2 for 1 Meal Deal And The Homeless Invasion
In Cheshire Life | 19 comments | permalink
I am about to share with you a bizarre story that happened to me a couple of hours ago. It contains a business lesson, and a childish revenge mission involving homeless people.
You have been warned…
The Backstory
I decided to have a pub lunch, so went there and noticed that they do a “2 for 1 meal deal”.
Here is the conversation I had with the member of staff in the restaurant:
The Arguement
Me: Hi, I just noticed the meal deal, but I am here on my own. Could I use my free meal to get one of the small starters instead of a large meal?
Pub Staff: Sorry, you have to have a free meal, we can’t give starters.
Me: But this method would save you money, and is commonsense.
Pub Staff: True, but those are the rules.
Me: So I could get my free meal and just throw it away?
Pub Staff: Yes.
So to summarise, I was paying 8 pounds for one of the main meals, I therefore get another free meal from the main meal list, however, instead, I just wanted a small started 3 pounds. Thus saving the pub a lot of ingredients, money and hassle.
However, they wouldn’t let me.
So at this point I realise I am not going to get a starter, but I am a proud man, so revenge options were already entering my head…
Me: So in theory, I could sell my free meal to one of these people in the queue behind me, thus losing the pub a lot of money.
Pub Staff: Yes, I suppose you could do that.
Luckily I decided against that, as I am sure the manager would have some harsh words with me.
Me: Ok, well I will have the curry, and I will have the Cumberland Sauasage meal as my free meal.
I went to my table, and 15 mins later my meals arrived. The waitress cheekily said “enjoy your meals”.
Here is a photo I took of the meals:
So I ate my curry and left the sausage meal untouched on the table…
I was feeling rather smug with myself, but on the journey home I realised that in a world where so many people go without food, this was actually not a great way of getting revenge.
So I had an idea… so crazy it verges on the side of madness.
Revenge
From now on, I am going to pick a homeless person off the street and bring him/her into the pub to have a meal with me.
In fact, I am going put an advert in a shop window directly opposite the pub. It only costs 1 pounds ($2) per month, and I am sure that it will not only give me a steady supply of homeless people, but it will surely grab the attention of the pub staff.
I wonder how many homeless people I could bring in at one time? I would be more than happy to put up the money for 20 meals, providing I can find 20 homeless people to join me for a large “Revenge Banquet”.
If I can get 20, I will invite the local press.
Is this a bit childish? YES
Am I being petty? YES
Is their meal deal flawed? YES
Do today’s staff lack any form of commonsense? YES
Is this a great way of turning a negative into a positive? Hell YES!!!
All things considered, I know I am being a bit childish here… but the moral to this story is to NEVER mess with a buzz marketer!!!
Whereas other people complain and whine, we find creative and buzz solutions. 
Dean
PS: I promised you a business lesson, so here goes:
The Business Lesson
No “free” offer should require smallprint. It annoys people.
For example, FREE iPHONE – Small print: When you subscribe to a 36 month contract at $80 per month.
Listen, if you have to pay 36 installments of $80, then it is NOT free, all this is going to do is annoy people.
So remember, if you are going to give something for free, then great. But don’t add a lot of conditions or costs, otherwise, it is NOT free.
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19 COMMENTS
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Love the story Dean, and you’re spot on!
More to the point, you turned a crazy situation
into something worthwhile.
Well done.
Regards, Tony
I’m sure there’s some press coverage in this… The only problem is the publicity spin off they get by being made to look like dumbasses may interfere with your revenge principle. But you’d get more benefits in the end.
I’m hungry…
By the way Dean, I’ve just sent you
an email.
Look forward to your reply.
Regards, Tony
Dean, you are a genius!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love how you used buzz to solve an issue, and I love that you can generate so much publicity from a trip down to a restaurant.
Chris
I am in talks with the local paper, and am even considering paying for a full page ad to find more homeless people that I can feed.
I am willing to pay for as many meals as there are homeless people in the area.
In fact, if I find 10 homeless people, I can feed them all in one go. Imagine that, 10 homeless people, 9 of my friends and family, and me.
My parents would be so proud.
Dean
Thanks for highlighting one of my favorite Internet Marketing peeves… Free is, well, FREE, not $1.00, not $5.00 for shipping and handling and especially not $29.95 or more a month if I forget to unsubscribe. The world has gone mad with forced opt-in in one form or another.
And allowing the abuse of “free” just proves how stupid we consumers are after all. I like your solution, feed the homeless and please keep us posted on your efforts. I suspect the small print will follow shortly…
Phil
How about we compile list of pubs and restaurants that offer this kind of “free meal” deal, do a cool Web 2.0 mashup with Google Maps so the homeless people can post reviews on the food and service …
Michelin Guide? PAH We have the “Letmein” Guide!
Phil,
It is one of my pet peeves as well.
I know some people will think I am over-reacting, afterall, they didn’t have to give me a freebie.
HOWEVER, the big sign outside the pub saying “Free meal – 2 for 1″ is mis-leading. They generate a lot more sales because of this, so it is not like they are being charitable… they are just using a marketing trick.
I am now planning on putting an ad in a local shop and newspaper, and am willing to purchase as many meals as there are homeless people in the area.
