-Caveat Lector- Reminds me of something I learned in a Marketing class I took at a local community college back in the 70s...
(That college had some really good teachers, people who came from 'the real world' as opposed to the elite academia one found at the 4-year colleges in the area, and these community college teachers quite often ignored the required textbook and taught from their own real-life experiences)... Anyhow, this Marketing teacher actually worked in advertising and marketing and only taught part time, and one of the things he stressed to us was the scam of supermarket coupons, of which the present-day 'bargain cards' are I feel a variation... And the bottom line was that not only the retailer (the supermarket chain), but the manufacturer artificially inflate the price of an item to then offer a 'discount' via coupons (or by the modern-day equivalent of the 'bargain card').... In other words, a bottle of dishwashing detergent may only be worth 98 cents, and that is factoring in profit for both the manufacturer AND the supermarket chain; but both wish to entice shoppers with 'sales', so the manufacturer may tack on 50 cents, requiring the supermarket to charge at least $1.48 for the bottle, unless the manufacturer itself offers sales coupons on the item. But the supermarket is free to tack on ADDITIONAL charges, so the store may actually usually sell the stuff at $1.78 and occasionally offer it 'on sale' for $1.48... But remember, the stuff at 98 cents a bottle still makes a profit for both the manufacturer AND the store; the manufacturer could offer a 50-cents-off coupon at the same time that the store could offer it's additional 'sale' (or require clipping a coupon from its weekly flyer) offering an additional 30-cents off; a shopper with both coupons would get the bottle for 98 cents and think they just got a huge bargain. The modern-day 'bargain card' is just a replacement for traditional coupons; and as my teacher explained, if there weren't any coupons (or 'bargain cards'), prices would naturally be lower, as there would be no need to artificially inflate prices to make up for occasional 'sale' prices. But just as 25 years ago it was a losing battle to convince people to give up clipping coupons so that prices across-the-board would go down, so to is it today in trying to convince people that they really aren't saving money with the so-called 'bargain cards'... Another thing we learned in that class was that coupons were only directed to those in the middle and upper classes -- in other words, coupons were very rarely available to those living in the inner city, or printed in papers read by people deemed to be in an economic stata below 'middle class'...in other words, the people who could most benefit from getting 'discounts' at the supermarket rarely had the opportunity to do so. I suspect that these 'bargain cards' are marketed in the same manner... June <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
