Has it ever occurred to the advertising gurus that there is something called green marketing? When they conceive of their ingenious marketing campaigns, could they please take into consideration the wastage factor.
One does not need to go as far as saving forests, but the amount of rubbish produced by complicated marketing promotions is unnecessary.
During a recent stop at a Shell petrol station, I was briefed by the staff on a special promotion for V-Power fuel. They gave me a full-colour pamphlet explaining how the promotion worked and, later, on handing me my receipt, seven stamps and a full-colour, passport-sized card on which to stick them.
Once I had collected enough stamps, I was informed, I could use the card to redeem my choice of gifts or as a cash coupon.
From one angle I can see the value of such promotions. They certainly create jobs for those who come up with these campaigns, they probably keep small design houses and printers in business producing all that material, and they must keep logistics companies going distributing the boxes of pamphlets, cards and stamps.
In all honesty, the fuel market is already well advanced in its efforts to secure customer loyalty. Most suppliers have customers locked into one or more loyalty programmes that stop them shopping around.
I am not challenging the marketing gurus' objectives in running such campaigns, I am simply pointing out that the way they do it is causing more unnecessary junk in our environment.
