Make Spanish language assumptions using a) vowel as last letter
Surely the algorithm was more sophisticated than that? Otherwise people with Italian surnames were in trouble. E.g. Jay Leno, Al Pacino, Frank Sinatra, etc. would be greeted with "¿Que pasa?"
And that also meant you were on the wrong side of "associates" of the Mafia. E.g. Gambino, Gotti, etc.
Actually it was that way. Once the language was known the flag was set.
We laughed (and argued) at the implications. The few Italians working in that tech part of the company would scream loudly.
It was more of a problem with acquisition direct mail and billing statements. Messaging on the outside of the envelope was often simply guess work as to the language.
Surely the algorithm was more sophisticated than that? Otherwise people with Italian surnames were in trouble. E.g. Jay Leno, Al Pacino, Frank Sinatra, etc. would be greeted with "¿Que pasa?"
And that also meant you were on the wrong side of "associates" of the Mafia. E.g. Gambino, Gotti, etc.