Monday, June 02, 2008

What were those restrictions again?

Baskin-Robbins sent out a coupon by e-mail this morning and their contradiction in restrictions and promotion left me amused.

As retailers have known since the first, providing a coupon through the Internet or by e-mail is fraught with possibilities of duplication and abuse. So I am not at all surprised to see the fine print on the coupon with the usual restrictions.
". . . Void if copied or transferred. . . .Coupon may not be reproduced, copied, purchased, traded, or sold. . . .Internet distribution strictly prohibited. . . ."

Just a couple lines below the coupon in the e-mail is a link "Sent to a friend." This takes you to a page where you can enter as many e-mail addresses as you like and (I presume) Baskin-Robbins sends these e-mail addresses a copy of the e-mail with the coupon.

Obviously, B-R wants to get as many people as possible buying Sundaes, but not quite willing to go so far as lowering the price by $1.00 for everyone that walks into the store.

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