5 Distasteful Marketing Ploys to Avoid We're not talking about illegal practices, like email span, but rather strategies that fall under the gray areas of marketing etiquette.

My friend Eileen had a gray striped cat named Nimbus whose greatest joy was to hunt in the backyard woods and drop his offerings at her back door. Eileen never knew what she'd find when she opened the door--a chipmunk, vole, mole or bird.

Nimbus was easily forgiven--he was a cat, operating solely on instinct. Far more accountable are those who manage their business the way Nimbus operated his--by plopping the unwanted and often distasteful straight into our unsuspecting laps under the guise of "marketing."

Here are my top picks for business marketing efforts that are as distasteful as dead critters on the doorstep. Keep in mind that I'm not talking about illegal practices such as e-mail spam. Rather, these are strategies that fall under gray areas of marketing etiquette.