Anyone see the Poundland prog?

[swee'pea99]

I wasn't that surprised to see Poundland themselves engaging in some pretty dubious practices, but what did shock me was the extent of collusion from the majors, in terms of their production of what was clearly Poundland-unique packaging, designed to mislead.

A box of Sugar Puffs, with big flashes printed into the box design, declaring "50% extra FREE!" The box actually containing 300g (rather than the nominally 'standard' 200g) for £1. Meanwhile at Asda down the road, you can buy an un-flashed box of 400g for the same price.

Cadbury's, Nestle, all the big names, none seemed to have any qualms about playing along with these - to my mind, very dubious - tactics, clearly designed to capitalise on the limitations of Poundland's (often none-too-bright) target market. "Long as it sells more of our product..."

Caveat, as ever, emptor - fair enough...up to a point. But helping an obscenely wealthy New York venture capitalist further enrich himself at the expense some of Britain's poorest people, using the most cynical and disingenuous marketing tactics I've ever seen...well, it left a nasty taste in my mouth.

 

[ASC1951]

So what do you want? A nanny state quango employee outside the door of every Poundland shop, pointing out that Sugar Puffs are cheaper at Asda? With another outside Asda, handing out leaflets with the price of toilet rolls at Aldi ....

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

This one? That's my local high street, once again!

 

[swee'pea99]

This one? That's my local high street, once again!

That's the feller.

What do I want? I want (and expect) big, publicly listed companies that are constantly crapping on about their Corporate Social Responsibility credentials to show a little less enthusiasm for cynical and disingenuous marketing tactics used to con and exploit some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society.

 

[penguinking9]

Don't hold your breath.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

The large supermarkets often have products marked to suggest you are getting exceptional value tor money when in fact buying two smaller versions of the same product works out cheaper and provides greater volume. Packaged fruit and Veg is also often vastly more expensive than loose Fruit and Veg... I personally think it is my responsibility to check that what I buy is great value for money, not for the seller to do this.
If poundland boxes are labeled with the volume of product and someone does not check this. I do not find fault with poundland. The fact is the people who do not check what they are buying are often adults purchasing for other people such as their children and will not check what the ingredients the product contains either.
If they do not care or take responsibility, should the retailer?

 

[swee'pea99]

As I said in my original post, I'm not surprised at 'the retailer' - in this case, Poundland. I think they're on very dubious ground, but that's the kind of organisation they are. What I was surprised by was the level of active collusion from the majors.

Yes, it's your responsibility to do the sums, as ever. I said as much. But that still doesn't make it right for big companies to deliberately and cynically con poor people - which they are doing - while claiming to be ethical in their business practices.

 

[Bollo]

'Which' have a bit of a bee in their bonnet about manufacturers playing crafty tunes on the packaging, contents and price. I think they're campaigning for more clearly marked prices per unit of product, although I'm not sure I could remember old and new unit prices to be able to make the comparison.

 

[ohnovino]

One of the national newspapers did a comparison last week, and Poundland came out much cheaper than the supermarkets - obviously it depends what goods they choose to compare.

<product size rant> Those big round tubs of chocolates that are always on offer in the run up to Christmas (Roses, Quality Street, Celebrations, etc) used to be 1kg, but they get smaller every year. Now they're down to 850g. That's barely a couple of handfuls </rant>

 

[Fnaar]

I only go into Poundland (and similar) when I bechance upon them, not by design. However, I have procured therefrom some useful knee supports, for when I play footie, and a comfy neck support for lounging in the bath.

 

[PpPete]

The cynicism extends way beyond Poundland. Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury, Morrisons, yes even Waitrose - they all use some misleading practices.... So why should the manufacturers do anything but either a) refuse to supply all of them, or b) work with all of them to increase their market share.
You have ...er... two guesses.

 

[Fnaar]

What are the prices like in Poundland?

 

[dellzeqq]

What are the prices like in Poundland?

more expensive than this outfit http://99pstoresltd.com/

 

[swee'pea99]

The cynicism extends way beyond Poundland. Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury, Morrisons, yes even Waitrose - they all use some misleading practices.... So why should the manufacturers do anything but either a) refuse to supply all of them, or b) work with all of them to increase their market share.
You have ...er... two guesses.

You have a point, and in truth, there is of course no hard dividing line. But I think there is a line of sorts.

One example: Poundland pack of Kit-Kat, "50% extra FREE!" - 9 bars instead of 6 for your quid. Fine. Then Poundland decide to reduce the pack size to 8. So what do they do? Reduce the 'FREE!' flash? No. They decide between them to treat 5 bars for a quid as 'the norm', and bring out a new 8-pack bearing a big flash: "60% extra FREE!"

Now I don't think Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury, Morrisons or even Waitrose would behave quite that way. It doesn't surprise me that Poundland would. But it does surprise me that Nestle would get together with them in an office somewhere and agree to 'do their dirty work for them' by producing the new special, unique and deliberately misleading packaging.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

Whether it's Poundland or Tesco, they are businesses whose prime objective is profit.

All retailers use the same tricks to maximise income, it's up to the customer to be better informed about what value any particular 'deal' represents.


GC