Got Buzzworthy Email Marketing?

I just signed up to receive Got Milk? News. Its email marketing uses a double opt-in – email confirmation and welcome links – and overemphasizes the privacy policies and how to unsubscribe. I've already gotten two emails, in a matter of minutes, for the sign-up process.

First, I received this one:


And then, I got this one:


Got Milk? has a buzzworthy email marketing element—CowAbduction.com—featured as an image link on the homepage. Click on it and you're redirected to --interstingly enough-- all kinds of nutty news, facts and testimonials about alien cow abductions:


And you can email a warning—creative, and very viral—to your friends:


But there's a problem. The email looks like spam:



The recipient didn't open this message until I informed them about it. With today's phishing epidemic, send-to-a-friend will become send-to-the-trash if it's not executed right.