When A Vendor Spams You With...
- Thread starter mosconiac
- Start date
It is a bad marketing faux pas
That actually is a really bad marketing faux pas -- i.e. that phrase "absolutely free". Plenty of companies get sued over that one, because the item is NOT "absolutely" free; it's only free after you purchase over a certain threshold. Unfortunately, many marketers think they can get away with using the word "absolutely" because the item "absolutely has no cost" after you've already purchased $150 worth of other merchandise. They're wrong. The phrase they should be using, the one that doesn't mislead, is "qualified free." Or, "Our free gift to you, after purchase." Actually "free gift" is a misnomer itself, since "gift" already implies free, but I digress.
It is a pitiful tactic, and one you have to watch out for! However, a suit against this kind of misleading marketing is LIGHT YEARS way more substantiated than that idiot who tried to sue General Mills because the Crunchberries in Cap'n Crunch cereal, a cereal she'd been eating for some years, "were being portrayed as a real fruit but she discovered they actually were not."
http://loweringthebar.net/2009/06/reasonable-consumer-would-know-crunchberries-are-not-real-judge-rules.html
http://loweringthebar.net/2009/06/crunchberry-litigation-the-saga-continues.html
<shakes head in despair at his fellow man's cannibalistic opportunism on one side, and the stupidity [outright or feigned] on the other>
-Sean
...An e-mail titled, "Our Gift To You This Holiday, Absolutely FREE!"...
...do you expect that they are offering something "absolutely free" or "free" after you buy $150 (or more) of their product?
Pitiful tactic IMO!
That actually is a really bad marketing faux pas -- i.e. that phrase "absolutely free". Plenty of companies get sued over that one, because the item is NOT "absolutely" free; it's only free after you purchase over a certain threshold. Unfortunately, many marketers think they can get away with using the word "absolutely" because the item "absolutely has no cost" after you've already purchased $150 worth of other merchandise. They're wrong. The phrase they should be using, the one that doesn't mislead, is "qualified free." Or, "Our free gift to you, after purchase." Actually "free gift" is a misnomer itself, since "gift" already implies free, but I digress.
It is a pitiful tactic, and one you have to watch out for! However, a suit against this kind of misleading marketing is LIGHT YEARS way more substantiated than that idiot who tried to sue General Mills because the Crunchberries in Cap'n Crunch cereal, a cereal she'd been eating for some years, "were being portrayed as a real fruit but she discovered they actually were not."
http://loweringthebar.net/2009/06/reasonable-consumer-would-know-crunchberries-are-not-real-judge-rules.html
http://loweringthebar.net/2009/06/crunchberry-litigation-the-saga-continues.html
<shakes head in despair at his fellow man's cannibalistic opportunism on one side, and the stupidity [outright or feigned] on the other>
-Sean
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I love it when a vendor says, "well send you a genuine simulated Aramith cue ball, just for joining our club today".
It's pool related now
rackem:
Nice post, and a tip o' the hat to you for keeping us on track. But yes, it's pool-related, because some of the pool merchandisers / vendors *are* engaging in this tactic -- Ozone Billiards being a good example. I know these emails that mosconiac's talking about, and I whince when I see these things.
-Sean
Well,
CueSight is offering $10 off ANY order over $25. But they say that in the email clearly.
"TAKE OUR MONEY!
Everybody could use a little extra cash around the holidays. CueSight is helping out by giving you $10 off your entire purchase (of $25 or more)."
So actually this is a way to give a discount up to 40% off of the total which is mostly already discounted up to 20% on the front end.
If you aren't on the email list then sign up for the newsletter at the bottom of the home page.
www.cuesight.com
CueSight is offering $10 off ANY order over $25. But they say that in the email clearly.
"TAKE OUR MONEY!
Everybody could use a little extra cash around the holidays. CueSight is helping out by giving you $10 off your entire purchase (of $25 or more)."
So actually this is a way to give a discount up to 40% off of the total which is mostly already discounted up to 20% on the front end.
If you aren't on the email list then sign up for the newsletter at the bottom of the home page.
www.cuesight.com