My Headline That Lasted Decades, Killed Cullinet, and the Six-point Type that Landed Oracle a $2-million Site License from Hughes Aircraft

 

My headline that lasted decades, and the six-point type that landed Oracle a $2-million site licence form Hughes Aircraft. I had just seen the movie THE LAST STARFIGHTER and told Larry Ellison I had our next headline: THE LAST DBMS. He loved it and our first ad featured names of database competitors crossed out on the side of a fighter jet. One day, I was going up the stairs for my weekly meeting with Larry and Danny Turano was just leaving and said, "Hey, that footnote landed us a $2-million site license from Hughes Aircraft. They said any company that gutsy gets their business!" The footnote: "Our use of Cullinet, Information Builders, etc. trademarks is the least of their problems. TRBA." BTW, I always signed my ads TRBA for The Rick Bennett Agency. This ad put the last knife into Cullinet. We did get a snarky letter from Cullinet's John Goldman complaining about our footnote. But hey, that was "the least of their problems." Larry just laughed when he showed me the letter. Sincerely, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

My Ad That Destroyed Ashton-Tate

 Oracle had a big problem. Ashton-Tate was about to come out with dBASE for Digital's VAX computer. VAX was Oracle's bread and butter. I asked Larry Ellison how many sales we had for the PC version of Oracle. He answered not many. So the answer was to deliver a pile of manuals and Oracle on the PC for $199. We lost money on each sale, but headed off disaster on the VAX.

Ashton-Tate's CEO, Ed Esber, told his people that he "wouldn't get into the gutter by answering Oracle's attack." That killed morale. I imagine many employees called him a gutless wimp as they passed him in the halls. This put a check in Ashton-Tate's swing and killed their VAX initiative. In another post, I'll tell you how I came up with the enduring headline THE LAST DBMS. Sincerely, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

My Ad That Destroyed Ask Computer

 

In 1989, Oracle wanted to get into the manufacturing business. I probably had the most fun ever writiing this ad copy. "We Kick ASK" or "We're kicking ASK and taking names." I was interviewing a former ASK employee who was with ASK CEO Sandy Kurtzig when she first saw this. He said she got so mad she cried.

So how did it cause ASK's demise? First, it caused ASK to pre-announce new product capability they couldn't yet deliver. Since they were a public company, it destroyed their quarter-to-quarter profitability.

Second, it a misguided attempt at revenge, ASK acquired Ingres, a competitor to Oracle. Misguided because while Ingres had features unavailable in Oracle, Kurtzig didn't realize that people bought Oracle because it was perfectly compatible with IBM's SQL/DS and DB2. Which meant Oracle customers could dump Oracle and go back to IBM.

One thing led to another. ASK/Ingres was eventually acqired by Computer Associates. In an interview with VANITY FAIR magazine, Larry Ellison commented on the acquisition: "I guess every ecosystem needs a scavenger."

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

Advertising "Hit Man" Recommends a "Hit Man" Movie on Amazon

 

Being an advertising "hit man"—my ads destroyed at least 9 Fortune 500-size companies that I can name—I stumbled on a free Amazon Prime movie last night that I highly recommend. Featuring Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt, and Rupert Grint, this is a real knee slapper.

If you'll remember, Nighy played the naked guitar player in Love Actually. Emily Blunt played in Edge of Tomorrow with Tom Cruise. and Ruipert Grint played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter flicks. I think this movie is a sleeper that nobody has ever heard of. You want a laugh? You'll get a bunch of them in Wild Target.

@tomcruise, @billnighy, @emilyblunt, @rupertgrint

Why I will never again buy something advertised on Fox News

 

 

Guerrilla Warfare Tutorial

Rick Bennett 

Novelist, Guerrilla Warfare Hired Gun, Lecturer

November 4, 2025

To give credit where credit is due, I learned guerrilla warfare from the late Tony Schwartz, with whom I worked to pass Massachusetts' tax-limitation initiative back in 1980. Tony created the famous Daisy ad that ran only one time on one network and destroyed Barry Goldwater's 1966 race for the presidency (see the ad here).

