Is this a brilliant Viral Idea?

I've started a new site and was thinking about ideas for viral marketing.
The link is what I came up with (perhaps good for collegehumor site?) Maybe I should have asked people before I coded it.

Is this a brilliant viral Idea or should I stop brainstorming so late at night?

scam a friend

 

Might work, not sure really.
Noticed your site is not opera friendly though.

 

it's all screwy looking in Firefox too..
not a bad idea though..

 

yeah idk about how much the federal government is going to appreciate these little games you are trying to play, have you ever heard of the CAN SPAM ACT, you could possibly be jailed and most surely be fined heavily if they see your little "fun game" as destructive.

 

Sounds like I have much to do. I'll see what the issue is with the browsers. I'll add the disclaimer - oh, when the email is send, the subject is "DebtScams.com: You've Been Scammed By A Friend." Probably a bit more of "this is just a joke" on the inside would be good.

I made the actual email a separate step so visitors can just have fun with it without sending emails each time.

I also might shorten the email. I think I can drop a good paragraph or two and keep the humor aspect.

 

Having just tried it out I suggest you don't give the game away in the subject of the email.... wheres the fun in that?

Personally I wouldn't bother scamming someone back if I recieved one of these as for me it lacks comedy and I only tend to pass something on if I think its really funny, amazing or clever.

I find most virals here fit in one of those categorys http://uk.news.yahoo.com/hot/office-attachments/index.html

 

Try and bring it into MySpace, might work

 

I think it is funny, but I also think it is probably illegal in one fashion or another. Funny idea though.

 

Thanks for your help, sounds's like "the jury is in" and the result is "good idea but needs work."

Staying with this same concept, very loosely, if up to you, how would you improve it/change it? (yes, some would say dump it, but then what would you do instead with such a site?)

 

Interesting concept and I feel it is something that could gain traction and spread virally.

 

You should improve the content, otherwise people won't tell their friends about the site

 

Very interesting concept, now I'll be passing it on to my friends for sure but not before you change the email subject....the disclaimer could be a fine print on the bottom of the email message it generates. But, fix it first, download a copy of both opera and firefox, I am using firefox atm and it really needs some work.

 

An interesting concept. But...

As has already been mentioned here, not everyone would find the funny side of it, and as you probably know, some people would be very quick to condem and have your IP shut down. In my mind you have to absolutely clear that it is a joke and not a scam/spam emailing service.

Just my tupence worth.

 

I've updated the title to read "pizza exploration." This should be inviting enough to peak their interest.

I've also shorted the text of the email.

I've themed the email so everything pertains to pizza. This way, readers should KNOW it's a joke. For example "...or US$40 million in breadstick coupons..."

I've added a line to the top and bottom of the email to identify it as an e-scam from [senders name.".

Finally, on the initial page in which people enter the fields, I've added a disclaimer.

Hopefully by doing all of the above, it will be clear that it's a joke...and it seems much funnier than the first version I had posted.

Fixed Firefox formatting issue.

 

Good and simple Idea, but it's not Firefox friendly, remove the div .

 

Works ok in my Firefox, IE. Didn't test in Opera.

 

I LIKE it I like it..a very interesting

 

Site does not work for me. Using Firefox 1.5.0.8.