Free Mentos!
I opened Facebook this morning and as 10,000 others did in the last hour, saw and clicked on the talking mint. I was kicked over to a “Like us” landing page and clicked the like button.
I then agreed to install the mentos coupon app (and let it have access to my friends and profile information). After that, I was sent out of Facebook to SmartSource coupons which for security and fraud prevention wanted to run / install a java apple, promising coupons afterward.
Coupons may or may not print. Around this point I began to remember the portion of behavioral economist Dan Ariely’s ‘Predictably Irrational‘ that dealt with the lengths people are willing to go to for “Free.” “Free” is like a bug zapper for consumers. You may know better, but it’s not likely you’ll be able to stop yourself. These free Mentos were becoming more and more of a bother. I flipped back to Mentos Facebook wall to see how excited everyone else was about their free mentos…
The Mentos page admin seems to be on top of the situation, changing the profile picture over to a text explanation of the expiration date (there was also confusion about the coupons expiring yesterday instead of a month from now.) While writing this post, 10,000 more users have “liked” Mentos. How far would you go for free candy?
ElyseHeslin:
runquatro:
BrandonSings:
JamesOClark:
MattAt214:
LibbyMyers44:
Room_214:
peterahall:
jo_rogel:
JasonCormier:
on Jun 25, 2010
I wouldn’t go that far. The average person’s time is worth, let’s say, $30. They spend 15 minutes trying to get the coupon to print, that is $7.50 wasted. Much more than a pack of Mentos costs. Did they forget to test this promo? Now they are getting some less-than-positive buzz. But, one could argue that any buzz is good buzz. I am craving fruit Mentos after reading this post.
on Jun 28, 2010
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