Whenever I've put on a seminar or dealt with high-tech clients, I've gone in with guns blazing and channeled Tony Schwartz. Sometimes it's worked spectacularly. With clients like Oracle and Salesforce. And sometimes it's gotten me fired. But there are just two fundamental questions I ask to draw out the company leadership and get into what I call "a state of play." Because genius doesn't occur unless you're in a state of play.

Question 1: "What do you do that nobody else can do?"

I have subsequently told them what I call "Ellison's Law." Namely, you are not allowed to say anything in your communications that anybody, anywhere else, can say. This is tougher than you think. The world will pay attention to "the only" and ignore "we're better."

Question 2: "What could a potential competitor do to blow you out of the water?"

I've got some funny stories that will never see the light of day. Many times, I've been with a CXO or Marcom group where they look at me, puff out their chests, and say there isn't such a thing. Then I flash a Powerpoint slide with a hypothetical ad someone might run, and panic hits the room. I am told to delete that slide, any electronic copies that might exist, and to remember that I'm under an NDA and will be sued off the face of the earth if I ever communicate that idea to anyone. Period.

I do my homework before ever taking that first meeting.

The reason I charge for a half-day guerrilla warfare seminar is that I spend some serious time doing my homework. And I won't even accept an advance retainer for a seminar if I can't come up with my own answers to the above questions. Yeah, I have some tools to help me arrive locked and loaded.

Oh, and a final note. Neither me nor any of my subsequent clients have ever been sued for one of my guerrilla warfare forays. Because in the final analysis, hard-core technological intimidation is just undeniably true.

Jeff Bezos Should Run This Ad in THE WASHINGTON POST

Jeff Bezos, I learned guerrilla warfare from Tony Schwartz, the guy whose DAISY ad (click here: https://lnkd.in/e5QrpNz7) ran one time on one network and completely destroyed Barry Goldwater's presidential bid. I believe you could completely stop cyber attacks on all your companies by running this ad in THE WASHINGTON POST. Just the idea that you had a LETTER OF MARQUE AND REPRISAL would put a check in the swing of all the crooks and bad government actors. In my work for Oracle and Salesforce, I proved that any business problem can be solved with one ad, run one time, and in one media outlet, if it is the right ad, at the right time, and in the right media. You are welcome to use this ad with my compliments.

In A Perfect World, Larry Ellison Would Run This Ad In The WALL STREET JOURNAL

 

My 2011 CYBER PRIVATEER CODE Finally Made it Into TIME MAGAZINE

 

On September 17th, TIME MAGAZINE carried my op-ed piece on Cyber Privateering (see the article here). We're talking nearly 25 years in the making. And if this H.R.4988 becomes law, this domain (www.cyberprivateer.com) might be worth some dough (and I own all the extensions: .net, .org, and .ai).

Here's a WALL STREET JOURNAL Ad Salesforce Should Run ASAP

 

PayPal Should Run THIS Ad in The WALL STREET JOURJAL

 I'm sick of getting phished/scammed by people claiming to be from PayPal! I send the offending email to phishing@paypal.com and get a nice "Thank you for letting us know." If you guys on the ball, you'd run this ad in the WALL STREET JOURNAL.

In a Perfect World, Google Would Run This Ad in the Wall Street Journal

 

#sundarpichai @sundarpichai

IF H.R. 4988 Becomes Law, The First American TRILLIONAIRE Will Be a Cyber Privateer

 And yes, the fraternity of Bitcoin Billionaires should be quaking in their boots. Check out my LinkedIn posting (here). So why are these guys smiling?

BITCOIN BILLIONAIRES

Yesterday, my op-ed piece in TIME MAGAZINE went live.

Net-net: if H.R. 4988 becomes law, you will never receive another phishing or scam email.

