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A project to make businesses more aware of their customer experience, and how to fix it. By Mark Hurst. |
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Previous: Rogers Video shelf ads | Main | Next: Long-distance error message
October 25, 2005 12:03 AM
Broken: "Buy 2 Get 2"
Forrest Charnock points out a "Buy 2 Get 2 Sales Event":
The people in the store don't see a problem. I guess it's better than buy 2 get 1.
(for once) I agree with the other commenters; What's broken here ? Is it simply that the word "free" is missing from the advert ?
Not broken. I bought phones for our office with a buy 2 get 2 plan. Got an extra one in case one of the other 3 bites the dust.
Charnock's point is that "Buy 2, Get 2" means you pay for two products and you get two products. I can only assume that the store's intent was to offer "Buy 2, Get 2 free"; pay for two products and get four products.
I don't know about you, but I don't find the prospect of getting the two items for which I paid terribly enticing!
Hmmm, why do you assume that the store would give you two products for free? Almost every time I go out and buy something, this exact offer applies: I buy two items, I get two items. I find this rather reasonable! In rare cases I get a third (or a fourth) item for free, but this is an exception rather than the norm.
They call it a "sales event". They're obviously trying to persuade customers that something special is going on. So if the sign really means what it says -- buy two products, get a total of two products -- then it's broken because it's misleading. If the sign means buy two products, get four, then it's broken because it doesn't mean what it says. Broken!
Russell and Landshark, you are both idiots. The fact that it eventually can be figured out does not mean it is not "broken". You can imply that it means buy 2, get 2 free but that is not what it says. If a sign advertises something that is not accurate, it is broken and should be fixed, wether or not it can be deciphered.
I like the redesign too, with the exception of the ten miles of space between the post and comments. Looks good otherwise!
Another thing I'd like to mention is that this photo shows part of the sign of a video chain (in Philadelphia and perhaps elsewehere) called "Movie Gallery". If you don't happen to live near one look at the logo on this web site:
And tell me that this isn't also broken. The V is turned 90° clockwise, to half-assedly resemble a video PLAY button, but when I read the logo, my brain tries to turn it into a D or even an X.
(Alas, I posted this to thisisbroken.com a few months back and it wasn't selected.)
Different than the normal?! Normally, when *I* buy 2, I get 2... I don't know where you're shopping.
Um, I've seen "Buy 1 Get 1" sales for years, and I've never known anyone to be confused about the meaning. It's needlessly pedantic to insist that the store put the word "free" on the sign; if you're determined to misunderstand the intent even that can be ambiguous. "Get 2 free what?"
"Buy 2 Get 2" is just the *name* of the event, it doesn't necessarily describe the actual event itself. Like when your local car dealer has their "Annual Spring Sale Event." That doesn't mean they're selling springs, that's just the name of an event they're having.
I vote for not broken. There has to be a thousand things that actually *are* broken for every slightly-poorly-worded sign here, where are they?
Totally not broken, but this site has gone down the drain. Half the shit that gets posted is only "broken" because of a typo, but this site should be about inherently broken products. Companies don't care that your local street vendor is selling Cheewe Steak, or if contextual advertising works by providing relevant, although sometimes impolite, ads, but at this rate, companies are unlikely to take any valid suggestions into consideration (if they can find any), because of the sheer volume of pointless trash that degrades this site's credibility as a way to make companies "more aware of their
customer experience, and how to fix it." Often, products are misinterpreted, or words are twisted to form vaguely inaccurate statements. This is Broken is definitely broken. We need a site truly dedicated to improving consumer experience.
I, too, love the new design.
Daniel: I've never understood the Moie Gallery logo either. It used to have the 'V' in the correct direction a long time ago, but then someone in marketing had the not-so-bright idea of turning it on its side to make it look like a 'play' icon. Which would have been clever, if it still actually looked like a V turned on its side...
Whoa! I like the redesign! But how come you can redesign the entire site but still can't get rid of that 'b'? Riddle me this, Batman. Anyway, i agree with cmadler.
"I don't find the prospect of getting the two items for which I paid terribly enticing!"
Although it is certainly better than the alternative!
Some likes and dislikes about the redesign- I like the broken-egg thing. Kewl. I don't particularly like the separation of posts. (the bold isn't enough for me distinguish easily; looks like a great blob of text) Altogether the site is more stylish and kewl, does it separate long strings of text? One of my peeves with the old site was that long strings of text would stretch the page out of shape. I am making MH more aware of his customer experience, and how to fix it!
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Joey- lighten up, man.
Okay, so I was a little too harsh, but you have to admit that this one really isn't broken. I just hoped there would be a better balance between fun and function.
As for the redesign, I'm not completely sure how I feel about it, but I approve of it in general.
Not a major problem but I do see it as broken.
Let me also point out that the sign is for the Movie gallery store and not for the cellular store next door as mentioned in other posts.
The special is buy two previously viewed dvd's and get two more free
Ah, yeah I agree with Joey. A typo in a sign is not really broken. and this buy 2 get 2 I mean come on, you don't need to be some sort of major brain to figure that out. If you were slow it would be an extra 3 secs. If this is all there is to worry about the world is in much better shape the I thought
Come now, Ben. Have you not read my rules for intellectual debate? State why the redesign sucks, and i'll be happy to refute your points for you.
I like this site but I wish the comments were in reverse order. I don't like to have to scroll down to read new comments. I'm lazy.
Also, maybe this store has had a problem with short-sacking and they are now saying that if you buy 2 - you will get 2 in your sack.??
This advert seems to reflect a movement of the word 'get' from simply meaning 'to obtain' to 'to obtain without cost,' if not everywhere, then at least when in proximity with the word 'buy'. There's a popular chain of shoe stores which uses a similar syntax - BOGO - Buy One Get One. I, being pedantic, enjoy saying, 'Well, I'd better get one if I bought it!' However, as I said above, it's possible that what we're experiencing is more of a shift in meaning in 'get' that is brought on by shifty marketing persons.
Does anyone know anyone who is NOT an advertisement who uses "buy x get x" without the included 'free'?
The broken part is that Buy 2 Get 2 is a retard's way of saying Buy 1 Get 1.
The Empirical Formula apparentlt wasn't taught very much to very many.
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Previous: Rogers Video shelf ads | Main | Next: Long-distance error message
i dont really see how this is broken, it would seem like a perfectly reasonable thing to have a "buy 2 get 2 free" deal
Posted by: john russell at October 25, 2005 01:33 AM