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These ads will make you do a doubletake because retailers have a funny way of defining commonly understood terms.
*MOUSE PRINT: Your idea of what’s “fresh” may differ from theirs:
*MOUSE PRINT: Your idea of a “one day” sale may differ from theirs:
*MOUSE PRINT: Your idea of a “solution” to the crime problem may differ from a Washington state car dealer who is offering this giveaway with every new pickup truck purchased:
[Thanks to JMG for the gun ad submission.]
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As most of you know by now, CBS’ resident curmudgeon, Andy Rooney*, died last Friday. One of his classic pieces was on the nasty terms that companies hide in the fine print.
Here then, 17 years before Mouse Print* was born, is a few minutes with Andy Rooney*: [warning: CBS is embedding a commercial ahead of Andy’s piece.]
*MOUSE PRINT: *rest in peace.
Thanks to Donna H. for the idea.
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Save-a-Lot is a limited assortment supermarket with great prices compared to conventional supermarkets. In an effort to reach more people, it has been running a promotion whereby if you “like” them on Facebook, you will be given $5.
A corresponding promotion has also been sent via email to customers promising a $5 off coupon. After contacting their customer service department to find out if the offer had any strings attached (and not having received a response), MrConsumer decided to “like” them on Facebook anyway.
And here is what they give you and disclose ONLY AFTER you “LIKE” them:
*MOUSE PRINT:
The coupon requires a $25 minimum purchase in order to get the $5 off.
So the offer really is (1) “Like” us on Facebook, and (2) Spend $25 at our store, then we will give you $5 off. That is a far different offer from being promised a straight $5 off in exchange for giving them a Facebook “like”.
It is not like Save-a-Lot doesn’t know how to disclose the fact that their offer is contingent on making a $25 purchase. Here is how they promote the same $5 coupon BEFORE you join their shopper club (demonstrating that when they want to disclose the $25 purchase requirement in advance, they know how to do it):
Mouse Print* asked the company why they omitted the minimum purchase requirement in their advertising, whether they would fix their ads now that the issue has been brought to their attention, and whether they would give those who signed up already a real $5 off coupon.
Their media person replied:
“While we understand there may have been some miscommunication regarding the terms of the offer, it was never our intention to mislead our customers. In fact, the offer is in line with our other offers, and we have received an overwhelming positive response to the $5 off $25. However, we will do our best to correct the issue.”
UPDATE:
Save-a-Lot just updated their Facebook promotion to tell it like it is UPFRONT — that the coupon the customer will receive requires a $25 purchase to redeem. Hats off to Save-a-Lot for correcting their ad, and doing the right thing.