Here's the link to my TIME MAGAZINE op-ed piece: https://time.com/7317012/can-cyber-privateers-combat-cybercrime/

Arizona Congresssman Must Have Read My Book, Proposes Cyber Privateering Law

H.R. 4988

Arizona Republican David Schweikert introduced the Scam Farms Marque and Reprisal Authorization Act of 2025 in the House of Representatives last week. If signed into law, it would give the US President a lot of leeway in issuing letters of marque to create an armada of internet privateers. Here's the story: UK Register Cyberprivateering Story 

My Nearly 19-Year-Old Dog is Still With Me, Thanks to Chiropractor Russ Harward

 

A couple years ago, my old dog Chenoa had a herniated disc, and the vet suggested we consider putting her down. In desperation, I called my bicycling buddy (we're done many thousands of miles together), a sports medicine chiropractor named Russ Harward. I asked him if he had any experience with animals, and he said he absolutely did. 

Just one session with Russ and my sweet little girl walked perfectly. She's now almost 19 and doing well. Admittedly, I've anthromorphized her, making Chenoa the star of my sci-fi novel The Last Will & Testament of Harley and His Dog. I also gave her the title role in my Silver Award-winning short story, The Destroying Angel's Dog.

I'm glad she's still with me.

My Once-a-year Scam Email: "Pay me $1500 or I'll show you viewing porn to your friends."

 I'm wondering how much these scams pull in. Since I've never in my long life even seen a porn site, I figured I'd share this crook's Litecoin wallet address:

ltc1qhx726s7mlnzfngmmt5u44ls7n5lch44z936lch

 I used a crypto currency explorer to check the balance in this account, but the guy set it up just for this scam. Pretty smart. I'd send this to the FBI, but those folks are after bigger fish than this yokel.

Do me a favor. If you know this scammer, share that I got a good laugh, and that the user at  mx.netsol.xion.oxcs.net with ESMTPS id 4bT9Dz39WhzqSNH should spend some time finding honest work.

Reminsing on How TIME MAGAZINE Changed My Life

I was sitting in my doctor's office and picked up the first issue of TIME MAGAZINE I'd seen in over 30 years. It got me pondering how that publication changed my life over 60 years ago. Enjoy

 

My 3 Novels Would Make THRILLING Movies!

 

This year I've been promoting my 3 published novels. I envisioned each one as an action movie. I had some interest in DESTROYING ANGEL, but it didn't pan out. Now that the movie business has gone to hell, all bets are off. But the audio-narrated books are the next best thing. Because they're like a movie in your head. I'm about two-thirds done with a 4th novel. Maybe lightning will strike there?

Need a Diversion During Your Long Commute?

 

Three novels and one novella are not available with audio narration. I'm promoting them heavily. Next week, I'll share the respective Amazon Kindle rankings of the novels.

Guerrilla Warfare Novel Free for the Next 5 Days

 

Utah's Senator Lee Leads Cyber Privateer Charge in the U.S.Senate

 

Utah Senator Mike Lee is advising President Trump to unleash American entrepreneurs using Letters of Marque and Reprisal. Translated: TURN THE PRIVATEERS LOOSE. CLICK HERE to read the NY SUN Article.

The U.S. Constitution Built in a System to Win ANY Cyberwar with Russia, China, or Whomever. Introducing My Audiobook: DADDY'S LITTLE FELONS.

 February 2, 2025, I figured I'd celebrate my Mom's 100th Birthday (she made it to 97) by announcing the release of my audiobook novel Daddy's Little Felons, It's available on Google Play at Click Here.

Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 11 spells out how a vastly under equipped army can use licensed and bonded privateers to win any war, including a cyberwar. Yes, the body count will be high, but the rewards will lure the best and brightest to go for that gold ring.

In the Revolutionary War, the Continental Navy had a mere 64 ships, compared to 1,697 privateer ships. The navy had 1,242 guns while the privateers had 14,872 guns. The Continental Navy captured only 196 ships while the privateers captured 2,283 ships. The risk, however, cannot go unreported. While it's unclear how many navy ships were captured by the enemy, 1,323 privateer ships (that's 78%) were captured by the enemy.

I'm thinking that with a president named Donald J. Trump, a secretary of defense named Pete Hegseth, a secretary of state named Marco Rubio, and a high-tech crazy named Elon Musk, we might just have a team to take this bull by the horns.

Hey, Mom. Happy 100th.

Rick