Kmart: Spend $3, Get $10 Back?
The back page of the Kmart circular for the week of April 4, 2010 had an amazing offer:
Just buy one item from those shown, for as little as $3, and you get a free $10 prepaid debit card. Who wouldn’t jump at this offer? You shouldn’t because of the tiny fine print at the bottom of the page.
*MOUSE PRINT:
For those who can’t read that, it says you have to buy $25 worth of those products in order to get $10 back. $25 worth of products? Where did that come from? That is a far different deal from “purchase any of these products” and get back $10.
Kmart, since when does “FREE” mean $25?
Now, in general, $10 off $25 is actually a pretty good deal, being approximately 40% off (I’m assuming you’ll incur some mailing & time costs, and spending exactly $25 is hard, so it’s not quite 40%). You might have had some pretty happy customers if you advertised $10 cash back on $25 purchase.
Instead, I imagine, you’ve got upset customers now. Congratulations.
Comment by Anthony — May 10, 2010 @ 12:13 pmThe worst thing about this ad: If the print was larger, people would still participate and be happy with the results.
I am just baffled as to why anyone at KMart felt the need to make this a microscopic disclaimer.
Comment by Chris S — May 10, 2010 @ 1:16 pm