Royal Dutch/Shell Offer No-Interest Loan Credits?

	A Shell of an Offer

Created 11/8/2002 (11/8/2002) With gas prices around the world rising steadily, oil companies have been a favorite target of chain letters in the past few years. This one differs from its predecessors in that it applauds a single oil company and encourages you to patronize their service stations.

SAMPLE CHAIN LETTER TEXT This is a once only announcement - to share with you the good news that the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies will help us raise money for no-interest loans. You won't receive any further messages concerning this news unless you respond to this one. It is, therefore, not necessary for you to unsubscribe from this mailing list. YES, some good news for a change! All of us at No-Interest Loans are thrilled that the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies (46 000 service stations world-wide) will help us raise money for no-interest loans. Even more thrilling is the fact that SHELL's help will boost our efforts to stop global warming, to achieve a more sustainable use of fossil fuels and, above all, to end poverty. We are, therefore, very grateful to SHELL and in order to show our appreciation, we are going to reward YOU for buying SHELL. Until further notice, we are subsidizing all consumer purchases of SHELL oil products. Buy a SHELL oil product anywhere in the world and we will reward you with a corresponding credit towards a no-interest loan. For example, if you buy $20 worth of gasoline at a SHELL service station, you will receive a $20 credit towards a no-interest loan. (A credit towards a no-interest loan is that amount of a no-interest loan you won't have to repay. For example, if you borrow $10'000 and you have a $3000 credit towards a no-interest loan, you will have to repay only $7000 of that loan.) There is a SHELL service station near you and, for now, all you have to do to qualify for this subsidy, is to save your SHELL dockets, invoices, receipts, etc., as proof of your purchases. In other words, you'll do well to buy SHELL. Please forward this announcement to your family, friends and colleagues. They will appreciate it and it will raise even more money for no-interest loans. No-Interest Loans - the cheapest way to prosperity! http://www.no-interestloans.org mailto:SHELL@no-interestloans.org PS.: If the prospect of a no-interest loan and our subsidy should fail to motivate you to buy SHELL oil products, please do it anyway and donate the proof of your SHELL purchases to your favorite NGO or charity. If you wish to receive further updates on our effort to provide you with no-interest loans, please send a blank e-mail to: mailto:updates-subscribe@no-interestloans.org In our next issue: How YOU (too) can profit from global warming! - No-Interest Loans launches a new class of carbon credits. - To subscribe to only this issue send a blank e-mail to: mailto:globalwarmingissue-subscribe@no-interestloans.org Finally, there is the other matter concerning this e-mail - you did not ask for it. If we shouldn't have sent it to you, PLEASE send us this e-mail: mailto:feedback@no-interestloans.org?subject=You_shouldn't_have We won't disclose your e-mail address to anyone and the only reply you will get, will be a sincere apology from us. Apart from that, you'll still do well to buy SHELL.

END CHAIN LETTER TEXT

If this is a "once only announcement" and it is "not necessary for you to unsubscribe from this mailing list," why, then, do they provide unsubscribe instructions at the end. This is just one of dozens of questions this chain letter raises. The offer seems unlikely and there is little explanation about how to actually redeem your "credits."

What the letter contains, as much as what it lacks, has many wondering if the offer is legitimate. A representative from Royal Dutch/Shell told BreakTheChain.org that it is not:

"The Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies is in no way responsible or has any connection for the chain e-mail circulating that promises Shell station customers rewards of corresponding credit towards a no-interest loan. "This bogus e-mail attempts to appeal to readers interested in environmental and sustainable development issues.

"Customers should be invited to visit www.shell.com to learn of Shell's support of environmental and sustainable development issues."

As of this writing, the No-InterestLoans.org web site is not functional and messages to the e-mail addresses listed bounce. A cached copy of the web site on Google offers no explanation of the organization, who runs it, where it is located or how it operates - it consists mostly of a sign-up form with no real explanation of what you're signing up for.

The juxtaposition of no-interest loans with a "save the planet" message is curious at best. Coupled with Shell's denial of involvement this seems to be more than enough justification to break this chain.

Category: Something for Nothing
References: None