I guess I'm not being terribly optimistic, am I? Pet Peeve Number One. I'm sure there will be more. For some reason I gave this some thought in the shower this morning. Why the shower? Because I looked at my new shampoo bottle and saw this printed at the top of the label in large letters: 50% Free!
Now really. This was a $ 0.99 bottle of Shampoo from CVS. But half of it was free. So I'm thinking through the executive scenario in my head while I'm rubbing the stuff in my 1/4 inch long hair. The bottles are about to be manufactured. But bottles that are half the current size. Suddenly a bean counter rushes into an executive office. "Wait!" he says. "We can double the amount we're selling keep it at the same price, and STILL make a profit!"
The vice president of trying-to-be-clever-and-make-the-public-think-they're-getting-a-good-deal decides to slap the 50% free thing on the label. "This will sell a ton of shampoo," he thinks. "I'm brilliant."
Of course, none of it is actually free. One couldn't walk into the store and say "Says here half of this shampoo is free. I brought my own container so let me pour out half of it into here and I'll be on my way."
Yeah.
I'm done now.
