Gift giving: Advertisement from The Artful Cookie
I received a thoughtful gift basket of cookies from the Niagara Falls RBC branch. See, in the picture, how beautiful it looks? If you look closely you’ll see a big piece of folded paper. No, its not the thank you card…it’s a list of Valentine’s Day specials from the store the gift came from. it’s a big, honking piece of cheap advertisement…right there, in the middle of my gift!
Of course, I did what all motivated Canadians do – I wrote a letter.
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Good morning Artful Cookie Niagara Falls:
I recently received a gift basket of cookies and it was a delicious gift! I liked that it was different from standard thank you gifts and showed extra effort from the people who gave it to me.
However, I was disappointed to see the MASS advertising inside the gift basket. Was the extensive list of items and prices really necessary to put alongside the card?
- You exploited the thoughtful gift with this cheap form of advertising. Someone is trying to thank me for something and you take that opportunity to advertise.
- Isn’t the gift advertisement enough? The tasty cookies, the presentation, the quality of the items – THAT is what I pay attention to…not an obtrusive piece of paper that lists prices. (A business card is really all you need.)
- What is with the listing of prices? In doing this I definitely know the price range that the person spent on me and that is really tacky. It doesn’t matter to me (the thought that counts) but I am certain that it matters to some people (and probably the person who gave me the gift). Would you keep price tags on a birthday or Christmas gift?
- That person paid for the gift. They didn’t pay for you to advertise.
This form of advertising as it really takes attention away from the gift and must be stopped. In today’s day and age I am sure that you can come up with something a little more creative…especially considering how wonderfully creative you are with your products!
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Yours truly,
Zoe Siskos