Letter to Spectrum

We interrupt this blog to respond to a letter from “America’s fastest-growing TV, Internet and Voice provider,” according to Spectrum's ads.

Mr. Georff Boytos

VP of Marketing

Spectrum

Dear Mr. Boytos:

Thank you for your letter containing my new “Saving Card,” and for letting me know about your new TV Stream service. Yes, sign me up! I’m trying to 'cut the cord' as they say in your biz, but offers like this demand my full attention.

I went online to get the list of channels being offered (I’m guessing they are just the ones I want), but they were not available, even under the “click here for more details” button. I even tried to chat, but your representative wouldn’t budge until I told him how my day was going, and I refused to have that conversation because I could not see how he could be looking up the channel lineup for me if we were chatting along about my day. So that went nowhere. As VP, you probably know what they are, so before I sign on the dotted line, will you kindly send along those “25 most popular live TV channels” you are offering?

Also, there are 10 lines of type at the bottom of the second page of your letter that I'm not able to read. 

Maybe this is your first letter. To help with your next one, I’ve compiled some tips I found online about how to increase readability and a running score about how you did. No charge.

Rule # 1: Column width should be about 65 characters, including spaces.

Your column width: 237 characters

Your score: Fail

Rule # 2: The minimum type size for readability is 8 points.

Your text: 5 pts.

Your score: Fail

Rule # 3: Black type on a white background has the best readability.

Your text: Light gray.

Your score: Fail

Rule # 4: Use serif fonts for content and sans-serif fonts for headlines.

Your content text: san serif

Your score: Fail

Rule # 5: Don't justify right margins, because it forces the space between letters and words to be uneven and less readable.

Your margins: Justified

Your score: Fail

Rule # 6: Use white space in and around the text, making it easier for readers’ eyes to flow through the words without being distracted by other design elements.

Your white space: None

Your score: Fail

I can’t wait to sign up for your new promotion, so please get back to me right away.

Yours truly,

Steve Wilson