Archive for June 24th, 2011

Why not use spoons?

June 24, 2011

This is a classic that I had forgotten.

Reprised in the WSJ in response to Obama’s blaming ATMs for taking jobs from gum-chewing tellers:

The story goes that Milton Friedman was once taken to see a massive government project somewhere in Asia.

Thousands of workers using shovels were building a canal.

Friedman was puzzled.

Why weren’t there any excavators or any mechanized earth-moving equipment?

A government official explained that using shovels created more jobs.

Friedman’s response: “Then why not use spoons instead of shovels?”

Now, I guess the President will be looking for spoon-ready public works projects …
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Posted in Employment - Jobs | 2 Comments »

“Your rebate check may look like junk mail”

June 24, 2011

Interesting experience, indication of a trend.

Bought a set of new tires … tire guy pointed out that there was an applicable rebate of $20 per tire … even auto-filled out the mail-in form for me.

His parting words:“Your rebate check may look like junk mail … make sure that you don’t accidentally throw it away.”

Nice of the guy.

Have you noticed how more and more rebate and claims checks are, in fact,  looking like junk mail?

Historically, few people go through the hassle of submitting all of the docs for rebates. Historically, less than 15% of earned  rebates are claimed.

It’s just not worth the time and aggravation.

I guess that some companies think the 15% redemption rate is too high.

So, they try to aggravate “breakage” … doing things to keep folks from cashing the checks they receive.

One way to do it —  make the checks look like junk mail.

No way to run a business …

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Posted in Mktg - Promotion | Leave a Comment »