I don’t know if it’s a typo, or if “they” really think everyone’s a total stupid idiot, but I run into these kind of things actually quite frequently.
Advertisement in Runners World, credit to those whom deserve it (not me).
So this is an ad from the Dutch version of Runners World, a magazine aimed at the athletes who spend their time running.
The thing I was laughing about was the black and blue text above the Polar watch:
Abonneer je nu voor slechts € 59,95* een jaar lang op Runner’s World en ontvang een Polar FT2 trainingscomputer t.w.v. € 59,95 cadeau!
That means as much as “Subscribe to Runner’s World for a year now for only € 59,95 and receive a Polar FT2 training computer valued € 59,95 as a gift!
Now that in itself would be totally fine, totally generous. But notice the little asterisk (*) after the blue € 59,95? That always means that elsewhere on the page is a reference to that asterisk with a but, an or, conditions, other prices, etc. etc.
And surely, just under that piece of text is an asterisk with a reference, stating
* In plaats van € 50,00
And that short line means “* Instead of € 50,00”. See why that makes me laugh? You’re getting a great offer for a year subscription, which costs you € 59,95 and the normal price for that same year subscription is € 50,00. So basically you’re paying € 9,95 for that gift they’re offering (of which I doubt they paid a dime themselves, it’s probably sponsored by Polar for a full page advertisement). That’s kind of… sneaky, isn’t it?
Oh, and then there’s still the little bit of information under the watch, saying
Actie geldig zolang de voorraad strekt.
And that means that this offer is valid as long as they have these watches in store. Wouldn’t be surprised if they only got a handful. Polar surely wouldn’t have sponsored them with a box-ful of these watches for that full page advertisement.
Years ago I posted a few of these on my other blog.
Check these out:
Fantastic Dell offer. New laptop, from 1.099 for 1.189
Product advertisement from former supermarket chain De Boer
I guess the Dell one is clear, even if it’s in Dutch. The ones directly above here are scans from a supermarket brochure. They all follow the principle 2 for 1, meaning buy one, get the second one for free.
So the first one, one liter of juice for 1.32 and you get the second one for free. And in really small font you see that the price per liter is 0.66. Meaning, you really pay for both of them. Same with the oranges. 1.5kg cost 2.49 and you get the the second one for free. And the price per kilo is 0.83. And the wine costs 4.66 per liter, but you pay 6.99 per bottle of 750ml and get the second one for free.
(Sure sure… you can also debate that the price per is calculated AFTER the discount, but it’s still a very clumsy way of promoting your products, isn’t it?)