How to Marketing Something That Can't Get No Respect

Think your marketing job is hard? What if you had to push something so oookie that nobody wanted to talk about it? That's what Michael Paranzino, president of Psoriasis Cure Now has to do, and he decided to have fun with it.

Great cause. Great pitch too.

His email said:

"Don't laugh, we're giving away $10,000 to people who come up with the best videos to help educate the public about psoriasis, a serious immune disease that can be debilitating but that gets no respect. The website is live, and the contest officially launches this Wednesday, 7/11.

Will people enter a contest about psoriasis? We don't know! But the issue is important enough that we'll spend $10K to find out."

I hope psoriasis fares better, and I think it will.

You definitely called this one, Ochman. Once I clicked through the link, the website lured me in. Since he educated me in two minutes, betcha the campaign will be a showstopper.

Since I can't find an email for Michael P., to tell him how cleverly compassionate a marketer he is, I'll drop the note here. The good work gets better because the brand resounds long after the pitch. {Virtual Applause, you can almost hear it...}

I expect Mr. Paranzino is a real (hu)man first and a marketer second. I can't enter; heck, I'm still trying to program movie channels. But I'll donate some quality images to his cause. If it's legal, that is, feel free to pass my email on to Michael, and we'll get something not-so-seriously psoriasis in the LuckyO blog, http://www.luckyoliver.com/blog

My father has suffered with psoriasis for years - aggravated by allergies. There were times in past years that he could do virtually nothing with his hands. They were either cracking and bleeding constantly, or he had to wear latex gloves to keep a medical gel on them.

Why no cure? Because it isn't killing anybody. At least nobody important. But it sure as heck was a quality of life issue.

I have suffered from psoriasis for nearly 40 years. It got so bad that at times I had over 10 band aids on my hands. I tried every type of lotion and ointment to help control it but nothing worked. Then a friend suggested that I try Mary Kay's Extra Emollient Night Cream. It does not cure but it stops the symptoms--raw, scaly, rough skin. I have it on my hands, elbows and knees. My hands are back to normal and I no longer need band aids. My knees and elbows no longer bleed.

I put it on after I bathe and it lasts all day even though I have my hands in water alot. My hands appear normal. No one would know I had a problem as long as I put it on every day. If I don't apply it by the second day my skin is reverting back to the bleeding, scaling condition.

I know that this sound crazy, but it works. I know that this is not the use that Mary Kay had in mind, but it works. Nothing has worked from what my doctors have prescribed to the over the counter crack creams, lotions or ointments.