Since I've been old enough to have change and deposit it in a vending machine, I've purchased Coke products. And what have I gotten in thanks for my continued support aside from a few cavities? Nothin'. Nothing in your cap matching games, nothing in your code matching games, nothing in your damn instant winner games. Back when I worked for AGENCY.COM on the Coca-Cola project and everyone who worked on the project got some really cool Coca-Cola swag -- even the ones who drank Pepsi -- guess who didn't get anything? Yeah. Me. The livelong Coca-Cola patron.
So I figure I'll try the stuff at cokemusic.com -- I've built up enough points where I can place ten entries into the daily drawing for "Coca-Cola football jersey-size extra large", which usually gives me about a 1% chance of winning. And each day, I don't get the Coca-Cola football jersey-size extra large. Not even once, since my near-daily entry into the now-misnamed Fall Decibel Contest.
So this is it, Coca-Cola Corporation, your one last chance to ensure my brand loyalty and the brand loyalty of my future spawnings -- send me a damn Coca-Cola football jersey-size extra large. It's not like you don't have a few hundred sitting in a warehouse down there in Atlanta.
(Oh, the brand loyalty will be extra-secure if you could send one of those air hockey tables.)
Thanks,
Thomas
Posted at January 20, 2004 09:55 PM
I once got free stuff from the Coca Cola company after I wrote them a letter about how nice their products were: it started off quite tamely, but as the paragraph lengthened it got more and more extreme until I was postulating that perhaps the Norse Gods in Valhalla took frequent breaks from their drunken revels to enjoy the cool, refreshing taste of Diet Coke and offering up the services of the Order of the Can, a cult of followers who would DIE IN BATTLE before they let anyone sully the good name of Coca Cola.
It took a while to get a reply, although when I did so, it was from the head of UK marketing for the company. The letter said that they were always keen to hear from fans of their products, but there had been scant few comments as enthusiastic as my own. So, for the price of a postage stamp and a morning spent drafting a silly letter, I got £3 worth of vouchers. Not bad, I thought.
Posted by: Bourne at January 21, 2004 02:52 AMHow bout trying the opposite tack: complain that you found a rat turd in your Coke? It seems to work for all of the trailer trash you hear about on the news?
Posted by: Temptor O' Ancients at January 22, 2004 10:33 AMWe did a non-scientific experiment on this idea when I was in elementary school. The actual lesson was on how to properly write a letter, but the bonus was that we might get free stuff in doing so. The people who wrote negative letters got more free stuff than did the ones who tried to kiss up to companies.
It worked beautifully for me. I wrote to an applesauce company and told them we drove 15 minutes to the nearest grocery store, bought applesauce and got it home only to find out it was moldy. (All of the story was true, too.) Before too long, a large box arrived at my house, containing two of the biggest jars of applesauce I've ever seen, along with a dish towel.
Posted by: Layla at January 23, 2004 11:19 PM