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August 21, 2005
Who knew marketing research could be so filling?
Yesterday something happened that rarely happens in our house. We had an entire day free. An entire day. Free. But by "free" I mean that not only did we not have any obligations, we had no friends available to see, it was too hot to do anything outside, and we didn't feel like going to a museum.
On the other hand, if we just stayed home and hung out, Mom would go a bit nuts by about 4 pm.
So I decided, because Sarah made me, that my kids simply must have this toy. Not only must they have it, but they must have it that very day so that we could spend a blissful afternoon creating together. I called every toy store and educational supply store in the area. No one had it.
Finally, there was one store that did not answer its phone. Well, that's not a "no," right? Off we went! Off to the ... mall. Ugh. And a very crowded mall at that. Undaunted, small children firmly in hand, we plowed through the mass of shoppers to the place where I remembered the toy store being.
It wasn't there. Ah, so that's why they didn't answer the phone.
We kept walking until we came to the bookstore. We had train sharing issues in the bookstore, though, and repaired to the cafe instead where we paid good money for terrible cookies and coffee that did not match my order. We were also treated to a stunning lack of understanding of the meaning of "customer service." Still, the sugar and caffeine did their work, and we ventured out into the current again.
Somewhere along the way I accidentally made eye contact with the marketing research vulture. Could I spare some time? I gestured to all the children and apologized. Really, I'd love to, but you see ...
It turns out she was looking for a mother about my age to watch a commercial for the new Zorro movie. And kids about their age to watch a commercial for Harry Potter. Ah. And then she promised us free food. Antonio Banderas and free food. Why the heck not? So the kids got a lesson in marketing research. They got to watch the Harry Potter commercial, Connor got to watch the Zorro commercial, and I, somehow, got shunted off to watch a commercial for a horror movie. Unfair! Still, it was fun to skew their results:
Researcher: "How many movies have you seen in the theater in the past six months?"
Me: "... Er ... one?"
Researcher: "How likely are you to go see this movie in the theater?"
Me: "Not if you ripped my fingernails out."
Researcher: "Do you like or dislike the stars of this movie?"
Me: "These are the stars? I've never heard of these people before."
For that, they handed us coupons for free food at Chick-Fil-A. Yay, dinner! Woo-hoo!
As we left, I got the question: "Are all these kids yours?"
I should have, but did not, answer: "What? I heard that you needed research subjects, so I just grabbed these out of the the mall ... who are you kids, anyway?"
Posted by lynx at August 21, 2005 9:21 AM
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Comments
You'll notice that I only use my powers for good. :-)
Make sure you get the big set. If you get the little one, they'll just fight over the connectors and they won't be building forts.
Posted by: Sarah at August 21, 2005 9:52 PM
We gave in one time, a few months ago at the mall. I was shopping with my 5 and 7 year old girls. They were looking for the seven year old to taste test some kool aid. They said they'd pay her $7 and it would take about 15 mins. We were thirsty. I told Miss 7 that she'd have to split the bucks with her sis who was going to have to sit through it all too. Agreed. The product was KoolAid powder mix in individual packets. They had Miss 7 open her own packet, mix it up and drink. It was very sweet, she loved it. Then they asked her a bunch of questions. They then asked me to do the same. When asked if I would purchase the product, I answered the closest thing to "Never in a million years." The guy was perplexed. I told him that the individual packaging was wasteful. I told him that my children mostly drink water, milk, and 100% juices. He didn't know what to do with me. He said that according to the rules set forth by the sponsoring company, he wasn't allowed to give the $7. He could only give $2. AFTER we'd finished the whole survey. I explained that it's not a fair process and that my children and I had done everything he'd asked and actually been punished for being honest with the survey. He looked through a stack of other surveys and, sadly, I was the ONLY one who said I wouldn't consider buying the product at all.
But I got him to agree with me that the money thing was a big gyp (jip? gip?) and he paid Miss 7 the full wage.
What a lesson in consumerism to learn! Of course all my kids probably remember is that they have the meanest mom in the world for not buying junky drinks.
Posted by: kelbel at August 22, 2005 7:55 AM