Advertising has been described before as 'a whorish kind of business'. I received a mailer today from a direct marketing list provider that takes this literally. One can only assume that inspiration for this piece struck while the creative person responsible took a piss in a phone box. While he was relieving himself on the floor his eyes wandered across the prostitutes' cards plastered on the glass walls of the box and…eureka!

The visual shows a lady (or perhaps ladyboy) in a red dress that is open at the front and hitched up to reveal stocking tops. The line 'Fast easy and profitable and able to satisfy your clients' invites us to make a connection between the services performed by a sex worker and the services offered by this company to agencies and advertisers.

The copy inside the leaflet continues, 'Your client may well be looking for high-earning females, 25-30, living in Soho, in rented accommodation – but whatever your mailing list need… etc.'

Wow, I thought, when I read the mailer – this company really understands me and the way I work with my clients. I'm always trying to find quick-working whores in Soho at good value prices who will perform sordid and demeaning acts for and upon my clients. In the same way, I understand I can now get quality data lists from this company that will leave my clients totally satisfied. The only problem is that now I feel sad and soiled and I worry that in some way I have participated in exploitation and evil. 

The other thought that occurs is that their data is pretty lousy if they're sending this leaflet to me. I've never bought a DM mailing list in my life.