I thought that the Mars Chocolate Relief Act concluded at the end of the summer, or more or less the last day of August. Imagine my surprise and glee when I logged on and found out that indeed, I would be able to try for another coupon this very Friday. The site now reads that it will be offering Real Chocolate Relief through the end of September.
I wondered what the cause for the humanitarian effort was. Of course it is a very nice thing to do to raise our spirits and expand our waistlines. Is there a business bottom line to this? Is this like a newspaper subscription where sometimes they give away subscriptions so advertisers would see higher distribution numbers so would be more motivated to buy advertising? Did they find that when someone used the coupon they justified to themselves that they should get two, as one was free afterall, thus increasing sales?
What about the theory that many people will go to the store forgetting their coupon, and buy a candy bar anyways while they were there. Then they go home for the coupon to use it again tomorrow, but then they found that the dog ate it. And then they get another coupon and finally used it. Sure, they gave away a free candy bar, but sold two or three just because someone thought of the candy, even though they didn’t have the coupon. Hmm…could that be it. Or do they just want to say that more candy bars left the shelves than did other manufacturers.
Why do I have to over think things? Why can’t I look at it as just a gift. Okay, I will. Thanks for the chocolate.
