I just don't get it: why, exactly, would a marketing exec think it necessary to include TWO, count 'em TWO, sample packs of Honey Bunches of Oats as a bonus inside a pack of (all things) Gladware containers?? Notice how the samples are not Bran Flakes or Grape Nuts.
Perhaps the thought process went something like this:
Marketing Exec 1: "Steve, sales for Gladware containers have fallen over the past quarter. We need to think of something to get these numbers up!"
ME 2: "But Bob, what are we supposed to do!? I mean, it's GLADWARE!"
ME 1: "I don't know, that's why we're paying you the big bucks, Bob! Think outside of the box for once!"
ME 2: "Outside of the box! The box...the...CEREAL BOX!!!"
REALLY?! Do I REALLY need samples of sugar-sweetened low fiber cereal with my BPA-free plastic containers? If I wanted cereal, I'd just hop on over a few aisles and BUY MYSELF A BOX. woah.
And these people earn 5x as much as I do...sigh...
Reminds me of the boxes of Cracker Jacks with the little baseball card inside--what exactly does a baseball card have to do with caramel popcorn? Obviously that was designed to entice little kids into begging their parents to buy the stuff--merely for the toy inside, right?! I'm sure the addictive nature of the sweet/salty popcorn had nothing to do with it. Ah hem. And of a more recent controversy, what's the point of the ubituitous toy inside the Happy Meal? Was that an evil plot on the part of McDonald's Corp to get children to bug the parents to buy the meal...meanwhile the secret lay in the substance abuse-like french fries whose flavor no one else can seem to mimic? Is it, then, a good idea to ban the use of toys as a marketing ploy in children's food? I think so.
I'm just not sure where I'm going with this post, other than to say including boxes of sugary cereal in a plastic container is REALLY lame. They should have added some of the baby containers as a bonus--for the simple reason that they're ADORALE! There's a fool-proof way to attract sales from female consumers :)
