(CNN) - Al Franken spent decades at the intersection of comedy and politics, so it's no surprise that his latest campaign fundraising pitch combines the two.
"Hello, I'm Woman Picking Out Fruit In Supermarket," opened a fundraising pitch sent to supporters on Friday.
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And sure enough, there was a picture of a woman doing just that.
But the woman isn't famous, nor did she have a personal testimonial of how the Democrat's first term in the Senate has impacted her life in Minnesota.
Instead, her story was as generic as they come.
"You've seen us shaking hands in business suits, posing together on college campuses, and laughing while we eat salads," the e-mail continued. "You've seen us on billboards, in magazines, and on pretty much every political website. We are the people in stock photos."
The senator's campaign spokesman, Ed Shelleby, told CNN, "The idea for an email from 'Woman Picking out Fruit in a Supermarket' came from Sen. Franken, who thought that his supporters would get a kick out of poking a little fun at the use of stock photos - which I should note are sometimes used on the Senator's own website. And so far we've received great feedback from the email."
It's the latest in an inbox full of out-of-the-box campaign e-mails, designed to stand out rather than be junked.
With so much riding on the subject line, some campaigns attempt to pack as much punch and wit as possible into a few characters.
Mitt Romney's campaign went for pith in a March appeal: "Lost?"
"Whether a faulty GPS or a broken Washington has you feeling like things are moving in the wrong direction, we have you covered," the e-mail read. "Show your fellow drivers that you believe Mitt can get us moving in the right direction by displaying an American-made, easy to apply Romney window decal on your car."
An e-mail from Romney's wife, Ann, told supporters, "You didn't hear this from me" - and asked readers to sign a virtual e-card for her husband.
The re-election campaign of President Barack Obama went very casual in a March fundraising message.
"Hey," read the e-mail from the candidate. His campaign's notable messages led to the Twitter hashtag "#ObamaCampaignEmailSubjectLines," which trended at one point in 2011.
Franken has pursued the humor tactic, e-mailing supporters last month about his love of math; teasing supporters that the way to tell the difference between one's boss and one's doctor is by asking "to see a stethoscope (doctors usually have those handy);" and joking that donating to defeat tea party candidates would "make this Monday hurt a little less."
And sometimes he just cuts to the chase.
"So, yes, this is a fundraising e-mail," a 2011 pitch read. "See: Please click here and give me money."
Franken is next up for reelection in 2014.
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