Should "Marketing Cheques" Be Illegal?
You get home, open your mailbox, and what do you find? A cheque! For you! For $25! Sweet!
Or is it? Look more closely and you'll see this is just another "marketing cheque". Oh I'm sure the marketers have a more technical term for them, but that's what they are: cheques with strings attached. Sometimes, big strings. The cheques look just like normal cheques- nice designs, very legit-looking. But then you get the fine print: "Singing and cashing or depositing this check will enroll you in.... blah blah blah..."
So you do the obvious thing... take the free money, of course! But you're not just signing a cheque (or "check" as Americans call it), you're signing a CONTRACT. And I figure that very often, people sign these contracts without having the slightest clue what they're signing up for.
It could be credit insurance, a magazine subscription, or that ever-elusive volcano insurance you've been looking for. The point is, the marketers make these things so real-looking, the intention is obvious: use the lure of money to flat-out trick consumers into signing up for something they don't want.
These "marketing cheques" are new to me, being a relatively recent resident of the U.S. I can't see this flying in Canada (along with other marketing tactics, like 50 credit card offers per day, often several from the same company- do they not learn?) But, I have a problem with these shady cheques. Not for myself- I'm not the one I'm concerned about. I'm concerned about the people who just cant distill the fine print, who really NEED all the money they can get, and can't afford to be scammed.
Is it just me? Is this just fair-game marketing? Like using hot women to sell beer? Or is this type of behavior seriously harming consumers, to the point it should be made illegal?
There's a fine line between marketing and trickery, but even marketers must have souls, right?