From: Barneys New York
Subject Line: Celebrate!
Date: Friday, March 31, 2006

What fun! Simple yet effective: a gal hanging from a chandelier combined with a quick note in cavalier script really embodies that offhand "we're rich and we don't care" attitude. We also see an intelligent use of Date and Subject Line: we get to "Celebrate!" on a Friday.

Being one who constantly checks her email, I literally saw this message enter my inbox. I clicked through immediately, and if the delays that occured on the site were any indication, everyone was curious to see the new beauty, and clicked through immediately, upping the traffic and thereby slowing the speed. Unfortunately, the follow-through was a major disappointment. Barneys' new site is only mediocre aesthetically speaking, and sort of sucks from navigability and functionality standpoints. Maybe they should have done a a little more work on it before announcing to the world how great it was. Or maybe my experience simply mirrors the disappointment we all feel when the sparkle of a gorgeous new purchase eventually fades.