I am sure 20 homeless people in the restaurant at the same time would be quite an event, and no doubt the local press would have a field day with this.
I have contacted them
Nick,
The only issue is how the homeless people will get Internet access.
Seriously though, there must be hundreds if not thousands of pubs in the UK doing this deal, and I am sure a large % of diners don’t have someone to take advantage of the free meal.
Perhaps a website where people can post whenever they are going for a meal and need a partner for the free meal.
If 1,000 pubs do this deal, and only 5 people per day do this, that is 5,000 meals per day for the homeless community. 35,000 per week, 140,000 meals per month, and over 1.5 million per year.
It isn’t going to solve the homeless situation, but it is a start.
Dean
Dean,
You Know I just feel bad for your frustration and revenge attitude…Oh I agree with you, but I think you are going to do some things wrong if this is a revenge factor and not a win-win-win for the homeless, the business, and you.
First if you crush the business they will stop the deal. Why not turn it into a positive for them? Go Talk to them…the owner…not a staff member…this site is about “Social” Marketing And Buzz isn’t it?
Tell the business owner the idea and your frustration with their staff not being intelligent enough to understand what you were asking….rules sometime limit people’s natural intelligence.
You also hurt the the homeless people if the pubs all stop 2 for 1 deals that could be mutually agreed upon. These pubs could really help themselves and the homeless. I mean if some pubs agree to this idea, they can feed a lot of hungry people…
If the Pub is embarrassed or made to look foolish, the homeless lose an opportunity.
Dean, I agree with the Free is Free and the idea to help less fortunate people, just not with the revenge mentality. Some Poor employee is trying to follow the rules of the Pub manager/owner, trying to feed their family, and even agreed with you.
Why make that employee and the business owner feel bad, they just didn’t have the opportunity to think this through like you can do so naturally. Their spending their days trying to please customer and figure out how to pay their bills…clear and creative thinking isn’t their main asset.
There is a ministry here is the U.S. that goes to restaurants and collects soon to be discarded (Unused but still perfectly good) food to feed the hungry. Apparently about 1 million pounds of food has been collected in just one small city.
Your on to something…I knwo using the “Revenge” word attracts more eyeballs than the word “Love” and that may be the reason for the way you wrote the post.
There was just something that made me happy to agree with the idea, but sad that you may seek to hurt a business owner and many others…again based on the “Tone” that I read…and maybe you wrote it in.
Again Thanks for the ideas and the great Info…as always.
Jim
Jim,
I know what you mean, and don’t worry, my post was tongue-in-cheek.
I have been discussing it with a friend, and am looking to genuinly find a way of helping them.
What’s more, I will talk to the pub manager and get him onboard. Afterall, this is good publicity for him if we focus on the helping the homeless angle.
Dean
I assumed, but, honestly, the revenge idea has floated through MY HEAD too often recently and I struggled with my own thoughts…I was worried you were getting as mentally stressed as Me!
I’ve been on the streets and I’ve been the person feeding the homeless…and where I’m from poor employee customer service can really cause you to worry from a business owners point of view…hence the post.
Next time I see a 2 for 1 deal… You know dang well I won’t look at it the same way ever. I will be driving back down the Las Vegas Strip looking for the 2 or 3 guys I just gave my last couple of pieces of fruit, snacks, and some spare change to and taking them to lunch.
You deserve a medal Dean!!!
I admire you, Dean, for your analytical mind. No one would give it a damn, but you thought it over, and wanted to resolve it your own way. This is not childish. I would call it a cool revenge from an intelligent guy.
You’re totally correct and reasonable Dean. I agree 100%. Most people are just afraid to think outside the box or take any responsibility for any creativity at all today.
Best regards,
Art
Hey Dean,
Haven’t been on here much ever since my blog was SQL injected… but I think the party that will benefit the most from your revenge would probably be the restaurant and the homeless people…
My first thought was that the restaurant probably only accepts the main entry as a free meal because they have leftover ingredients that they don’t want to waste. And the starters did not involve those ingredients? I’m only guessing… but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt letting your customers choose a starter.
However I suppose if you really do initiate your revenge you’ll be getting a LOT of buzz…
Michael
Great story.I like your solution as well and will be interested to see the results.I once walked out of a service station advertising a $19.95 oil change.When I inquired further it was revealed they also would charge for disposing of the oil and for “shop supplies”making the cost after taxes $24.95.Then I guess its really not $19.95 now is it?I went to Wal-mart not that I am a fan of theirs but at least $18.95 for an oil change was indeed that and not a penny more.
Nick H.
There’s one of these Two-For-One pubs at Parrs Wood.
The sweet, SWEET smell of revenge, and yeah, I totally agree with you on the common sense front. I’m gonna sure as hell make sure that the “guidelines” for any business plan I put up are based solely on… what makes sense, funnily enough.
If the pub saves money, then it’s kinda fck-tarded to NOT offer you the bloody starter. Sheesh-kebab.
The real problem here is staffing employees that don’t have power to make smart business decisions… It’s not their fault they just do not have the authority.
Although I think you’re a bit off-beat with the “hidden charges” ending. There weren’t any hidden charges, they offered a free meal and delivered… never once did they mention you could get a start instead.