M. Scott Ault

M. Scott Ault?

The only person I know of who turned porn spam into income
Set the way back machine for circa, uhm.. 2003 or 2004.. spam was prevalent. Not like today.. spam filters didn’t exist. And porn spam was all that it was pretty much. Lo and Behold.. my inbox had a message that was so obviously spam that I couldn’t resist opening it. The english was atrocious. The spelling, the grammar, and they wanted me to go to a URL something akin to “hobosex” or something.. it really got me curious. The harm? Maybe a little more spam.. nothing more. So, I checked it out.. and it was terrible.

I replied to their email with an offer.. to re- write the copy on their site… for a fee of course. They replied that they were AOK. And off they went. I thought nothing more about it. But, that was a reply directly from the company.

Then, a few weeks later.. another message.. they were planning a few new sites and wondered what I’d charge to write their copy.. I told them per hour and they said OK. So, I was writing what essentially would be ad copy to a porn site. Text that is intended to draw in users who will pay the 2$ or 3$ tester price for full site access. Had to be good copy or it wouldn’t work.

5 or 6 sites of theirs got my text. I managed to bring in almost a grand from them. Then they sort of dropped off the face of the earth. No new sites, no new text.. nothing. No biggie.. I got what I wanted, paid through paypal, so I was happy. I turned porn spam into income. And, at a time when I was couriering it was very appreciated. A good little boost to the bank account. Not many people can claim that. Not that I’m wholly proud of where my words ended up but really.. it’s words. Just words. Words designed to separate users from their spare change. And, I’m guessing it worked. The sites are still up.. no, I won’t share the URL’s… and I”m guessing the company is still making spare change off them.

Pictured on a beer box
1997 or so.. before the big explosion of micro breweries.. a small company started in Penticton. Their idea for alternative marketing was to have photos of different real people on their 6- pack boxes.. and I happened to be one of them. No matter where I went after that.. I was referred to as “box boy” or the guy on the box.. even as recently as 2010, in a cafe on UBC campus.. I was recognized. Apparently, the person pictured on the flip side of my box passed away and was cremated.. stored in the box itself (probably not as is…). An interesting thing…

An Artist and adventurer…