Interview · moment 18 of 28
Junk Mail, Scam Economics, and Profiting Off Stupidity
from Louis CK | The Tim Dillon Show #317 · #317
3 min
Guest
Tim connects the localized stupidity discussion to how junk mail and clickbait scams only need to make pennies to be worth it, using a hypothetical fake Robin Williams murder headline as an example of media using question marks to dodge liability.
- Tim discusses the concept of 'localized stupidity' — the idea that people need to be dumb in their own town without it becoming national news.
- The real reason nothing stops: there's profit in it.
- Junk mail scams work because even 10 cents a month profit makes them worthwhile to send out.
- Media outlets use question marks to avoid liability — 'Robin Williams was actually murdered by Sean Penn?' — and make money off the clicks even when burying a denial in the story.