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Bait and switch.


by Doyle, Mona
The Shopper Report • July-August, 2007 • advertising strategies

We hope we're just hearing more about it, and that "bait and switch" advertising isn't making a comeback. Some shoppers believe they are seeing it everywhere. One told us that "shoppers have learned to take say-any thing advertising in stride." Others said:

* "You really have to read the fine print these days."

* "They say whatever they have to to get you in to the store."

* "That's business. They mislead whenever they can get away with it."

* "CVS advertised Coke Fridgepacks 12 pk., 12 ounce cans at a price of 4/$7 'after your extra bucks[R] reward.' Went there expecting to give my card and be charged $7 for 4/12 packs of soda. Not the way it works. You pay the full price of $12. You get $5 in 'extra bucks' to use at some other point in time, at CVS only, so I guess technically the soda costs $7.00 at some point! They charged almost twice as much for a photo enlargement as they quoted. CVS does that kind of thing whenever they think it will work."


COPYRIGHT 2007 Consumer Network, Inc Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2007, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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