At the supermarket the other day, I was totally sucked in by a new, sneaky, guilt-trippy marketing trick. I'd love to hear from any other victims, because I'm feeling pretty stupid.
Right, so it was a Thursday, I think, during the after-school rush at New World Birkenhead. I'd stopped to get a bottle of wine.
According to those little yellow tags, which I love because they always make me feel thrifty, the Saints range had the best savings to price ratio. But I don't really like their chardonnay.
I was reaching for something else when a Martha Stewart-ish blonde standing next to me at the fridge said: "Oh hi!"
Me: "Hi?"
She beamed.
"The Saints range is $9.99, which is a saving of $11."
Her smile ratcheted up a notch.
She wasn't holding a skull, but her smile went a little something like this:
"Oh, okay, I really like Saints, ah, is there any chardonnay cold?"
She beamed again, found me a bottle in the fridge, and bustled off to the next victim. I watched her for a while. She was accosting anyone who walked through the wine section - which you had to do to get from the milk fridges to the checkout - and her hit rate was spectacular.
Every time I pour a glass of that wine I berate myself. That was pure peer pressure. And I totally folded to it. Have I learned nothing since high school?
Sure, I was vulnerable. I was tired and grumpy. I had a big ugly coldsore on my face. I'd stepped in a puddle so my old suede shoes were leaking black dye onto my feet. I just wanted to buy some wine, go home and put my trackpants on, and I simply did not have enough nice left in me to nicely tell the nice lady to bugger off.
What really hacks me off is that I know the supermarkets, and Saints, were totally counting on that: it must be a million times harder psychologically to say no to an actual person, than to a yellow price tag.
The upside is I now have an excellent excuse - no, reason - to bulk-buy wine online.
I'd love to hear your supermarket stories.
2011年9月6日星期二
2011年4月28日星期四
7UP prize not among NBA's best
Fans who have hit a half-court shot at NBA games this season have won cars (Kings), a truck (Trail Blazers), cash prizes of $20,000 (Thunder) and $10,000 (Mavericks) and -- wait for it -- a year's supply of 7UP (Hornets).
The latter prize, which was awarded to a fan at halftime of Game 3 of the Lakers-Hornets series in New Orleans, might be the worst in NBA promotion history -- especially considering a fan hit a half-court shot to win $235,000 during last year's Lakers-Thunder first-round playoff series.
By contrast, the fan who hit a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot Friday didn't even get enough soda in his "year's supply of 7UP" to drink a can a day for a year.
Rather, he received coupons from the NBA-owned Hornets redeemable for two 12-packs of 7UP for 12 months, which amounts to 288 cans, or the cash equivalent of about $96.
It's safe to say the winning fan isn't "Feelin' 7UP," especially when it would've cost the soda company only $1,000 to insure against a $20,000 half-court shot prize.
One recent slogan for the lemon-lime soda was "Ridiculously Bubbly." More like ridiculously cheap.
A 7UP representative should've presented the fan with his prize while wearing a T-shirt distributed by the soda company a few years ago. The front of it featured the first part of the slogan, "Make Seven." The back was emblazoned with "Up Yours."
■ SHEEN BAILS OUT NAILS -- Former baseball star Lenny Dykstra was bailed out of jail this week by close friend Charlie Sheen, who paid $22,500 to free him.
Dykstra, who made more than $36 million in 13 seasons with the Mets and Phillies, filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and was arrested this month for allegedly embezzling more than $400,000 from his bankrupt estate.
"The rendition guilty trolls that kidnapped my dear friend 'Nails' clearly forgot that he's a fellow Vatican assassin and his best pal is a warlock," Sheen told TMZ.
Well, that clears things up. The actor obviously has pulled his life together and seen the light since his last "epic" drug binge.
How many drugs did Sheen take? Enough to kill "Two and a Half Men."
■ SHUTTLECOCK SHOCKER -- In an apparent effort to make the sport of badminton sexier, the Badminton World Federation has implemented a new rule requiring all female players to wear skirts in major tournaments "to ensure (the) attractive presentation of badminton."
We don't know what's more shocking, the controversial ruling or the fact there is a Badminton World Federation.
■ BEHIND THE GOATEE -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly grew a goatee, against his wife's wishes, and vowed to keep it until his team stopped winning most of its games.
But then he suddenly shaved it, telling Los Angeles Times reporter Dylan Hernandez the actual reason he grew it was because he had a cold sore on the left side of his lip.
Rumor has it the former Yankees star also kept his mustache for most of his playing days because of a bothersome pimple below his nose.
The latter prize, which was awarded to a fan at halftime of Game 3 of the Lakers-Hornets series in New Orleans, might be the worst in NBA promotion history -- especially considering a fan hit a half-court shot to win $235,000 during last year's Lakers-Thunder first-round playoff series.
By contrast, the fan who hit a layup, free throw, 3-pointer and half-court shot Friday didn't even get enough soda in his "year's supply of 7UP" to drink a can a day for a year.
Rather, he received coupons from the NBA-owned Hornets redeemable for two 12-packs of 7UP for 12 months, which amounts to 288 cans, or the cash equivalent of about $96.
It's safe to say the winning fan isn't "Feelin' 7UP," especially when it would've cost the soda company only $1,000 to insure against a $20,000 half-court shot prize.
One recent slogan for the lemon-lime soda was "Ridiculously Bubbly." More like ridiculously cheap.
A 7UP representative should've presented the fan with his prize while wearing a T-shirt distributed by the soda company a few years ago. The front of it featured the first part of the slogan, "Make Seven." The back was emblazoned with "Up Yours."
■ SHEEN BAILS OUT NAILS -- Former baseball star Lenny Dykstra was bailed out of jail this week by close friend Charlie Sheen, who paid $22,500 to free him.
Dykstra, who made more than $36 million in 13 seasons with the Mets and Phillies, filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and was arrested this month for allegedly embezzling more than $400,000 from his bankrupt estate.
"The rendition guilty trolls that kidnapped my dear friend 'Nails' clearly forgot that he's a fellow Vatican assassin and his best pal is a warlock," Sheen told TMZ.
Well, that clears things up. The actor obviously has pulled his life together and seen the light since his last "epic" drug binge.
How many drugs did Sheen take? Enough to kill "Two and a Half Men."
■ SHUTTLECOCK SHOCKER -- In an apparent effort to make the sport of badminton sexier, the Badminton World Federation has implemented a new rule requiring all female players to wear skirts in major tournaments "to ensure (the) attractive presentation of badminton."
We don't know what's more shocking, the controversial ruling or the fact there is a Badminton World Federation.
■ BEHIND THE GOATEE -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly grew a goatee, against his wife's wishes, and vowed to keep it until his team stopped winning most of its games.
But then he suddenly shaved it, telling Los Angeles Times reporter Dylan Hernandez the actual reason he grew it was because he had a cold sore on the left side of his lip.
Rumor has it the former Yankees star also kept his mustache for most of his playing days because of a bothersome pimple below his nose.
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