Goofus and Gallant: 3 Missed Opportunities to Do the Right Thing

Sometimes progress in email marketing best practices feels like two steps forward, one step back. Over the weekend, three emails landed in my inbox that were technically legal under US law, but pretty out of touch with modern email marketing best practices. Upon investigation, I had some past connection to each sender: a long-forgotten service, a parent company, or something buried deep in the terms and conditions.

Remember Highlights for Children and the classic "Goofus and Gallant" comic strip? Goofus was rude, careless, and impatient; Gallant was polite, thoughtful, and considerate.

Email marketing has its own Goofus and Gallant moments. Here are three real-world examples of senders who chose the Goofus path, and how a Gallant marketer would have handled them instead.

The Lapsed Relationship

Goofus: A veterinary clinic I used seven years ago (and now live 1,400 miles away from) starts sending me newsletters and marketing invites out of nowhere. There is no customer relationship left to recapture. (I wonder how many people they emailed whose pets have already passed away, and if this failed attempt at reconnection made anyone cry.)

Gallant: Knows that customer data decays over time and that long expired relationships aren't waiting for sudden reactivation years later. Gallant runs timed winback campaigns within months of inactivity, enforces strict sunset policies, and recognizes that blasting ancient lists only tanks open rates, triggers spam complaints, and damages sender reputation.

The Surprise Mothership Email

Goofus: A corporate restaurant group emails me out of the blue. There is zero brand recognition in the friendly "From" name and no explanation of how they got my address. Digging into what brands they own, I realize it's the parent company of a local food hall where I signed up for guest Wi-Fi, once, while I grabbed a coffee. Forced opt-in meets poor brand alignment.

Gallant: Understands that the brand where the opt-in occurred owns the relationship. If a user gives their email for Wi-Fi at a specific venue, that consent does not automagically transfer to the corporate mothership. Without clear and visible brand context at a glance (in the from address, friendly from, or above the fold matching branding), recipients won't engage. Instead, they'll just hit the report spam button.

The Sneaky Checkout Partner

Goofus: After ticking the "save my payment info" box during checkout at a big-box store, I started receiving marketing emails from an "online wallet" service that I didn't recognize. The "permission" was likely buried in the fine print, but the lack of context makes the messaging feel intrusive and shady. Scammers sometimes send via off brands hoping that you'll think it's maybe something you signed up for, but forgot about. If only legitimate companies tried harder to avoid doing this.

Gallant: Never passes email addresses to third parties or secondary services without explicit, unbundled consent. Gallant makes partner relationships crystal clear from the line of introductory text and remembers a crucial rule: just because it's legally permissible doesn't mean it's good marketing.

Yes, Legal, But...

None of these senders seem to be violating the law. But legality is a low bar, and compliance does not guarantee deliverability. Compliance doesn't guarantee success, either.

When recipients hit the "report spam" button, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft don't care that your legal team wrote a compliant privacy policy or that you're a well-known brand. Mailbox providers base inbox placement on user sentiment, asking one fundamental question: Does the recipient actually want this email?

If the answer is no, your reputation takes the hit, no matter how legal the message was.