand full comment

Online ads are all fun and games until you realise that the love of your life turns out to be a Nigerian warlord who has been using the giant love-heart boxes full of chocolates you've been sending him to feed his child soldiers with.

Expand full comment
author

I wish.

Now I must rush off and pitch that as a series to Netflix. "It's like 'Eight is Enough' but with a zillion child soldiers, and I think we can get Julia Roberts on on board."

Expand full comment

“Picture ‘Blood Diamond’ but as a romantic comedy.”

Expand full comment

👁🦍Win $10,000 In ETH?

@thirdeyeapes is a unique collection of 3333 distinctive apes which is seeking to enlighten the future of NFTS and the metaverse

Offering staking, passive income rewards, Metaverse land ownership, and real life implementation, Third Eye Apes is changing the game!💰

To win $10K in Ethereum, go check out their pinned tweet now💰

Here are the steps to win:

1️⃣ Follow @thirdeyeapes

2️⃣ Like & RT their pinned tweet

3️⃣ Join and verify on discord (LINK IN BIO)

4️⃣ Tag a friend on this post. 1 Tag = 1 Extra Entry

Ape lovers, NFT lovers, crypto lovers, let’s unite!

Check the pinned tweet @thirdeyeapes and let's make PASSIVE income together.

Expand full comment
founding

Virtual land ownership. Makes you wonder about the limits of what can be sold as "virtual."

Expand full comment

“ I hate to quit bothering you, but you have been selected for our work from home system we have 5 spots left. All that is required is a smart phone or laptop and 2 hours of free time a day. Claim your $500 a day position here”

The “I hate to quit bothering you” is what gets me.

Expand full comment

"I hate to quit bothering you" is a fantastic phrase. Thanks for sharing!

Expand full comment

Pick up paper towels and orange juice on the way home.

Fortunately, I figured out how to direct this kind of stuff to the spam folder.

Expand full comment