I like Model Railroader Magazine. I like the adds because occasionally I buy something from them, and they give me an idea of the going rate for products. Once the adds are out of date, I tear out the pages with only adds on them and throw them away, and save the rest of the mag. I think they have to appeal to a wide range of readers, so I do not object to material that is repeated from the past (as long as it is not overwhelming), because newbee's and people like me who have been out of circulation for a long time can use the info.
What I object to is the sleazy way they sent out this promotion. The only thing missing is a note saying, "Mr Jones, you MAY have won $3,000,000.00". The medalion is a piece of garbage which has no historical significance, nor any intrinsic value. The video is an excerpt from their commercially available series, repackaged. The plea to "please send this video back so some poor deprived unfortunate homeless model railroader can also view it" is a pathetic "guilt trip" used by "charities?" which rake in lots of money and dole out very little, if at all. I desipse this method of requesting money, and usually have nothing to do with the companies, but I will continue to subscribe to MR unless they have more of this junk in the future.