Utah citizens ripping off beer companies - wow
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4847389
Beer companies paying for consumers’ groceries
November 19th, 2008 @ 10:14pm
By Courtney Orton
Your next trip to the grocery store could cost you nothing, thanks to beer companies. Tonight we have information on how to shop on beer companies’ tabs.Jaclyn England You don’t have to drink it. You don’t even have to buy it. But you do have to find a beer rebate to start getting checks in the mail from beer companies.
It’s a discovery Jaclyn England made a year ago when she found a stack of beer rebates at the grocery store.
“Some of them say: ‘You must purchase this such-and-such beer.’ But the great thing about Utah is that it says: ‘No beer purchase required in the state of Utah,’” England explained.
England started using them, and she’s been getting money in the mail ever since. “Frequently, I’ll tell my husband, ‘Tonight’s dinner is sponsored to us in part by Bud.’ Because Budweiser buys our food half the time,” she said.
Pizza, crab legs, chicken wings, deli meats and cheeses, sandwiches, bottled water; you name it, as long as it shows up on a beer rebate, England throws it in her cart.
“You can get kind of creative with it. You can get like a Papa Murphy’s take-and-bake, or like the rotisserie chickens from Costco, places like that; and as long as you’re spending at least $15 worth, you get $15 back,” England explained.
The beer companies are banking that if you’re buying those items, you’ll also be buying some brew.
“What they’re doing is linking their beer brand with other really positive things that you might do to celebrate: a football game, a party, a holiday,” said Peggy Lander, with Richter7 advertising.
It’s easier than couponing, and there’s no cutting and no clipping. “There’s no looking for this specific brand and making sure that you’re buying the right size and the right brand. It’s anything you want,” England said.
The rebates aren’t always where you’ll notice them. “Most of us breeze right by them. But if you keep your eyes open, you can get a lot of great deals and a lot of free items,” England said.
Most of the time they’re not in the beer aisle. “They’re usually on a display. There’s usually a stack of beer and then a poster with them on there,” England said.
England says she gets $50 to $200 worth of free food a month, and she finds other rebates that save her even more money every month. Find out what those are tomorrow morning at 6:00 on Eyewitness News Today.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
This is definitely one of those Utah things. People who are taking advantage of this “opportunity” are simply lying to themselves. Talk about ripping people off.
Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with taking advantage of a legitimate offer from a corporation. even if that legitimate offer seems “too good to be true”. Companies create those kinds of deals because no matter how sweet the deal, they know they’re getting more sales, more recognition and more loyalty. So taking advantage is no big deal.
But taking advantage when you’re the type of person who has absolutely no intention of ever purchasing their product? I may be assuming a lot, but my assumption is that the lady in the article, and likely many of the Utahns that would take advantage of this fantastic offer would never have any reason to purchase beer or other related alcohol products.
And if that’s the case, talk about ripping cold hard cash right out from the beer companies fingers. You can justify it all you want: the beer companies are evil and are just using this tactic to get our money. That was one comment on KSL’s article comment board. But the reality is, they give something in hopes that from a lot of people, they’ll get something in return. If you’re certain you’ll never take advantage of their products/services, and you repeatedly take them for $50-$200 bucks a month, you’re a thief.
You cannot comment on Ms. England being dishonest when you do not have all the facts. What you didn’t see was a later story aired this morning where Ms. England said she gets $50-200 in rebates from Beer companies, Walgreen’s rebates, Rite-Aid rebates, other store rebates, etc.
Also, there are many of these beer rebates that have nothing to do with the purchase of beer. I lived outside of Utah for many years, and I found rebates there and here that are the same:
“$20 rebate for grocery purchase of $150 or more… does not include purchase of beer, wine, etc.” (Budweiser)
Another one is “$15 rebate for the purchase of $100 in gift cards.” (Coors)
and “$10 rebate on your purchase of a Jennie-O turkey.” (Woodbridge)
No mention of buying beer.
I have more examples, but you get the picture.
For you to say that those who use the beer rebates are “taking advantage when you’re the type of person who has no intention of purchasing their product” is false, when in fact, it’s the beer companies who are saying in order to take advantage of this rebate you CAN’T buy our product. Beer companies are, in fact, making money by advertising other brands. Get the facts before you start spitting off.
What are you talking about?? Have you ever even SEEN a beer rebate? If not, then you should just shut up. If you read on them, you’ll see that THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO BUY BEER!! Most of the time you can’t buy beer to get the rebate. Why would they offer you $10.00 in free pizza if they didnt’ want you to buy pizza and turn in the rebate. I’m sure they use the recipets to analyze the buying habits and stores of people. Beer companies aren’t stupid. They didn’t make their billions by being stupid. They have figured out a way to make money off of the people in Utah in some other way. The Beer companies usually only have rebates out during holidays anyway, so it would be impossible to make $50 a month off of them. The article was talking about OTHER rebates. Hell, I got a $70 rebate from Home Depot not too long ago for buying paint. Send me to jail!
The beer rebates in Utah don’t want you to buy beer because of Utah legislation forbidding alcohol companies from creating monetary incentives for the purchase of alcohol.
Now it is a fair argument to say that the beer companies recognize the risk of having rebates in Utah. That’s completely fair, and I won’t argue with that in the slightest bit. But to argue that it’s within their design to poor thousands of dollars into customers who will never become profitable is laughable and ignorant.
I acknolwedge that they likely recognize the risk of doing business in Utah with rebates, but I hardly think that’s an excuse for abusing a rebate system when you’ll never become a patron of their products.
I’d say you’re making a great case for the article simply being misleading. I still think the post stands accurate.
Again, beer companies, are in fact, making money by advertising other brands. These other brands like Jennie-O turkeys, Tombstone pizza, tostidos, etc. pay the beer companies to offer these rebates. It’s a win-win situation. To pass judgement on people who use rebates is ignorant. It’s a marketing ploy that is part of big business. If you don’t like it then don’t do it, but don’t slander other people who want to take advantage.
Wait wait wait.. your argument is that the beer companies, in an effort to branch out, have simply become marketers for other companies?
But wait.. that’s not all! They’re not going after the big 3 like TV, Radio, or Print. Oh no, they’re selling their marketing services where the big advertising cash is - small rebate papers spread throughout some grocery stores that, according to the article, most people ignore?
You’ve really nailed it on the head there!