Email Marketing Gone Wrong

I read this funny article from Tom Steinert-Threlkeld at baseline about email marketing personalization gone wrong. Here's a quote:

Now, I'm almost ready to join the chorus that says the end of the effective days of e-mail, even by brand-name businesses, is nigh.

This time, the milestone came when I received two messages on the same day from my favorite hotel company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, maintainers of the St. Regis, Sheraton, W and Westin brands.

Here was the startling proposition presented to me:

Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 08:00:41 -0500 (EST)
From: "Starwood Hotels & Resorts"
To: tst@ziffdavis.com
Subject: Share a Weekend with your Girlfriends at Westin

Naturally, I asked my wife if this would be all right with her. She wasn't too thrilled. "Stick with the cookies,'' she said. I didn't have the heart to tell her she was confusing Westin with the Doubletree chain. Her message was clear.

Note that as Tom mentions in his article his first name is "Tom", not exactly a non-gender specific name that can be confused like Pat or Chris.