Tweeter, which is an electronics store specializing in home theaters and TVs, has started advertising what appears to be a remarkable offer: Spend $999.99 or more at the store, and get $500 in free gas.

This promotion appears on the front of their September catalog, and on their homepage. You need to follow the asterisk to page 32 of the catalog, or inside the website to find out the details.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Translation: You have to buy $2000 worth of gasoline over a 20 month period, in increments of $100 per month, in order to receive a monthly giftcard worth $25.

There are even more details spelled out here, including the fact that you must select the brand of gas you will buy in advance for the entire 20 month period. In addition, not mentioned is the fact that in months when you redeem the $25 giftcard, you actually have to buy $125 worth of gas to qualify for that month.

If the company wanted to be straight forward about the offer, and not bury an important detail in the fine print, the ad should have looked like this:

Similar promotions promising $500 of free gas based on the freebeegas.com program are also popping up at furniture stores (Jennifer Convertibles) and banks.

Thanks to David B. for submitting this example of mouse print.

Consumers are used to seeing offers of a number of free or discounted months of service when they switch cable companies. So it is not unusual that Dish Network, a satellite television provider, is offering three free months of service as an inducement to choose their company.

In the graphic, there is some virtually unreadable type.

*MOUSE PRINT: It says “with 24 month commitment”. Okay, so the company requires a two year contract, which certainly is uncommon in the conventional cable television industry. It sounds more like a cell contract than a cable TV contract, but if that is the way they choose to operate, that is their decision.

Only when you dig deeper into their website, however, do you learn the additional terms of the three months free offer.

*MOUSE PRINT:

So if you assumed your first three months of service would be free, you assumed wrong. The free months are spread throughout your two year contract.

Elsewhere on the website you will learn there are a dizzing number of options and additional fees, so it is difficult to tell how much your bill will really total on a monthly basis. But, in a rare demonstration of the company’s ability to be candid when it chooses to, they provide a sample bill  which indicates you will be charged for two months of service on your first bill, not just one (and a variety of other oddball fees, as one commenter notes below).

Thanks to Mouse Print* reader Rob for pointing out the unusual staggering of the free months bonus. If you find examples of surprising fine print, please send them along to edgar(at symbol)mouseprint.org .

Leave it to marketers to create the tantalizing proposition of getting more for less when you buy their product.

Both the new Apple iPhone and Tide 2X are making similar claims.

For the iPhone, Apple says you get twice the speed for half the price. In fact, the first generation iPhone sold for $399, while the just released 3G version sells for $199. So far, so true.

One catch is that you have to sign a two year contract. But the sneakier one is this:

*MOUSE PRINT: The data plan for the new iPhone is $30 a month, compared to $20 a month for the old one. Over a 24 month period, you will be paying an additional $240 to AT&T for the phone, which, in essence makes it 10% more expensive than its predecessor — not half the price.

Now for Tide 2X. Procter & Gamble is turning back the clock to the 70s when liquid laundry detergents were concentrated. You only had to use 1/4 of a cup.  The “new” detergent in essence has half the water of the old one, so the new 50 ounce jug will do the same number of loads as the old 100 ounce one.

But in TV and print advertising, they say the new detergent is more powerful:

“Twice the stain fighting power in every drop” is the claim, and that might make you think it is stronger and better than competitors.

*MOUSE PRINT: The disclaimer indicates the comparison is to their non-concentrated former product. Fine. So while it’s literally true that every drop of new Tide has twice the power of the old one, since you only use half the amount , you are not likely to see dramatically cleaner laundry because the product is still diluted by a machine full of water. (Where “x” is the strength of the product, one-half times 2x still just equals x.)  

Of course, for treating stains directly from the bottle, there may be an advantage. 

For the next year, you will hear repeated public service messages about analog television service being elminated on February 17, 2009. It will be replaced by digital TV service (DTV), and all TV stations will only broadcast in digital format. The problem: what if you only have an old-fashioned TV?   Will it go black a year from now?

Easy answer: it might if you get your signal using rabbit ears or an old-fashioned antenna. The solution: get a digital converter box that will take the new digital signals and convert them back to analog. To help with the expense of buying these boxes, Uncle Sam has set up a coupon program to offer each household up to two $40 coupons toward the purchase of digital TV converter boxes.

*MOUSE PRINT:  Some key facts are buried in the fine print or not well disclosed, including:

1. You cannot combine the coupons toward the purchase of a single box (each will cost between $50 and $70 approximately).

2. The coupons expire 90 days from their mailing to you, and expired coupons will not be replaced.

3. There are only 22.5 million coupons unless Congress authorizes 11.25 million more.

4. While some boxes have already been approved, more are expected.

5. Many if not most retailers do not have the boxes in stock yet.

Translation:  The consumer has a dilemna. The coupons are available now, but the boxes are not. If you order your coupons now, the 90 day clock will begin to run on them when mailed, but you will likely have fewer choices of boxes and brands. If you wait for a better choice of boxes, all the coupons might be gone. And, initially, boxes are not likely to be on sale. Later in the year competition will likely be more stiff, and prices may drop low enough for the coupon to cover nearly the full cost.

Ideally, the coupons should have had no expiration, so the sharp consumer could order them now, but have time to choose more wisely from a fuller selection of converter boxes when they become available.

The trick is to get a coupon as late in the program as possible without the supply having already been exhausted. No easy task.

For more information on the details of the coupon program, including an application form, visit DTV2009.gov .