We get some pretty nutty spam every day, but the specificity of the offer and the volume of information presented about the company (and the color scheme) in the above advert caught our attention. One hundred thousand metric tons of sugar…sure, send it right over. Actually, step 5 of the transaction plan mandates that the buyer visits the warehouse in Dubai. We love that their website calls it “fly and buy;” while you’re there, you can pick up some racehorses and giant buildings. Sugarcart’s motto, “Sugar is not sweet until it touches your tongue !!!!” (emphasis on the exclamation points), is deeply philosophical, or at least deserves the attention of a linguist. Also, their price of $418 per metric ton is totally ridiculous, considering that it’s trading for around $100 less on the various futures exchanges. What a rip-off!
We’d like to believe that we received the email around this time because of the controversy surrounding sugar substitutes. Basically, the people who make Nutrasweet and equal (Merisant, based in Chicago!) sued the people who make Splenda (McNeil Nutritionals, based somewhere else so who cares), for false advertising. Apparently, “made from sugar so it tastes like sugar” is so confusing that people think Splenda actually is sugar, according to Merisant. A bit of desperation in response to Splenda’s rapid takeover of the sugar substitute market. Anyway, they settled out of court - maybe they’ll buy each other, who knows. For our part, we will continue using either small amounts of sugar in the raw, or no sweetener at all (take that, sugarcart!)
Fly & Buy Sugar from Dubai [sugarcart]
Burj Dubai [Official Site]
Merisant, McNeil reach quiet settlement in Splenda battle [Food Navigator]
[Photo: a screencap of the spam they sent us]
