January 12th, 2012

Puzzling out the upsell-o-meter

As I noted before, many grocery stores in the United States have a printer next to the cash register which prints out coupons customized to your purchases. Here’s a purchase and the accompanying coupon. What is the story behind this pairing? Purchased: Diapers for newborn baby.
Coupon: Save 75 cents on ice cream.

Bonus chatter: While waiting in line, I read the warning label on the diapers. It went on for quite a bit, but one part triggered my “I wonder what lawsuit led to this warning” sensor: “Like most articles of clothing, XYZ brand diapers will burn if exposed to flame.” Did somebody say, “Oh no, there’s a fire, what will I do? I know, I’ll smother the fire with my baby’s diapered bottom!”

Author

Raymond has been involved in the evolution of Windows for more than 30 years. In 2003, he began a Web site known as The Old New Thing which has grown in popularity far beyond his wildest imagination, a development which still gives him the heebie-jeebies. The Web site spawned a book, coincidentally also titled The Old New Thing (Addison Wesley 2007). He occasionally appears on the Windows Dev Docs Twitter account to tell stories which convey no useful information.

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