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.
